Content warning: Today’s newsletter contains a description of a severe fetal abnormality.
In the states…
Yesterday, West Virginia passed a sweeping abortion ban with limited exceptions for rape and incest. Victims will be required to report the attack to police; children would only have 14 weeks to obtain an abortion, while adults would have 8 weeks. It’s, like all the other bans, a nightmare.
The law, on its way to be signed by the governor, bans abortion from the time a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus.
Indiana’s abortion ban goes into effect tomorrow, September 15th. Pro-choice organizations are challenging the law, but won’t be heard in court until the 19th. In the meantime, public radio in Indiana goes over what the abortion ban means for people in the state.
The Texas Tribune looks into the potential complications of fetal personhood: Can a pregnant person drive in the carpool lane? If a pregnant woman has a glass of wine, is that child endangerment? Is it manslaughter if you have a miscarriage and didn’t take prenatal vitamins? Everything is up for debate.
In Pennsylvania, scam artist and Republican Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz refuses to give a straight answer whether he’d support a federal ban on abortion. Better news out of the state: In Philadelphia, three city council members are introducing a package of bills that would protect abortion rights and make it harder for those out-of-state to come after Pennsylvania women, or anyone who ends their pregnancy in the state. From councilmember Helen Gym:
“We want to send a very clear message that our city will affirmatively protect the rights of women, no matter where they may live, who are seeking their right to have an abortion in Pennsylvania.”
Remember the woman in Louisiana who wasn’t able to get an abortion even though her fetus couldn’t survive and was missing part of its skull? Despite state legislators insisting her case met the criteria for the abortion ban exceptions, she had to get her abortion in New York.
An Alabama Veterans Affairs hospital is ‘proceeding carefully’ with potentially offering abortions—despite the state ban—after the Dept. of Veterans Affairs ruled that pregnant veterans and military members could have abortions in limited circumstances.
In Cleveland, Ohio, the city has changed its employee health insurance to add more coverage for abortion services—the plan will cover out-of-state travel expenses for the patient and their partner.
And if you want to watch a Republican really embarrass himself, do I have the video for you! Minnesota statehouse candidate Thomas Knecht couldn’t answer a simple question about abortion recently, stumbling over his words as quickly as his Republican brethren are deleting abortion positions from their campaign websites:
Aw, poor baby couldn’t remember his talking points. :(
And a South Dakota publication asked legislators in the state if they thought the current abortion law needed clarification, specifically around the health/life exception. You can see their answers (or non-answers) here.
Community members in Chicago organized a viewing of the documentary The Janes—a film about an underground abortion network in the 1960s. Before the screening, advertisements for the event were vandalized. Really depressing.
An abortion provider in Illinois says the buildings he bought to open as clinics are being held up via zoning ordinances because of political opposition. “The objection is not a legitimate building issue,” he said. The Skimm also has an interview with an Illinois abortion provider. She says, “I will say since Roe has been overturned, it feels sadder, more frustrating, and it makes me mad more often. The pre-Roe universe wasn't perfect, but the post-Roe universe is worse.”
California has launched a new website that helps people find abortion providers, makes the state’s laws clear (like explaining to teens that they don’t need parental permission for an abortion), and links to places where women can get financial assistance for abortion. The website is abortion.ca.gov, and every single state where abortion is legal should be doing this.
Some good news out of New York City: Democrats there just launched a $1 million fund to help low-income women with abortion-related costs.
In the nation…
As Republicans are hammered on the cruelty of abortion bans, conservatives are trying out some new strategies and talking points. Sean Hannity, for example, says that Republicans need to convince American women that abortion isn’t actually illegal. “Every woman needs to know that is a big lie,” Hannity said yesterday while interviewing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “Abortion is still legal in America.” Sure, cool, great.
Hannity then asked Gingrich to demonstrate how candidates should pivot when asked, “What do you think about about the Supreme Court taking away a woman’s right to an abortion?”
Gingrich’s response: “It’s totally untrue. That is not what they did, and I’m sorry you buy that kind of falsehood. But let’s go back to what matters to every woman in America, which starts with what they’re paying at the grocery store right now.”
I say this with my whole heart and soul: Fuck these guys.
Conservative Mike Davis also has some ideas for how Republicans should respond to people who call their abortion policies extreme. From Fox News: “Davis noted that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade more than two months ago, but Americans aren’t exactly seeing ‘women dying in back alley abortions like the Democrats proclaimed would happen.’” Yeah, we definitely haven’t seen any bad things happen to women at all. Is this guy for fucking real?
And conservative commentator Jason L. Riley writes in the Wall Street Journal that Republicans need to take a more “mainstream” position on abortion in order to not alienate voters “if ducking the abortion question for the next eight weeks isn’t an option.” In other words: dodge or lie.
Meanwhile, Democrats are relying on doctors and health care professionals to send their message. Which is appropriate!
The White House responded to the introduction of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s national abortion ban by calling it “wildly out of step with what Americans believe.”
Thirty Democratic senators have sent the Biden administration a letter urging them to to use health care privacy laws to protect patients’ reproductive health information. The 19th reports that the senators specifically focus on asking the White House to ensure that HIPAA protects patient information and that health care providers can’t give records to law enforcement. From the letter:
“In order for patients to feel comfortable seeking care, and for health care personnel to provide this care, patients and providers must know that their personal health information, including information about their medical decisions, will be protected.”
Some distressing but not surprising news: Four in ten active-duty military women are stationed in states with little to no legal access to abortion.
Former Vice President Mike Pence says the overturning of Roe doesn’t mean the Supreme Court will overturn the right to birth control or marriage equality, calling the worry a “distraction.” I don’t think Mother would like you lying, Mike.
Speaking of the Supreme Court, a recent poll of Black voters shows that approval for the Court is at an all-time low of 42 percent. Just a few months before, Black voters’ approval of SCOTUS was at 63%, after the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
FiveThirtyEight gets into why Republicans can’t agree on abortion restrictions:
Always read Dahlia Lithwick, who has a piece in The Atlantic about “The Last Truly Great Day for Women in American Law.” And at The New York Times, reporters look into Republicans’ intra-party fighting over abortion.
ProPublica, which is fantastic and trust-worthy, is looking to speak to people in states with abortion bans who have had their care impacted in some way. Click here to get in touch with them.
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