Don’t Trust the Police in This Abortion Case

3.20.26

Click to skip ahead: Don’t Trust Cops in Georgia Murder Case; Trump Launches “Investigation” Into Pro-Choice States; In the States: Wyoming, Ohio, New York & More; Florida Is Forcing Women Into C-Sections; With Thanks To: Pro-Choice Lawmakers in Anti-Abortion States; What We’re Reading; The “Killers of Roe.”

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Don’t Trust Cops in Georgia Murder Case

I can’t believe this needs to be said, but here we are: stop trusting what cops say about pregnancy-related arrests. Law enforcement lies all the time—especially in these cases, where mostly male cops and prosecutors know next to nothing about pregnancy and have every incentive to distort what happened.

I’ve seen police claim a 16-week fetus was an “infant.” I’ve seen them say a woman who flushed a miscarriage tried to “shove her baby down the toilet.” When a Nebraska teenager was arrested for self-managing her abortion, police told the press she sent Facebook messages saying she “couldn’t wait to get the ‘thing’ out of her body.”

None of that was true, but every bit of it was reported as fact anyway.

That’s why I’m begging reporters covering the case of a Georgia woman charged with murder after allegedly using abortion medication to stop taking cops at their word.

Take the Associated Press—a wire service whose reporting is reprinted far and wide. The AP is one of the few quality national outlets that consistently reports on abortion, and they often do a fantastic job. But in this case, the powerful outlet not only unquestioningly repeated police claims, it published this wildly incendiary line:

“The police investigator obtaining the warrant wrote that Moore told the nursing staff: ‘I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die.’”

Let’s be straight about what this is: a cop saying that a nurse said that a woman said something. That is not a quote, and it’s certainly not something that should be attributed to this woman.

Truly, what’s the point of including this outside of making this woman appear callous? We know that’s the goal of the quote in the warrant.

Because let’s be clear: police and prosecutors, especially in anti-abortion states, are not objective. Their reports and charging documents are not neutral accounts of what happened—they’re specifically crafted to justify an arrest and secure a conviction. Reporters should treat them accordingly.

I understand this is an important story and that reporters need to do their jobs. But it’s not enough to note that information comes from law enforcement. We need journalists to include the broader context—and to remind readers that pregnancy-related accusations are often false, exaggerated, or (at the very least) questionable.

Even pointing to cases like Brittany Watts’—where an Ohio woman is now suing police and hospital staff for allegedly fabricating evidence—would be a fair but clear way to get the point across:

BREAKING: Police & Nurses Conspired to Fabricate Evidence Against Brittany Watts, Suit Says

I’ll tell you why this is so important. Remember the Nebraska teen I mentioned at the top who supposedly said she couldn’t wait “to get the ‘thing’ out of her body”? Back when this case was happening, I pulled the court records and read her Facebook messages myself. That sentence didn’t appear once. It turns out it wasn’t something she said, but a police officer’s interpretation of the messages.

Yet that quote appeared in nearly every news story about her case. Why? Because the Associated Press printed it, and people trust the AP.

These stories matter. This coverage, online, is often forever. Let’s get it right the first time.

Trump Launches “Investigation” Into Pro-Choice States

Remember when Donald Trump said he’d “leave abortion to the states”? So much for that! The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched investigations into 13 pro-choice states¹ over their requirement that health insurance plans cover abortion.

The Hill reports that an HHS official said the states were “coercing health care entities…both providers as well as health plans and health insurance companies, into covering or providing abortion, despite religious or conscientious objections to those requirements.” (Yup, there’s that word again! ‘Coercion’ has become a central strategy of the anti-abortion movement lately.)

The administration’s basis for going after these states? The Weldon Amendment, which prohibits governments from discriminating against health care entities that don’t “provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.” As The Washington Post notes, under Joe Biden’s presidency, the HHS said the provision doesn’t apply to employers or other health care sponsors.

The Trump administration, obviously, disagrees.

Legal scholar Mary Ziegler calls the move “a Project 2025 investigation,” pointing to the roadmap’s demand that Trump withdraw Medicaid funds from states that require insurance coverage of abortion. That becomes even more obvious when you realize that the woman in charge of the investigation, Paula M. Stannard, was actually a contributor on Project 2025.

The move comes amid growing tensions between the White House and anti-abortion groups, and Ziegler sees this as a move to “placate” them. Law professor Elizabeth Sepper made the same observation to the Washington Post, noting that, “What we’re seeing here is the fulfillment of a promise to the religious right.”

National Women’s Law Center’s Katie O’Connor tells us that the investigations follow a familiar pattern: “attacking states that the president views as political threats.” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill called the move a “fishing expedition,” and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said it was “just another example of Donald Trump’s continued attack on women in this country.”

Here at AED, we’re worried about what the focus on “conscience” laws signals about future attacks: we’re in a moment when Republicans are over-funding crisis pregnancy centers, claiming they can “replace” the Planned Parenthood clinics their policies are shuttering. Will Trump’s HHS target states that ‘discriminate’ against CPCs by not offering them funding?

In the States: Wyoming, Ohio, New York & More

Abortion patients are being turned away in Wyoming, even though the state Supreme Court ruled that abortion is protected under the state constitution. That’s because Gov. Mark Gordon signed a 6-week ban into law last week, thumbing his nose at the decision and causing all sorts of chaos and confusion for patients.

Ever since the Court made clear that abortion is healthcare, Wyoming Republicans have been scrambling to undo—or simply ignore—that ruling. In addition to proposing a ballot measure that would reverse the decision, Republicans considered shrinking the number of justices on the bench—and even moved to withhold security funding for the court as punishment. This new ban is part of that ongoing obsessive effort.

Wellspring Health Access, the state’s sole abortion clinic, is asking the court for an emergency pause. But even if the abortion ban won’t withstand legal scrutiny, patients are paying the price right now: Wyoming Public Media reports that at least a dozen patients have been turned away or had their appointments canceled since the ban was signed.

Speaking of legislators who don’t give a shit what voters or the courts say, let’s move on to Ohio. We reported last week that Republicans there were advancing a mandatory 24-hour waiting period for abortion care, even though a judge blocked enforcement of a similar law in 2024 and Ohio voters enshrined abortion rights in 2023.

Well, we’re sorry to say that the bill has moved out of committee this week, which means it will go for a full vote in the state House. The Ohio Capital Journal reports that opponents shouted “shame!” as the lawmakers advanced the bill. As they should!

The legislation is part of Republicans’ ongoing efforts to push the limits of the state’s constitutional abortion protections. Ohio really is giving other Republican-led states a run for their money: just a few days ago, we told you about a bill that would create a state-run registry of pregnant women.

We have better news over in New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $20 million infusion to medication abortion providers. The money, provided by the Supplemental Abortion Provider Support Fund, couldn’t have come at a better time. New York providers are facing growing demand from patients across the country—especially those in banned states who rely on telehealth abortion pills being shipped from pro-choice states.

“New York will always remain a safe haven for people seeking care,” Gov. Hochul said.

About a year ago, Gov. Hochul also expanded New York’s shield laws by allowing abortion providers to keep their names off prescription labels—a crucial protective measure as they mail pills into hostile states. Remember, Louisiana is trying to extradite at least two abortion providers, one of whom is based in New York.

Quick hits:

• Planned Parenthood is closing two clinics in Indianapolis, Indiana;

• Slate digs into how Missouri Republicans are trying to trick voters into supporting an abortion ban;

• And the Montana Free Press has more on the man charged with plotting to kill an abortion provider.

Florida Is Forcing Women Into C-Sections

Imagine you’re pregnant and planning for a vaginal birth, but a judge over Zoom overrules your wishes and forces you to have a c-section. According to ProPublica, that’s what happened to at least two women in Florida since the end of Roe.

Cherise Doyley and Brianna Bennett both had c-sections in previous pregnancies and wanted to avoid the major surgery unless there was an emergency. They made informed decisions about their bodies and pregnancies—Doyley is even a doula! But in anti-abortion Florida, which has been leading the charge on fetal personhood, women’s personhood and humanity comes second to their pregnancies.

Lois Shepherd, a bioethics expert at the University of Virginia School of Law, told ProPublica, “There aren’t any other instances where you would invade the body of one person in order to save the life of another.”

Two important things worth noting: both women were Black, and there is something truly horrifying about the Zoom screenshot showing a sea of white faces overruling a Black woman in a hospital bed. This has also happened previously in Florida—before Dobbs. I remember when Pregnancy Justice took on Laura Pemberton’s case: she had police show up at her house to take her to the hospital for a forced c-section. After she sued, the courts ruled that the state had a right to ignore her wishes.

Read the whole article, and remember that this is the absolutely predictable outcome of abortion bans and fetal personhood.

With Thanks To: Pro-Choice Lawmakers in Anti-Abortion States

It’s easy to get bogged down in the horror of everything happening right now, so we wanted to take a minute to say thank you to the folks who are out there doing the work anyway.

First up are pro-choice legislators in anti-abortion states. By introducing bills they know are unlikely to pass, they’re keeping a spotlight on reproductive rights—and forcing Republicans to show voters who they really are.

Consider Alabama Democrat, Rep. Marilyn Lands. Just this week, she introduced legislation to protect access to IVF and birth control. But as the Alabama Reflector notes, there are just a few more days in the legislative session and Republicans aren’t likely to prioritize the bill.

We’re grateful to Lands nonetheless—especially given it was just in 2024 when Alabama’s Supreme Court briefly uprooted access to IVF with a truly wacky ruling that said frozen embryos were “extrauterine children.”

By the way, if Lands’ name sounds familiar it’s likely because she flipped an Alabama House seat in 2024 by campaigning on abortion. Lands shared her own abortion story in a television ad and won by 25 points. In Alabama.

So big thanks to her and all the other pro-choice legislators out there doing the hard work in banned states.

Clinic Protesters Say Harassing Patients is ‘Free Speech’

Anti-abortion activists are challenging Detroit’s buffer zone ordinance for abortion clinics, claiming it violates their free speech. The short version? Sidewalk Advocates For Life claim that they have a First Amendment right to harass patients up close and personal. (They wouldn’t put it that way, of course.)

A refresher: buffer zones were established by Hill v. Colorado, which says protesters have a free speech right to make their voices heard but not to get up in women’s faces. Buffer zones are incredibly important protections for clinics, patients, providers, and staff—especially right now, in a moment when anti-abortion violence is on the rise.

Former lawyer Kevin Hammer insists that he “does not engage in aggressive or confrontational behavior” while protesting outside of Scotsdale Women’s Center. But because of the city’s buffer zone, the suit argues, Hammer “frequently cannot tell whether women even hear him because of road noise.”

Hammer’s attorneys at the Thomas More Society say that “effective sidewalk counseling requires conversational proximity,” and complain that women “walk directly past without making eye contact.” You’d think that would be hint enough that women don’t want to talk, but consent has never been these assholes’ strong suit.

This is far from the only suit of its kind. For years, anti-abortion powerhouse organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and the Thomas More Society have brought similar challenges across the country. The goal is to get a case in front of the Supreme Court and do away with buffer zones entirely.

We know why: the goal isn’t to “peacefully” change women’s minds about abortion. They want to shame, harass, and intimidate.

What We’re Reading

• Moira Donegan at The Guardian looks at the attacks on birth control;

• Mother Jones did a deep dive on shield laws;

• The 19th reports on the post-Dobbs surge in vasectomies;

• Ms. magazine lays out the important role telehealth plays for teen abortion patients;

• And NPR digs into a legislative trend we’ve been tracking for a while: bills that outlaw the state regulation of crisis pregnancy centers.

Learn About the “Killers of Roe”

Thanks to everyone who joined last night’s livestream with Amy Littlefield, whose new book, Killers of Roe, is out now. Watch a snippet of Kylie’s conversation with Amy above. To watch her full conversation with Amy, click here.

1. California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington