Last Week in Abortion
There’s a ton going on, and Republicans are depending on us letting stories slip through the cracks—I’m going to do my best to make sure you don’t miss a thing.
Women across the country are being denied critical care because of abortion ban, and The Washington Post has a chilling roundup of stories: From a patient with an ectopic pregnancy who was denied an abortion because a fetal heartbeat was present, to a miscarrying woman who bled for over 10 days before she was allowed treatment. The Associated Press reports similarly horrific cases, including the story of a woman who needed to be put on a breathing machine as a result of delayed care.
After a 10 year-old’s story received national attention, The New York Times looks at what abortion bans mean for the youngest, and most vulnerable, children. And The Guardian reports that the Indiana doctor who performed the child’s abortion—already attacked by conservatives—has been a target of extremists in the past, including by a group linked to Amy Coney Barrett. (Speaking of the cult-grown Justice, Slate points out that she’s in way over her head.)
Wired published an investigation of the abortion-pill-by-mail supply chain and how pro-choice groups are navigating safety concerns. POLITICO questions the danger that Google poses around digital safety and abortion rights, and USA Today explores the complications of performing abortions on federal land in states where the procedure is banned.
The Sacramento Bee examines what kind of options are available to pro-choice states like California if a national ban ever passes. Colleges are ahead of the game there: State campuses are working to ensure that they’re stocked with medication abortion. What’s not so great, however: Health care providers in the state are struggling to find training on how to perform an abortion. (The Guardian also has a piece about how a new generation of OBGYNs will be denied abortion training nationwide.)
In Kansas, Republicans are looking to amend the state constitution to limit abortion rights (and working hard to confuse voters in the process); while in Idaho, the GOP wants an abortion ban with no exception for health and life. Georgia is also working to put their abortion law into action—a ban that only has exceptions for rape and incest if a police report is filed.
Some good news? Thousands marched in St. Paul this weekend in support of abortion access, and a pro-choice group has bought up billboard space in Jackson, Mississippi—where abortion is illegal— to spread the word about abortion pills. (Interestingly, the local newspaper writing about the ads does not include a picture of them, but instead features a map pointing out where you can find the billboards.) We also may see over-the-counter birth control pills soon.
Looking for a longer read? Jia Tolentino has a fantastic piece in The New Yorker: “Is Abortion Sacred?”
This is a great if harrowing summary. The more I think about this the more Dems are very wrongfooted on "codifying Roe". We have to have an Equal Rights Amendment for women. There is nothing less that we can do. GOP is so feral and unhinged that they will never stop abusing women until it's written in stone that they cannot. And the SCOTUS has to be checked with a constitutional amendment that cuts them down before they can even get going. I just don't see anything less. So the best way to mobilize this is for blue states to pass ERAs into the state constitutions (maybe some have it - I haven't done a 50 state survey on this). Then it has to be a full mobilized ERA movement. Nothing less.
The Republican party must be "aborted."