New Trump Group Invokes RBG to Trick Voters

10.25.24

Oct 25, 2024

Ohio Ban Struck Down!

It is so nice to have good news for you: After nearly a year after Ohioans voted to protect abortion rights in their state constitution, Ohio’s abortion ban has been struck down.

A county judge ruled that Issue 1 renders the state’s ‘heartbeat’ ban unconstitutional:

“Ohio voters have spoken. The Ohio Constitution now unequivocally protects the right to abortion.”

Judge Christian A. Jenkins also blasted Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, who he said, “evidently didn’t get the memo.” Yost has been trying to keep as many anti-abortion restrictions in place as possible in spite of the state’s constitutional protections. Over a dozen, in fact—from waiting periods to unnecessary fetal heartbeat tests.

And remember: Despite an incredible amount of Republican hurdles in the lead-up to the 2023 vote, Issue 1 won by large margins. Still, GOP leadership and anti-abortion groups didn’t care—with some lawmakers even threatening to strip the judiciary of its power in order to prevent them from enforcing the amendment.

So it’s no surprise that Yost and his ilk are doing anything they can to stop the will of the people. And while the AG is telling some outlets that his office may appeal the decision, he told conservative publication the National Review that they will appeal.

Whatever happens: Congratulations, Ohio! The activists who worked so hard to restore abortion rights in the state deserve all our love and appreciation.

Today in Shamelessness

Just when you thought conservatives couldn’t go any lower: The New York Times reports that a new Republican super PAC is invoking abortion rights and the deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to support Donald Trump. Seriously.

The Times tells us that the group—called RBG PAC and founded just a few days ago—is spending $20 million and has already released two absolutely shameless ads that paint Trump as pro-choice and insist he wouldn’t sign a federal abortion ban. One ad, for example, features a woman saying she cares about the “freedom to choose” and that Trump does too.

Pretending Trump is pro-choice is bad enough on its own, but to use RBG’s name is just…beyond the pale.

Ginsburg’s granddaughter and abortion rights lawyer Clara Spera says, “The use of her name and image to support Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, and specifically to suggest that she would approve of his position on abortion, is nothing short of appalling.”

Appalling is the exact right word. Republicans know they’re losing on abortion rights and can’t afford to tell the truth—so they’re co-opting pro-choice language in order to trick voters. It’s the same thing we’ve seen in places like Nebraska, where conservatives have launched a fake ‘pro-choice’ ballot measure.

What’s most distressing is that this attempt to confuse has been working on some voters; I’ve told you before about the polls showing that battleground state voters don’t really understand Trump’s abortion position.

This is why it’s so important that mainstream media outlets hold Trump to account and report the full truth on what his administration would mean for abortion rights.

In the States

Abortion is playing a big role in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race, where businessman Bernie Moreno is running for Sen. Sherrod Brown’s seat. You may remember Moreno as the asshole who said women are “crazy” for caring about abortion and that women over 50 shouldn’t give it any mind because, “I don’t think that’s an issue for you.”

Moreno has since tried to brush off the comment, saying “If you wake up every day waiting to be insulted or outraged, it’s a pretty sad life. Sometimes quips are made; sometimes they land, sometimes they don’t.” According to women voters in Ohio so for, though, the ‘quip’ definitely didn’t land.

Louisiana’s law classifying abortion medication as a controlled substance went into effect this month, setting the stage for preventable maternal deaths. Doctors were so concerned about the pills being locked away that they started running timed drills in the hospital to see how long it would take them to get to hemorrhaging patients.

Yesterday, law professor Greer Donley and emergency medicine physician and lawyer Kimi Chernoby wrote in The Washington Post about just how dangerous this move really is—and why the anti-abortion movement is targeting the medication. The pair point out that while the law is an attempt to curb the influx of abortion medication being mailed in from other states, the providers sending those pills aren’t subject to Louisiana’s law.

“Before the legislators voted, they knew their law could harm other aspects of reproductive health care. There was a well-publicized outcry from physicians about the proposal. The decision to pass it anyway reveals a callousness toward maternal health from a movement whose supporters claim to be pro-life.”

Louisiana has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country and local reporter Lorena O’Neil has already flagged that people are having a hard time filling their prescriptions as a result of the law—even when the medication is needed for procedures like removing uterine polyps.

In addition to being scientifically unsound and medically dangerous, Donley and Chernoby warn that Louisiana’s law is a portent of things to come. “It is part of a national, antiabortion strategy to discredit these medications as unsafe despite copious evidence to the contrary.”

I wrote about this just last week when three Republican Attorneys General revived their lawsuit against mifepristone. Anti-abortion groups know that women are getting abortion medication despite state bans, and they’re attacking abortion medication full force in order to stop it.

Ballot Measure Updates

I told you earlier this week that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was doing a press tour with a group of doctors who insist that the state’s abortion ban is perfectly safe and that Amendment 4 goes too far. Well, let’s take a look at what these doctors and DeSantis looked like backstage before talking to press:

Would you let any of those doctors near your reproductive organs? I sure wouldn’t!

Here’s what’s so frustrating, outside of the obvious yikes-factor: Pushing out doctors isn’t just about lending credibility to anti-abortion nonsense, but skewing media coverage. We know, for example, that the vast majority of OBGYNs support abortion rights, but DeSantis’ tour has led to press claiming that doctors are on “both sides” of the debate. That’s what they’re looking for: to spread the lie that this is something the country (and voters) are polarized on.

Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers in Montana taking a different approach to push back against the pro-choice amendment there; they claim that the ballot measure simply isn’t necessary because abortion is already legal in the state. It’s a talking point we’ve seen in lots of pro-choice states—one that falls particularly flat in Montana where the Republican governor and Attorney General have been working overtime to reverse abortion protections in the state constitution.

Quick hits: The South Dakota abortion rights group behind the state’s pro-choice ballot measure is being outspent by anti-abortion groups by over five to one. POLITICO reports on frustration over how funds for New York’s Prop 1 have been allocated—namely that not enough has gone to voter outreach. And Alanna Vagianos at HuffPost takes us inside the ballot measure initiatives trying to win over Republican voters.

If you missed yesterday’s column, you can read it below:

Yes, I’m a ‘Single Issue’ Voter

Jessica Valenti

Oct 24

Read full story

2024

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to give a speech on abortion rights tonight in Texas, which has one of the strictest bans in the country. She’ll be joined by patients who were denied health- and life-saving abortions—women who have already been out speaking up for Harris and against the state’s ban. Beyoncé is also set to perform, so it should be a powerful night.

Don’t forget to be on the lookout for an email tonight for the Abortion, Every Day live-chat! And if you haven’t upgraded your subscription already, do it now so you can join the conversation.

You can watch the speech live here.

Harris’ campaign has been ramping up their focus on abortion as we get closer to election day—in part because Democrats believe there’s still an untapped demographic of undecided and Republican women who are pro-choice, but don’t necessarily know where Trump stands.

They should after this: Earlier this week, I shared one of the most powerful political ads I’ve ever seen: The Harris campaign released a devastating ad about a woman denied vital abortion care. Below is the extended version of Ondrea’s story. Please know that it’s a difficult and graphic watch.

Republicans are well aware that Harris’ focus on abortion is very, very bad for them. And because they don’t have any reproductive rights stances that are popular with voters, they’re shifting into attack mode—targeting Harris for supposedly opposing religious exemptions for abortions. The talking point is everywhere from Fox News coverage and the Wall Street Journal editorial board to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America claiming that under Harris, “Docs must perform them, taxpayers must pay for them, for any reason, in all 50 states, no exceptions.”

There are no laws that force someone to perform an abortion against their religion, and there are clear federal conscience protections—but anti-abortion groups and lawmakers are desperate to make anything stick to Harris on abortion. Not to mention, given what we’ve seen happen at Catholic hospitals—even in pro-choice states like California—maybe it’s not the worst idea to ensure that health care providers, you know, provide.

Care Denied

If you haven’t read this Rolling Stone piece from Tessa Stuart, you should remedy that immediately. Though be warned, it’s heart-breaking. Deborah Dorbert’s story has been told before—the Florida woman was forced to carry a doomed pregnancy to term—but I really recommend you listen to Dorbert’s own words. I know these stories are so tough, but the least we can do (if we can handle it) is bear witness:

“I cried a lot. I was just always in pain, and it just felt like there were days I could not get out of bed. My four year old son needed me, but I couldn’t be a mom because I was struggling with my mental health and physically. Wondering: How am I gonna find the strength to give birth and watch my son die? At the same time, I was planning his funeral before he was even born.”

This is what ‘pro-life’ laws do. I’ve written before about the quiet campaign to end exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities and force women to carry nonviable pregnancies. It’s something I wish reporters would ask anti-abortion activists about more explicitly. Because this is not an issue where they can claim that doctors are just misreading the law; this is exactly what they want to happen.

In the Nation

Catherine Rampell at The Washington Post explains some of the ways a Trump presidency could implement a back door national abortion ban;
The Guardian on the rise in infant deaths since Dobbs;
The Scientific American on how Hurricane Helene disrupted abortion care;
And Jezebel interviews Renee Bracey Sherman, co-author of Liberating Abortion, about what it means to “build beyond Roe.”

You Love to See It

A note from AED researcher Grace Haley: I’m excited to share a new project with you all! For the past few months, I’ve had the honor of working with former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, abortion storytelling advocate Kaitlyn Joshua, and a fantastic team of repro experts to create Abortion in America—a new website that collects and features the personal stories of the post-Roe abortion landscape.

You'll find the stories—some of which you’ve read about here at AED—that shook the nation: Like Amber Thurman, the mother who died because of Georgia's abortion ban; and Brittany Watts, the Ohio woman arrested after a miscarriage. There are stories from around the country of care denied, but also of hope: Like the volunteer pilots flying women across the country to access care and abortion funds working tirelessly to help out. It’s been a privilege to work on this, and I hope you check it out!