Republicans Are in Court to Stop Time Off for Abortion Patients
2.21.25
Click to skip ahead: In Planned Parenthood Staff Hits Back, over 500 workers published a letter in response to the NYT hit piece. Criminalizing Care has the latest on Dr. Maggie Carpenter’s case and the legal implications of interstate criminalization. In the States, news from West Virginia, Iowa, Colorado, Georgia, Ohio, and Indiana. In the Nation, Republicans want to stop abortion patients from getting any days off from work.
Planned Parenthood Staff Hits Back
More than 500 Planned Parenthood staffers from around the country have published a blistering letter condemning The New York Times for its hit piece on the organization. They accuse the Times of endangering patients’ health by contributing to “false narratives and stigma” that deter people from seeking care.
The staffers call out the Times for giving readers the impression that routine procedures performed at Planned Parenthood are dangerous, and for repeatedly using “inflammatory and medically imprecise language,” like ‘botched’—or describing a fetus as ‘baby’ in a ‘womb.’
And while staffers write that clinics are under-resourced and that staff are underpaid, they make clear that doesn’t mean unfairly attacking Planned Parenthood is the answer:
“The bottom line is this: The fight for fair and competitive compensation for healthcare workers is central to the fight for bodily autonomy. That fight doesn’t succeed by scaring patients away from the essential, routine, and — in the vast majority of circumstances — safe care that Planned Parenthood provides. It also doesn’t succeed by handing Republicans the talking points they’ll use to undermine the care happening at Planned Parenthood, along with the necessity of access to that care.”
See the full letter and signatories here. Meanwhile, professor Carrie N. Baker and Jenifer McKenna of the California Women's Law Center slammed the Times in Ms. magazine, asking why the publication targeted Planned Parenthood instead of investigating “the secretive unregulated $1.7 billion dollar antiabortion pregnancy clinic industry that is eroding access to reproductive healthcare nationwide.”
The New York Times could have examined how the unregulated antiabortion pregnancy clinic industry uses tax-deductible donations in electoral politics; collects sensitive, private information that they are not legally required to protect; and endangers women’s health by causing delays in accessing legitimate healthcare, spreading medical misinformation and targeting marginalized and vulnerable populations.
It’s a great point—crisis pregnancy centers are everywhere, and are proactively lying to and harming women. (To say nothing of their data collection horrors and HIPAA bullshit!)
Criminalizing Care
We’ve all been following the attacks on abortion provider Dr. Maggie Carpenter—who was indicted on abortion charges in Louisiana despite providing perfectly legal care from her shield state of New York. That’s why I was glad to see CBS Mornings interview Carpenter’s co-founder at Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, Julie F. Kay. Watch below:
CBS also spoke to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said she believes the case could go to the Supreme Court and that she will “stand firm” in protecting Carpenter despite Louisiana’s extradition requests.
“She will stay right here,” Hochul said.
Abortion providers are risking their freedom to make sure people can get the care they need. Donate to Dr. Carpenter’s organization, the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, here.
Meanwhile, law professor Mary Ziegler writes at Slate about the constitutional issues surrounding anti-abortion states targeting shield state providers. Ziegler warns that things will only get more complicated as conservatives broaden their targets:
“That includes those who offer abortions in states where it is legal to those who travel from states where it isn’t, websites that offer information about abortion that is available in ban states, and even those who donate to organizations that facilitate abortion-related travel. There will be complicated questions, then, for courts, even regarding whether they have jurisdiction to bring certain defendants to court—and which state’s laws they should apply to resolve those issues.”
Finally, over at Vox, Rachel Cohen has an in-depth piece about how the attacks on Dr. Carpenter—from both Louisiana and Texas—are a sign of “an emboldened anti-abortion movement.” Definitely make the time to read this one.
In the States
We’ve got a lot of garbage legislation to cover today, so let’s start with West Virginia—where Republicans are pushing a bill to make an already brutal abortion ban even worse. House Bill 2712 would strip the state’s near-total ban of its rape and incest exception, even for children who’ve been sexually assaulted.
Adam Serwer’s quote—“the cruelty is the point”—runs through my mind every single day. Incredibly, bill sponsor Del. Lisa White seems more concerned about her reputation than the women and girls harmed by her legislation:
“I think what people are focusing on is that I don’t care about women or little kids or anything like that. That’s the furthest thing from the truth for me.”
Well Lisa, I don’t think it matters much to the raped children of West Virginia whether or not you’re a good person down deep—they just want to avoid being forced into pregnancy.
And while I hope the narrow exceptions that exist in West Virginia remain accessible, I also want to remind folks how fraught ‘exceptions’ are in general. Because even when they exist, they’re often meaningless to folks seeking care.
Please know that I don’t say this to dissuade anyone—if an exception exists, of course people should fight to access it. But we should also be real about what these so-called ‘exceptions’ actually look like in practice. More often than not, they’re just political cover—Republicans pretending to be ‘moderate’ while knowing full well that almost no one will be able to use them.
Mississippi technically has a rape exception, for example, but a 2022 investigation by Mississippi Today found that not a single doctor in the state was willing to provide an abortion under it. And in Louisiana, women have been denied abortions even when their pregnancies had conditions explicitly listed as exceptions. For more on the myth of ‘exceptions,’ read my 2022 and 2023 pieces below:
We’re not quite done yet: Iowa Republicans have introduced two new bills—one to ban abortion medication outright and another to force doctors to lie to patients about so-called abortion ‘reversals.’
Let’s start with House File 423, which would make it a felony to “distribute, prescribe, dispense, sell, or transfer” abortion medication—punishable by up to 10 years in prison. This comes as Republicans across the country escalate their attacks on medication abortion, which accounts for over half of U.S. abortions.
Their fury boils down to one thing: Too many women are still getting the care they need despite state bans—largely thanks to telehealth and abortion medication—so conservatives are throwing everything they can at the wall to stop the pills.
Mazie Stilwell of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa put it plainly, “It is cruel for politicians to make medication abortion so difficult to access that women are forced to have procedural abortions or carry a pregnancy to term.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Iowa Republicans are also pushing House Study Bill 186, which would force doctors to post blatantly false information about abortion ‘reversals’ under the guise of informed consent. Providers would be required to put up signs claiming that abortion medication isn’t always effective and that “it may be possible to avoid, cease, or even to reverse the intended effects of a medication abortion that utilizes an abortion-inducing drug.”
It’s forced misinformation—mandated by the very people who claim to care about ‘informed’ choice.
In better news…
Over in Colorado, SB 129 passed the State Senate today. The bill reinforces Colorado’s shield law. Georgia Democrats are introducing bills with the hope of regulating anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. The virtual abortion care clinic Hey Jane has just launched in Ohio. And public radio station WFYI in Indiana covers the block on releasing abortion reports as public records. (More on that story in yesterday’s newsletter.)
Need an abortion in Missouri? A judge’s ruling has freed up providers to resume some care, but it may take time for clinics to ramp up scheduling. Go to INeedAnA and AbortionFinder to find a provider near you, or text RightbyYou at 855-458-0886. For financial assistance, contact MO Abortion Fund. This is a developing story, so make sure to check back next week for more.
In the Nation
We all know these maniacs hate women, but it still manages to surprise me how they don’t even bother hiding it. Right now, 17 Republican-led states are spending their time, energy and taxpayer dollars trying to undo a federal rule that allows workers time off for pregnancy-related care—including abortions.
You may remember that last year, the EEOC issued guidance making clear that the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers to give workers “reasonable accommodations” related to pregnancy, childbirth or abortion. The federal law only applies to businesses with more than 15 employees, it doesn’t require them to pay for an abortion—it doesn’t even require they give workers paid time off! Really, it’s just about ensuring workers can take time off for appointments and recovery without fear of losing their jobs.
But asking employers to be decent human beings is a step too far for Republicans, who are eager to use any opportunity they can to punish abortion patients. In response to the guidance, Republican Attorneys General filed a suit against the EEOC, claiming that the Biden administration was mandating that employers “facilitate abortion.”
The AGs also point to the fact that their states have laws that ban abortions—but that’s actually more reason that employees will need time off! Women in their states need to travel for abortion care, whether it’s so-called ‘elective’ abortions or life- and health-saving care.
Here’s the part that turns my stomach most: Republicans claim that they’ll agree to time off for medically-necessary abortions—but how does that work? Will employees be required to prove to their boss that they’re sick enough to need an abortion?
While a judge dismissed the suit last June, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the 17 states can continue on with their case.
Again, let’s just take a minute and make plain what they’re doing: These AGs are fighting for the right to discriminate against abortion patients. They’re going to court for the right to deny an abortion patient an unpaid day off to recover. Just disgusting.
Quick hits:
TIME magazine has a rundown of Trump’s attacks on reproductive rights in his first month in office;
Kudos to the Associated Press for covering the rise in extremist bills seeking to punish abortion patients as murderers;
And Bloomberg reports that the Republican Attorneys General attacking mifepristone told the U.S. District Court in Texas that they’re ready and raring to go. For more on this suit (it’s an important one), read Abortion, Every Day’s explainer here.
Want to support Abortion, Every Day? Consider becoming a paying supporter, gifting someone a subscription, or donating directly to the newsletter here.
The transphobic NYTimes can go die in a fire. It is causing more harm than good. And anybody still employed there is complicit in the harm it’s doing. May they all step on legos barefoot for the rest of their lives.
Jessica, this is the email I sent to the author of that hateful article in the Times, Kate Benner. I wrote it in a fit of fury.
In your piece, you state, “ Last year, a nationwide patient survey drew an overwhelmingly positive response, with most describing their visits as good or very good, though the survey represented only about 6 percent of the patients seen.”
Your writing is a lesson on how to organize topics and place emphasis so as to totally disparage the focus of the article.
Having spent 15 years with the Maryland affiliate, I know that Planned Parenthood, like every healthcare provider, particularly one’s of its size and scope, makes mistakes. How much research did you do into other healthcare providers of similar sizes? How many conversations with the staff of those places?
Because of the terrible stigma on anything to do with sex in this country, many women who come to Planned Parenthood, whether for birth control, routine gynecological care, or an abortion don’t respond to surveys. They also don’t write glowing praise for the same reasons.
But you Ms. Benner, have chosen to write an article which provides fuel to those who would rather see women bleed out in parking lots then get the treatment they need, would rather see 12-year-olds give birth to the child of their rapist than have an abortion, would rather force a woman of any age with the sense to realize they don’t at this moment have the ability, the resources, the support to adequately raise a child, to give birth to that unwanted child.
You say that you follow the tenets of ethics that demand “fairness and accuracy.” You have violated both of those in this piece of writing. “Accuracy” is not selective; “fairness” is absent when reporting is done to focus on negatives.
You are a woman. How can you do this??