Hi Jessica, I’m a new commenter but long-time reader. Thank you for doing this work. I used to be Medicare’s lead enforcer on EMTALA (a long time ago), so I am interested in the emergency abortion group of issues. I recently wrote an op ed with Linda Spar in Arizona’s Copper Courier about the SCOTUS EMTALA/abortion cases. For purposes of another legal article on emergency care I am working on, could you tell me whether there have been any prosecutions of doctors for abortions in the U.S.? I know women have been prosecuted for taking drugs, miscarriage management, etc. Much appreciated if you can! Would also appreciate insights from other commenters. Best,Gloria
Jessica, have you seen that Montana’s HHS is trying to sue to put in place TRAP laws, (in 2024?!)? It feels like such a last ditch effort to enshrine restrictions that would then have to be undone if we vote to amend the state constitution. MT Republicans are super gross & desperate people
"Montana Republicans --also tried-- to keep abortion rights off the ballot this Fall by rejecting signatures from a pro-choice petition. They claimed that some of the signatures were from “inactive” voters—voters who didn’t cast a ballot in the previous federal general election and didn’t return an election notice confirming their address."
"What makes someone an ‘inactive’ voter in Montana? Not much. You’re deemed ‘inactive’ if you didn’t cast a ballot in the previous federal general election and neglected to return an election notice confirming your current address. Tellingly, inactive voters have been considered ‘qualified electors’ able to sign ballot petitions for years in Montana. It’s just now, coincidentally, that Republicans decided those signatures shouldn’t be counted."
I Googled "what is an inactive voter" and got several results relating to various states and counties. Very strange. You are still considered to be registered, but cannot vote or otherwise participate in some way until you confirm your address. There seems to be variations in different locations. I guess if you have voted regularly, then you are always active. But how do they determine this? It suggests that your government is always monitoring your voting activity. Which is OK, I guess, since registration itself is necessary for election integrity.
It seems like signing an initiative should be the same thing as confirming your address. It should be the same thing as becoming an active voter. How would that be different from going through some other process?
The WaPo has a close up look at the ordeal of pregnancy and giving birth in Arkansas. Damn Sarah Huckster Sanders and her so-called pro-life stance.
"In November, two hospitals in the region abruptly closed their birthing units, sending patients like Sa’Ryiah scrambling to find a new obstetrician. And now she was in an ambulance at midnight, speeding through dark pine forests on a tense half-hour trip to a bigger hospital. Doctors were able to get her stabilized and eventually sent her home."
"With a ride that long, 'anything could have happened,' said Hajime White, one of the teen’s doulas. 'When hospitals are turning you away and you have to go on to the next one, any complication can develop whether you’re in an ambulance or not. You’re putting the mother at risk and the baby at risk.' "
Regarding Arkansas Supreme Court - if you are voting in AR vote for Karen Baker for Chief Justice. She wrote the dissent for the Arkansas Supreme Court decision. If you are voting in AR please consider following her on her social (which could use some updates & help from what I have seen) and help lift her up. We have to stand beside and back the people in positions of power who stand up for Choice.
Free speech is indeed free speech. If you claim that you have a way of "curing" homosexuality and wish to set up a business to that end or write a book advancing your point of view, then your free speech protects your right to do that. But if you are a licensed counselor or medical doctor, you have some accountability to the law and medical authorities. Free speech protects your right to be wrong, but it does not protect you from accountability where such things oversee you personally or legally.
It seems we live in this awful reality. Religious fanatics won't let us go back to normal life based on the separation between church and state any time soon. Wish I lived in France where they enshrined women's rights into law.
The Society of Family Planning is hiring an assistant to its Executive Director (application deadline September 13) and is accepting applications for fellows in reproductive health care and advocacy (a one-year fellowship for family medicine practitioners) to provide and advocate for equitable reproductive health care, including abortion; deadline is September 30. See the Society of Family Planning weekly update at Societyfp.org.
The Society has joined in amicus briefs in Planned Parenthood of Montana v. Montana, challenging the state's unnecessary requirement of ultrasound prior to abortion and the scientific validity of the 20-week limit, and in Arizona Right to Life v. Fontes, about the need for access to abortion care and the need to make the decision up to the patient and clinician.
Welcome back Jessica! I hope you are refreshed and rested. You said "The next two months are going to be intense ones..."
That might be understood to imply that after Kama is elected, we can relax. THAT WOULD BE A HUGE MISTAKE. If the past decade has not taught us anything, it should have taught us that we cannot take anything for granted, and we will need to be insisting on our (full, no governmental interference; no gestational or viability limits) human rights. 2025 will be a year to fight, fight, fight.
What happened in Arkansas was much worse than the ballot initiative being denied. There were 3 ballot initiatives up for ballot inclusion in November - anti-casino gambling, abortion and medical marijuana - and each of them was handled by the state in very different ways. From a legal perspective, understanding what they’re up to is crucial. Here’s a great explainer about all that went down. I
Where does screaming into someone's face cross the line to verbal assault?
Hi Jessica, I’m a new commenter but long-time reader. Thank you for doing this work. I used to be Medicare’s lead enforcer on EMTALA (a long time ago), so I am interested in the emergency abortion group of issues. I recently wrote an op ed with Linda Spar in Arizona’s Copper Courier about the SCOTUS EMTALA/abortion cases. For purposes of another legal article on emergency care I am working on, could you tell me whether there have been any prosecutions of doctors for abortions in the U.S.? I know women have been prosecuted for taking drugs, miscarriage management, etc. Much appreciated if you can! Would also appreciate insights from other commenters. Best,Gloria
Jessica, have you seen that Montana’s HHS is trying to sue to put in place TRAP laws, (in 2024?!)? It feels like such a last ditch effort to enshrine restrictions that would then have to be undone if we vote to amend the state constitution. MT Republicans are super gross & desperate people
https://www.ktvq.com/news/montana-news/montana-designs-new-hurdles-for-abortion-clinics-ahead-of-vote-to-protect-access
Ad from Lincoln Project guys (they are really good).
KH mentioned the surveillance thing in her speech and aptly called out 'they are out of their mind.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FGIyxhGkvo
"Montana Republicans --also tried-- to keep abortion rights off the ballot this Fall by rejecting signatures from a pro-choice petition. They claimed that some of the signatures were from “inactive” voters—voters who didn’t cast a ballot in the previous federal general election and didn’t return an election notice confirming their address."
From the link, --also tried-- https://jessica.substack.com/p/the-will-of-the-people-except-on
"What makes someone an ‘inactive’ voter in Montana? Not much. You’re deemed ‘inactive’ if you didn’t cast a ballot in the previous federal general election and neglected to return an election notice confirming your current address. Tellingly, inactive voters have been considered ‘qualified electors’ able to sign ballot petitions for years in Montana. It’s just now, coincidentally, that Republicans decided those signatures shouldn’t be counted."
I Googled "what is an inactive voter" and got several results relating to various states and counties. Very strange. You are still considered to be registered, but cannot vote or otherwise participate in some way until you confirm your address. There seems to be variations in different locations. I guess if you have voted regularly, then you are always active. But how do they determine this? It suggests that your government is always monitoring your voting activity. Which is OK, I guess, since registration itself is necessary for election integrity.
It seems like signing an initiative should be the same thing as confirming your address. It should be the same thing as becoming an active voter. How would that be different from going through some other process?
The WaPo has a close up look at the ordeal of pregnancy and giving birth in Arkansas. Damn Sarah Huckster Sanders and her so-called pro-life stance.
"In November, two hospitals in the region abruptly closed their birthing units, sending patients like Sa’Ryiah scrambling to find a new obstetrician. And now she was in an ambulance at midnight, speeding through dark pine forests on a tense half-hour trip to a bigger hospital. Doctors were able to get her stabilized and eventually sent her home."
"With a ride that long, 'anything could have happened,' said Hajime White, one of the teen’s doulas. 'When hospitals are turning you away and you have to go on to the next one, any complication can develop whether you’re in an ambulance or not. You’re putting the mother at risk and the baby at risk.' "
No paywall:
https://wapo.st/3ZjTQAj
Thanks for the gift link! What a powerful article.
Regarding Arkansas Supreme Court - if you are voting in AR vote for Karen Baker for Chief Justice. She wrote the dissent for the Arkansas Supreme Court decision. If you are voting in AR please consider following her on her social (which could use some updates & help from what I have seen) and help lift her up. We have to stand beside and back the people in positions of power who stand up for Choice.
"District Judge John Sinatra Jr. said that free speech is protected even when that speech is false." Sounds like fraud to me.
Abso-fucking lutely, the con artist is protected to cause harm?
Free speech is indeed free speech. If you claim that you have a way of "curing" homosexuality and wish to set up a business to that end or write a book advancing your point of view, then your free speech protects your right to do that. But if you are a licensed counselor or medical doctor, you have some accountability to the law and medical authorities. Free speech protects your right to be wrong, but it does not protect you from accountability where such things oversee you personally or legally.
So....I can now yell "FIRE" in a crowded venue simply because I believe my fire deity must be acknowledged?
My head hurts
Eff those jerks in Arkansas...
....With a railroad tie!
This should never have happened in the first place. I am so angry.
Sometimes I wonder when people who were not raised rightwing Catholic, or in conservative evangelical misogynist homes, when will we be free again?
It seems we live in this awful reality. Religious fanatics won't let us go back to normal life based on the separation between church and state any time soon. Wish I lived in France where they enshrined women's rights into law.
New video from the Tennessee Freedom Circle about the effects of two years of an abortion ban: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gomGJe3ZwxY
The Society of Family Planning is hiring an assistant to its Executive Director (application deadline September 13) and is accepting applications for fellows in reproductive health care and advocacy (a one-year fellowship for family medicine practitioners) to provide and advocate for equitable reproductive health care, including abortion; deadline is September 30. See the Society of Family Planning weekly update at Societyfp.org.
The Society has joined in amicus briefs in Planned Parenthood of Montana v. Montana, challenging the state's unnecessary requirement of ultrasound prior to abortion and the scientific validity of the 20-week limit, and in Arizona Right to Life v. Fontes, about the need for access to abortion care and the need to make the decision up to the patient and clinician.
Thank you.
The refresh looks great! Welcome back!
Welcome back Jessica! I hope you are refreshed and rested. You said "The next two months are going to be intense ones..."
That might be understood to imply that after Kama is elected, we can relax. THAT WOULD BE A HUGE MISTAKE. If the past decade has not taught us anything, it should have taught us that we cannot take anything for granted, and we will need to be insisting on our (full, no governmental interference; no gestational or viability limits) human rights. 2025 will be a year to fight, fight, fight.
What happened in Arkansas was much worse than the ballot initiative being denied. There were 3 ballot initiatives up for ballot inclusion in November - anti-casino gambling, abortion and medical marijuana - and each of them was handled by the state in very different ways. From a legal perspective, understanding what they’re up to is crucial. Here’s a great explainer about all that went down. I
https://adamunikowsky.substack.com/p/they-didnt-submit-a-photocopy-that?