Republicans Introduce National “Catch Kit” Bill

3.19.26

Click to skip ahead: Republicans Introduce National “Catch Kit” Bill; In the States: Kansas, Texas, & More; Thank You, Massachusetts; Ballot Box: Wisconsin & Missouri; In the Nation: Planned Parenthood Remains Defunded, ICE Has Deported Hundreds of Pregnant Women

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Republicans Introduce National “Catch Kit” Bill

U.S. House Republicans have introduced legislation that would make it illegal for women to flush their miscarriage or abortion remains when using mifepristone. The Clean Water for All Life Act, introduced by Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, would instead require women to use “catch kits” when their pregnancy is ending—forcing them to bag up that tissue and blood and bring it back to the doctor as medical waste.

Mary. No. ✋(·•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ )

Rep. Miller insists that her legislation will “protect both human dignity and America’s water systems,” but regular readers know what’s happening here. For years, Abortion, Every Day has been tracking other ‘catch kit’ bills—like this one that we flagged in Wisconsin last year—along with state legislation that would test the groundwater for abortion pills and hormones associated with birth control and gender-affirming care.

The short version is that anti-abortion activists claim that abortion medication, hormones—and even pregnancy remains—are polluting our water supply. I mean, who could forget the “we’re all drinking other people’s abortions” lady?

And while Politico reports that Miller’s legislation is the “first federal bill” that weaponizes environmental laws to attack abortion rights, that’s actually not true. AED discovered a similar piece of federal legislation last summer: the “Respectful Treatment of Unborn Remains Act,” which would have punished abortion providers with five years in prison for disposing of fetal remains “in publicly owned water systems.”

In fact, our friend Mary sponsored that legislation, as well!

Here’s the thing: for as long as we’ve been reporting on these bills, the response has been almost universal: this will never happen. We’ve been assured over and over again that these bills are too extreme and ridiculous to ever go anywhere.

That, of course, is what they said about bills to punish abortion patients as murderers, too—that they were a non-starter. But now ‘equal protection’ legislation has been introduced in over a dozen states and is increasingly part of the national conversation.

The common denominator for all of these efforts is the punishment and cruelty. Requiring women to use ‘catch kits’ has nothing to do with saving America’s water, and everything to do with humiliation. Anti-abortion activists hate that abortion pills allow women to sidestep their bans, and to avoid the gauntlet of protesters outside of clinics.

They want women who end their pregnancies at home to be shamed, and what better way to do that than to force them to bag up their own blood?

Republicans' Lie that Abortion Pills are Poisoning the Water, Explained

In the States: Kansas, Texas, & More

It was just two days ago that we warned about Republicans’ plan to make anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers untouchable: lawmakers in multiple states are advancing legislation crafted by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) that would outlaw state regulation of CPCs.

On Wednesday, Kansas passed its version of the “CARE Act,” sending the extreme legislation to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly for her signature—or, we hope, for her veto. Similar legislation is advancing in Oklahoma and New Hampshire.

For more background on this particular legislative trend, read our coverage here and here.

Also make sure to check out this column in the Austin-American Statesman about how Texas’ abortion ban has led to a serious brain drain. Which makes sense! As writer Laura Franco points out, nearly 1 in 5 people who want children have moved—or know someone who has—because of abortion restrictions, and 62% of adults under 35 say they would avoid living in states with abortion bans.

Since Texas passed its ban, new residents are coming in at the smallest rate in twenty years—and research from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that states with bans have lost over 52,000 residents per quarter. Unsurprisingly, that’s especially true when it comes to young people.

Americans, especially those just starting their lives and families, don’t want to live in places where pregnancy could kill them or their loved ones. How many times do we have to remind folks that abortion access is an economic issue??

Quick hits:

• Arkansas is considering proposals for the state “monument to the unborn,” including “an empty tomb, an enlarged fertilized egg and a horned figure lurking around a woman.” Ewwyuck.

• Read more about the Ohio bill we’ve been covering that would mandate every pregnancy be registered with the state health department;

• And Axios has a piece on the way Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has consolidated control of the state Democratic Party.

Thank You, Massachusetts

Not everyone will see this as good news, but we sure do: WBUR reports that the number of abortions provided by Massachusetts doctors and nurse practitioners doubled in 2024—thanks in large part to providers shipping pills to patients in banned states.

Data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health shows that 82% of abortions reported by Massachusetts providers were done via medication, 62% were provided using telehealth, and just over half happened outside of the state. Hopefully WBUR won’t mind that we borrowed a few of their graphs:

This is why shield laws—and telehealth access to abortion pills—are so important. There are small groups of providers in every pro-choice state just working their asses off to make sure women can get care. In Massachusetts, it’s largely the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, or MAP. From co-founder Dr. Angel Foster:

“What a huge role a small state like Massachusetts is playing in ensuring that women and other pregnancy capable people throughout the country are getting the abortion care they need.”

Foster told the Boston Globe that 95 percent of her patients live in banned states, and that MAP only asks patients to “pay as much as you can afford”—with a minimum payment of $5.

And remember, these are the providers that states like Louisiana and Texas are targeting with criminal and civil suits—both to intimidate them out of providing care, and to bring a legal challenge against shield laws. Fuck that. To donate to MAP, click here.

Ballot Box: Wisconsin & Missouri

We told you Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race would be about abortion again! Judge Chris Taylor has released two new ads highlighting her pro-choice record while slamming Maria Lazar for her opposition to abortion—and her ties to groups that would deny even rape victims access to emergency contraception.

One spot features a nurse saying, “Maria Lazar boasts about her support from radical anti-abortion extremists who oppose giving emergency contraception to survivors of sexual assault.” Whew. You can watch the second ad below:

Lazar has been endorsed by both Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro-Life Wisconsin, though she’s been trying to distance herself from anti-abortion extremism. (That’s hard to do when someone leaks audio of you calling for a near-total abortion ban.)

This race will be the third state Supreme Court election since the end of Roe. Abortion played a major role in the last two elections, and last year, the Elon Musk-backed candidate lost after running a wildly misogynist campaign—accusing the court’s liberal, female justices of being too emotional to rule on abortion rights.

Meanwhile, deceit is the name of the game for Missouri Republicans this election year: they’ve forced an abortion ban onto the ballot—a measure that would reverse the 2024 amendment that protected abortion rights. (Or, at least, that was supposed to.) Since the GOP knows full well that voters support abortion rights, they’ve given their anti-choice ballot measure the same name as that 2024 pro-choice measure: Amendment 3.

But that’s not all…

In addition to making the ballot measure sound almost pro-choice, Republicans added language that would “prohibit gender transition procedures for minors.”

This is abhorrent for so many reasons—not just because trans youth should absolutely have access to health care, but also because Republicans are using that framing so they can more quietly target abortion.

This week, new polling from St. Louis University/YouGov indicates the tactic could have legs: While Republicans’ anti-abortion measure had 47% support, 67% of respondents opposed gender-affirming care for minors. It’s a sickening strategy, but completely in line with what we’ve seen from Republicans since Dobbs. In fact, anti-abortion groups have tried to use anti-trans bigotry in nearly every state where abortion has been on the ballot in the last few years.

They can’t accept the popularity of abortion rights, they refuse to accept—or adhere to—the pro-choice measures that win. And they see attacking children—whether it’s minors’ access to abortion or gender-affirming care—as the most salient path forward.

In the Nation: Planned Parenthood Remains Defunded, ICE Has Deported Hundreds of Pregnant Women

Last year, a coalition of nearly two dozen states led by California sued the Trump administration over a budget law that defunds Planned Parenthood and other organizations for providing abortion care. On Tuesday, that coalition quietly dropped their lawsuit.

This move was largely expected, especially after Planned Parenthood dropped their own suit earlier this year. California AG Rob Bonta’s office tells AED they reached this decision “after much thought and consideration,” adding:

“With the Defund Provision set to expire on July 4, 2026—less than four months away—we must stop Congressional Republicans from making it permanent. Midterm elections are around the corner, and the American people won’t forget if they go down that path.”

In December, Planned Parenthood’s case was dealt a blow when a federal court sided with the Trump administration. Shortly after, the organization announced that their primary mission is to help patients get care, but “it is clear that this lawsuit is no longer the best way to accomplish that goal.”

Since the ‘defund’ provision took effect, Planned Parenthood clinics across the country have been forced to close—including in states where abortion is legal. Some of these centers were the sole healthcare provider in the community. And while some states are proactively working to fill the void in federal funding, people in other states aren’t so lucky.

To Bonta’s point, large swaths of the country losing access to crucial health care should absolutely be a sticking point in a major election year. And with the budget law set to expire this summer, we absolutely cannot allow a similar law pass again.

The administration’s attacks on our reproductive rights are relentless. Thanks to an inquiry from Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, the Department of Homeland Security revealed alarming details about how ICE is treating pregnant women. The 19th reports that between January 1, 2025, and February 16:

• 363 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women were deported;

• 16 women miscarried in detention;

• 121 pregnant women are in detention centers—nine in their third trimester.

Pregnant immigrant women detained by ICE report brutal conditions—including being denied health care, adequate sanitary conditions, and food. The administration is also reportedly sending pregnant, unaccompanied minors to one facility in South Texas—where abortion is banned—to force them to give birth. Many of these children were impregnated by rape.

There’s absolutely nothing ‘pro-life’ about any of this.