The Week In Abortion
6.3.24 - 6.7.24
Republican Extremism
If there was a trend in abortion news this week, GOP extremism was it. We watched Republican lawmakers attack OBGYNs at a Senate committee hearing, showcase anti-abortion extremists promoting junk science and forced c-sections, and tank a bill trying to establish federal protections for birth control.
Abortion, Every Day reported directly from the Senate abortion rights hearing, where Republicans hosted Christina Francis, the president of the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG), as their star witness. There’s no overstating how radical Francis’ beliefs are. She thinks children should be forced to give birth, that women should be made to carry nonviable pregnancies to term, that abortion is never necessary to save someone’s life, and that those with life-threatening pregnancies should be forced into vaginal labor or c-sections, even before fetal viability. (Click here for AED’s full profile of Francis.)
Then, of course, there’s her beliefs on birth control. Like many anti-abortion activists, Francis believes that certain kinds of contraception are actually ‘abortifacients’ despite all evidence to the contrary. When pushed by Sen. Patty Murray in an incredible moment of questioning, Francis even admitted as much.
As AED noted this week, this is a really big deal: The GOP’s star witness, the person they brought to represent their stance on reproductive rights, thinks birth control is actually ‘abortion.’ For anyone who thinks connecting Francis’ views to those of Republicans is a reach, consider this: Mere days later, GOP lawmakers refused to support the Right to Contraception Act. Instead, they offered their own bill—legislation that excluded emergency contraception from protections because, they said, the medication “ended” a pregnancy.
And there it is: Republicans admitting they classify emergency contraception as an abortifacient. (The more we harp on this, the better: a poll from Americans for Contraception found that 64% of voters were less likely to support Republican candidates after being told they opposed a federal bill to protect birth control.)
Given the unapologetic extremism on display this week, you can imagine how furious I was to hear Sen. Bill Cassidy accuse doctors and Democrats of “fear-mongering” about the consequences of abortion bans. Republicans continue to claim that everything has been just fine since Roe was overturned, desperate to gaslight voters and shirk blame. But as I wrote in my column last night, there’s no such thing as plausible deniability when it comes to abortion bans:
One more thing in Republican extremism: Donald Trump is still out there pretending to be “moderate” on abortion. And mainstream media continues to help him. After the disgraced former president gave an interview to Sean Hannity at Fox News, the takeaway at other outlets was that Trump said Republicans’ extremism and inability to talk about abortion had hurt the party. But in the same interview, Trump also made the claim that Democrats are “passing legislation where you can execute the baby after birth.”
That’s hardly a ‘reasonable’ or ‘moderate’ stance, but somehow that extremism gets ignored.
State News
A federal judge blocked some of North Carolina’s laws restricting access to abortion medication and dictating how it can be dispensed. The ruling struck down a mandate that patients must obtain the pills in person and that only doctors can prescribe them. However, the judge also upheld a requirement that patients have an in-person consultation 72 hours in advance of taking the pills.
The decision comes at a moment when Republicans across the country are trying to limit access to the medication, knowing that thousands of women a month are obtaining the pills via telehealth regardless of their states’ laws.
Also in North Carolina: Atty. Gen. Josh Stein—who is running for governor—released a campaign ad featuring opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson chastising women who have abortions as not being “responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
The three Republican women in South Carolina who voted against the state’s abortion ban are being punished by the party: The Post & Courier reports that Sens. Sandy Senn, Katrina Shealy and Penry Gustafson are all facing male primary challengers this November.
In South Dakota this week, a new poll showed the abortion rights amendment making its way to voters has a near-20 point lead over the opposition. A survey by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota found that 53% of respondents support the pro-choice measure, while only 35% opposed it. (Also interesting: nearly half of Republicans support the measure!)
It’s been a little over a month since Florida’s 6-week abortion ban went into effect, leaving patients across the South without access. Teen Vogue reported on what it’s like for doctors and patients in the wake of the ban, with one clinic reporting that in the first few weeks they had to turn away 75% of their patients.
Abortion funds and providers in other states are doing their best to help: Providers in Illinois report an increase in patients from the state, and the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF) says that they’ve seen a 460% increase in callers from Florida.
Post-Roe Care Crisis
We saw lots of reminders this week of just how bad the OBGYN exodus has gotten in states with abortion bans. A study from the Association of American Medical Colleges showed a decline in medical residency applications to anti-choice states across specialties—indicating that all types of doctors don’t want to practice in places with severe bans. But it was OBGYN residency applications in particular that saw the most stark decreases, especially in states with the strictest anti-abortion laws.
In Alabama, for example, there was a 21.2% drop in OBGYN residency applications since Dobbs. Louisiana saw a nearly-18% drop, and Missouri had a 25% decrease.
Pamela Merritt, executive director of Medical Students for Choice, said states with bans are reaping what they sow:
“I don’t know anybody who’s invested close to half a million dollars in their education who wants to walk into a residency program in a state where people with absolutely no background in medicine are drafting regulations that deny your ability to care for your patients.”
National News
This week, Democrats didn’t just put pressure on Republicans when it came to birth control. In addition to their vote on federal protections for contraception, Democratic Senators also introduced legislation to protect IVF—reminding voters that the GOP’s extremism on reproductive rights will have a broad impact on people’s lives. (Remember, it was just a few weeks ago that Republicans introduced a nonsense IVF ‘protection’ bill that would actually allow states to restrict the practice.)
Meanwhile, anti-abortion powerhouse Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is advising GOP candidates to be loud and proud about their anti-abortion views, warning them against “the ostrich strategy.” The move comes in response to ever-more Republicans trying to soften their public image on abortion.
In other anti-abortion strategy news, there’s an increasing effort to make extremists who violate the FACE Act seem like they’re the real victims. A group of activists who pushed their way into a Washington DC clinic—blocking access and harassing patients—were recently sentenced to prison. But misinformation going around social media and being published in conservative outlets claim that elderly women “in poor health” are being sent to jail “for praying.”
This is happening at the same time that anti-abortion lawmakers and activists are trying to do away buffer zones outside of clinics and repeal the FACE Act.
The ACLU will spend over $25 million in state races across the country as part of their plan to “go on offense” on abortion rights. The group will also put money towards abortion rights ballot measures heading to voters this November.
Finally, watch a short NBC News doc about the anti-abortion activist traveling town to town to help city councils pass local travel bans. (Most recently Mark Lee Dickson has been in Texas, where some incredible folks in Amarillo are trying to stop him.)
Abortion Ban Consequences
We saw post-Roe horror stories reported this week in Arkansas and Texas, where women had their health and lives endangered by abortion bans.
You never get used to hearing these stories, and they’re horrible to think about—but I continue to think that the least we can do is bear witness to the suffering that abortion bans are causing.
The Arkansas Times reported this week about a woman who was forced to carry a dying fetus, even as the pregnancy put her health and life increasingly at risk:
“Under Arkansas’s near-total abortion ban, no exceptions are allowed, even when death or grave suffering for the fetus is assured. Each week, [Theresa] Lee had to show up to her ultrasound appointments, only to observe her slowly dying child. ‘I was grieving her while she was still alive,’ Lee said. ‘I just wanted that closure.’”
And in Texas, Ryan Hamilton is speaking out about the nightmare his wife endured trying to get miscarriage treatment. She was denied care even when her fetus didn’t have a heartbeat. You can watch his interview with CBS News here.
It makes sense that one of the women who sued Texas over its abortion ban, Jessica Bernardo, warned other pregnant people in the state this week:
“If you’re at risk for that heart-breaking tragedy, have that money set aside for your need to travel out of state in order to save your life or your vital organs.”
The consequences of abortion bans on display this week wasn’t just limited to horror stories of care denied. I told you this week about a new report from the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which revealed just how serious the impact from bans has been on domestic violence victims. Read Jezebel’s reporting on the study, which showed not just how many women are pressured or forced into pregnancy—but how abusive partners weaponize fear of abortion bans and arrest to stop their victims from getting care.
In Case You Missed It
There’s plenty going on in abortion rights that we didn’t see news on this week, so just a few important stories to remember and keep an eye on:
One of the nation’s leading anti-abortion activists, Ingrid Skop, was placed on the Texas maternal mortality committee. This comes at the same time that the Texas Supreme Court ruled that there’s nothing wrong with the state’s ban despite women’s lives being endangered.
After Louisiana Republicans passed a law classifying abortion medication as a controlled substance, anti-abortion activists plan to use the strategy as a model across the country.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee recently signed an anti-abortion travel ban—legislation that we’re seeing modeled in multiple states.
And in national news to watch out for: Republicans recently adopted the ridiculous claim that mifepristone is poisoning the environment via wastewater. They know that Americans overwhelmingly want abortion to be legal, so they’re throwing anything they can at the wall.
For more recap news, check out the previous issue of “The Week in Abortion”:
“The Week in Abortion” was compiled with the help of AED researcher Grace Haley.
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