Utah's Mandatory Abortion 'Quiz'

5.23.24

Click to skip ahead: Utah’s Abortion Quiz is just as bad as it sounds like. In the States, Louisiana passed a bill classifying abortion medication as a controlled substance. In the Nation, Senate Democrats plan to force Republicans’ hand on contraception access. 2024 news looks at how Trump is still running from abortion rights. Finally, Stats & Studies show that vasectomy rates increased among military members after Roe was overturned.

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Utah’s Abortion Quiz

Just when I think it’s impossible to shock me, student journalists at the University of Utah prove me very, very wrong. Did you know that in order to obtain an abortion in Utah, you need to take an anti-choice workshop and online quiz? I sure didn’t!

Caroline Krum and Abhilasha Khatri atThe Daily Utah Chronicle take readers through the process of the shaming online “module” that’s required of those seeking abortions. Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services hosts the online lesson, mandating that women get a “certificate of completion” before they can access care:

“The required module includes preliminary questions asking about the length of the pregnancy and whether the pregnancy was a result of rape, followed by four sections: childbirth, abortion, adoption and aid resources. Each of the sections ends with one to two quiz questions.”

Jasmin Charles, adjunct assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah, tells the student journalists that the module is “all related to manipulation and one more attempt to make people feel bad about making a healthcare choice.”

Indeed, after patients answer the first set of questions, they’re treated to this picture:

In every section of the module, the state health department relays false information about abortion and scare tactics. Again and again, women are forced to click on quiz questions that tell them abortion is dangerous and could cause everything from “puncturing of the uterus” to depression.

It was this question below, though, that sent me over the edge. It came at the end of a section featuring animated videos of different abortion procedures. After the videos, women are forced to ‘admit’ that they’re causing the “death” of their pregnancy:

If you can stomach it, you should read the full article. In a moment when we’re overwhelmed focusing on states with extreme bans, this is the kind of thing that falls through the cracks: the everyday humiliations women are expected to endure even in states where abortion is ostensibly legal. Insanity.

In the States

Well, they did it: the Louisiana legislature passed a bill today classifying abortion medication as a controlled substance. That legislation now goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it.

Yesterday I outlined the dangers of this bill—including the chilling effect it will have on doctors, and what it means for women’s privacy. Remember, controlled substances are tracked in a state database along with the patients who use them and the doctors who prescribe them. From Louisiana reproductive health law attorney Ellie Schilling:

“The State of Louisiana would effectively be creating a database of prescriptions for every woman who is prescribed mifepristone and misoprostol, regardless of the reason, truly monitoring women and their pregnancies. That should be unimaginable in America.”

Then, of course, there’s the danger this poses to pregnant people’s health. As Lift Louisiana executive director Michelle Erenberg tells The New York Times, when it comes to miscarriages and other bleeding, “things can change for the worse very quickly,” and providers won’t be able to “quickly call in a prescription for these medications the way that they currently are able to do.”

Always eager to add insult to injury, Republicans claim that they’re doing all of this to protect women; and that abusers are frequently using the medication to harm their victims.

Louisiana Sen. Thomas Pressly says “his is the right step for making sure that the criminal action on the front end is stopped.” In a new release, Caitlin Connors of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America claims, “the drugs in question will still be available for prescription for legitimate medical reasons—like miscarriage care—but will be harder for abusers to obtain.” And a ‘pro-life’ news outlet covered the news with a headline declaring, “Louisiana passes bill to stopped forced abortions on women.”

I know you know this, but I’m going to say it anyway: These people do not care about protecting anyone. If they did, they might actually give a shit about the women going septic and child rape victims being forced to give birth. Using rhetoric around protecting abuse victims is the same nonsense they’ve pulled with calling their travel bans ‘anti-trafficking’ laws. It’s offensive.

Here’s the good news: The reason that Republicans are so eager to criminalize abortion medication and implement a culture of fear around the pills is because women in anti-abortion states are getting abortion medication mailed to them from pro-choice states. In fact, a study released last week showed that 8,000 patients a month in states with bans were having abortion medication sent from doctors in shield states. Republcians’ hope is that a law like this will scare those women out of seeking care.

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If you or someone you know you know needs abortion medication, there’s a list of resources at the end of this email that can help. To donate to an abortion fund in Louisiana, click here.

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I told you yesterday about the absolutely bonkers news that anti-abortion activist, Ingrid Skop, was appointed to the Texas maternal mortality committee. Skop, who is part of the leadership at the Charlotte Lozier Institute isn’t just biased, but dangerous:

• As The Guardian points out, Skop has argued that rape victims as young as nine or 10 years-old have reached “sexual maturity” and “can safely give birth.”

• She recommends forced vaginal deliveries and c-sections for those who have life-threatening pregnancies.

• Skop believes women should be forced to carry nonviable pregnancies because “it's heartbreaking, but it's beautiful too.” She says, “Life doesn’t always give us what we want."

• She wants maternal death reports to include "abortion-related" deaths from "suicide, substance abuse, risk-taking, and other self-destructive behaviors.”

Given all of this wackiness, how does the Associated Press describe Skop in a headline about her appointment? As “an outspoken anti-abortion OB-GYN.” This is what normalization looks like.

For better media coverage of Texas maternal mortality committee, check out Eleanor Klibanoff at the Texas Tribune, who reminds us that Skop signed an affidavit swearing that Kate Cox didn’t qualify for an abortion (despite having never treated her). Charming.

The Tallahassee Democrat looks at the rape ‘exception’ in Florida’s 6-week abortion ban, and how it’s written in such a way that makes it impossible for doctors to adhere to. You know what I think about ‘exceptions’ in general, but the ban in Florida is particularly egregious. Not only does the law require women and girls to bring some kind of “proof” or documentation that they’ve been attacked, reporter Ana Goñi-Lessan points out that there’s no way for doctors to know what constitutes a ‘rape’ under state law.

That’s because Florida’s statutes don’t include a definition of rape—just sexual battery. That means there’s no legal definition for doctors to use when deciding whether a patient qualifies for the ban’s exception. I hate writing that sentence at all; it’s downright fucking absurd that physicians are meant to figure out whether a patient is a rape victim, putting their freedom on the line in the process. (Not to mention, not all doctors are good doctors: imagine some terrible misogynist having that kind of power over a person!)

In better news, the Illinois Senate passed legislation today expanding the state’s shield law. The existing shield law, passed in 2023, protects abortion providers and patients from out-of-state investigations. The now-expanded protections cover billing records, location information, and allow minors from any state to apply for public funding for abortion. If a patient or provider’s information is shared, the bill allows them to bring forward a civil suit.

Also in Illinois, the state House has passed a bill to protects emergency abortion, in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling on EMTALA.

Finally, The Los Angeles Times has a profile of the Arizona Supreme Court justice who voted in favor of the state’s 1864 abortion ban, and his wife, one of the three Republican legislators who voted to repeal the law. Lets be clear though: Sen. Shawnna Bolick didn’t vote to undo the 1864 ban because she was horrified by the draconian law—but because she was swayed by national Republicans who were terrified over what the ban would mean for November.

Quick hits:

• An Oregon Republican who voted in favor of abortion rights and gender-affirming care has lost his seat;

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that allows Arizona abortion providers to give AZ patients care in California;

• And Danielle Campoamor writes in The Washington Post about her decision to move to South Dakota despite the state’s total abortion ban.

In the Nation

This is smart: Senate Democrats plan to force Republicans to vote on contraception access next month—a wise move in a moment when the GOP is desperate to hide their extremism from voters.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this week, “Now more than ever, contraception is a critical piece of protecting women’s reproductive freedoms, standing as nothing short of a vital lifeline for millions of American women across the country.”

This comes after Democrats released an interview clip of Donald Trump saying that he was open to restricting access to birth control—though you know what I think that was really about.

It says a lot about the state of the Republican party that Democrats can put pressure on them with a simple birth control bill. But as law professor Mary Ziegler told ABC News, contraception isn’t a straightforward issue for Republicans:

“That’s why a lot of right-to-contraception bills have been failing in both Congress and the states. Contraception is more contested than most people understand it to be.”

For more on Republicans and contraception read Part I and Part II of Abortion, Every Day’s “The GOP’s Plan to Ban Birth Control,” and “The GOP’s Birth Control Problem.”

Finally, if you’re looking for something to listen to, KFF Health News’ latest “What the Health” episode gets into what happened this week in abortion rights news:

Quick hits:

• NPR with some quick facts on the abortion rights landscape;

• All Things Considered on how Joe Biden and Donald Trump have shifted their stances on abortion;

• The Hill on the 6,000 doctors calling on the Supreme Court to uphold EMTALA;

• Finally, an anti-abortion activist was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in an abortion clinic blockade in Washington, D.C.. This is the latest in several recent sentences handed out over violations of the FACE Act.

2024

Abortion is taking center stage in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race. Republican Larry Hogan, a former two-term governor, is now saying he is “pro-choice” in order to preempt any Democratic attacks about abortion as he runs for U.S. Senate. In fact, Hogan’s campaign put out a television ad with the Catholic Republican promising to make Roe “the law of the land in every state.”

Hogan’s Democratic opponent, Angela D. Alsobrooks, has made clear she believes that he can’t be trusted. Alsobrooks has also said she’d support the Women’s Health Protection Act:

"There is nothing extreme about our perspective that we deserve unequivocally the right to make decisions about our own bodies, to decide about abortion care, to decide about reproductive freedoms, and we do not want this caucus of Republicans to come together and ban abortion.”

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is still trying to run from abortion and his party’s deeply unpopular stance on abortion rights. NBC News reports that Trump’s campaign is worried specifically about the Republican National Committee (RNC) platform—and that any changes don’t go too far to the right on abortion. From Shiree Verdone, co-chair of Trump’s campaign in Arizona:

“They are definitely worried about who is getting on those committees…Trying to get normal folks on the platform and Rules [committees], but God knows if there’s any normal people in that delegation.”

(Imagine bemoaning a lack of “normal” people while campaigning for Trump.)

In related news, Amy B. Wang at The Washington Post writes that Trump’s attempt to neutralize the abortion issue by saying he’d leave it up to the states “has only continued to trip up the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.”

“Trump’s frequent and often vague statements about reproductive rights have kept the matter at the fore in a critical election year—and have given Biden and Democrats ample opportunities to attack Trump for seeking to erode reproductive rights.”

The downside for the president however, is that Trump’s constant equivocation has confused some voters: remember the poll showing that 17% of Americans hold Joe Biden responsible for the end of Roe?

Sarah Dohl of the progressive group Indivisible says, “Trump’s strategy is clear: sow chaos and uncertainty on his unpopular positions and ride a wave of misinformation back to the White House.”

I hate to be a broken record, but this is why it’s so important that mainstream media outlets aren’t repeating Trump’s lies about being “moderate” on abortion.

Stats & Studies

A new study shows that after the end of Roe, vasectomy rates increased among military patients a whopping 22.1% compared to averages from past years. The study, published in the Journal of Impotence Research, also found that the service-members most likely to get the procedure were younger—between 18 and 29 years-old.

And if you had any doubt that this was related to abortion rights, consider that the increase in vasectomy rates was much higher in states with bans: Texas, for example, saw a 29.3% increase, while Virginia only had a 10.6% rise.