When Can We Trust the Police?

9.17.25

Click to skip ahead: In Attacks on Birth Control, more on the Trump administration’s move to redefine contraception as abortion. Media Muck-Ups gives a reminder of how disinformation gets normalized. In the States, news from Oregon, California, South Carolina, Florida, and more. Policing Pregnancy has the latest on the media coverage of Laken Snelling’s case. Stats & Studies has the latest data on parental involvement laws. In the Nation, a few thoughts on political violence and free speech. Anti-Abortion Strategy highlights yet another move to link abortion pills to “coercion.” Censoring Abortion Online shares that an AED video was removed from TikTok.

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Attacks on Birth Control

Last week, Abortion, Every Day reported that the Trump administration is classifying contraception like IUDs, hormonal implants, and the Pill as “abortions.” In a statement about the administration’s decision to destroy $10 million worth of contraception rather than distribute it abroad, USAID told The New York Times:

“President Trump is committed to protecting the lives of unborn children all around the world. The administration will no longer supply abortifacient birth control under the guise of foreign aid.”

Please understand that this statement wasn’t a gaffe—or some slip-up from an overzealous spokesperson at a single agency. In fact, it wasn’t even the first time the Trump administration called the stockpile of birth control ‘abortion’!

When the administration first announced their plan to incinerate the contraception, a State Department spokesperson referred to the stockpile as “certain abortifacient birth control commodities.” And when international humanitarian groups tried to buy the contraception rather than see it burned, the U.S. government rejected their efforts by citing the Global Gag Rule—a policy barring NGOs from providing or even talking about abortion if they receive U.S. funds.

In other words, it appears the entire reason they’re destroying this birth control is because they consider it abortion. That goes far beyond a single comment from the Trump administration—this is the implementation of a policy.

Feminists have warned for years that Republicans would try to ban birth control by redefining it as abortion; we’re starting to see what that looks like in action. We’ll be keeping a close eye to see if the White House is using this tactic in any other areas.

Media Muck-Ups

If Republicans are able to ban birth control using fucked up language games, it will be in part because mainstream media outlets let them get away with it. Take CNN’s coverage of the $10 million birth control stockpile back in July:

“There is controversy about whether to describe certain contraceptives as abortifacient, or causing abortion, due to the debate over whether life begins at the moment an egg is fertilized or at a later stage.”

I’m sorry, what?? There is no ‘controversy’ over how to define birth control—there’s just an extremist minority of maniacs who the media handles with kid gloves and both-sides bullshit. Please keep an eye out for coverage like this and help nip it in the bud.

In the States

As the Trump administration moves to strip Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, Oregon Democrats are getting proactive about protecting abortion access in the state. KOIN reports that House Democrats will form a working group to explore not only how to replace the lost funding, but also what policies can better safeguard abortion providers. From Rep. Andrea Valderrama:

“Our state has a responsibility to safeguard these rights for all patients and ensure doctors get the resources they need to provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare services.“

The Oregon Capital Chronicle reports that the lawmakers will present a report of recommendations ahead of the 2026 legislative session. To no one’s surprise, Oregon anti-abortion activists are pissed off that lawmakers are taking the time to protect reproductive rights, claiming that the legislators should be focusing instead on “life-affirming” solutions.

I’d say that ensuring women don’t die of sepsis is pretty fucking life-affirming—but what do I know!

Speaking of anti-abortion activists being the ultimate haters: so-called ‘pro-life’ organizations are speaking out against California’s new expanded shield law—and lying their asses off in the process.

As you know, California just passed a law allowing abortion providers and patients to keep their names off prescription labels for abortion medication—adding an extra layer of protection from Republican attorneys general and prosecutors eager to bring criminal charges or civil suits against providers.

As we noted last week, the law doesn’t mean that there’s no record of what provider prescribed the medication—just that this information won’t be visible on the pills’ packaging label. Still, anti-abortion organizations and leaders are claiming that the law would allow for anonymity and unchecked abuse.

Students for Life, for example, insists the law will shield “criminals and abusers” by allowing providers to mail pills “with little to no identifying information.” And the California Family Council warn that the law “shields reckless practices and removes any last shred of oversight.”

The truth? These assholes don’t care about safety or accountability—they just want to punish providers. The goal is to track down anyone who helps patients end their pregnancies and make them pay. Laws like the one in California put a huge dent in that plan.

Did you know that Florida gives nearly $30 million a year to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers? That’s right, thirty million for fake clinics that make it their business to lie to women about their pregnancies and collect their personal data. One Florida lawmaker, however, is trying to put an end to that.

Rep. Kelly Skidmore has filed legislation to end the state’s “Pregnancy Support and Wellness Services” program, and stop anti-abortion centers from getting millions in unregulated taxpayer dollars.

“Florida families deserve medical care that is comprehensive, transparent, and delivered by licensed professionals,” Rep. Skidmore says.

This isn’t the first time the Democrat has tried to take down CPCs—and in Florida, the bill isn’t likely to pass. Still, it matters that legislators keep banging the drum about the danger these groups pose and remind anti-abortion activists that we are watching.

Lest you forgot, South Carolina Republicans are going for round two of their crusade to ban birth control and classify having an abortion as homicide—a crime that could be punishable by the death penalty.

Amalia Luxardo, CEO of the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network, writes in an op-ed this week that the cruelty of SB 323 “cannot be overstated,” and warns that the bill “creates a web of surveillance, punishment, and fear that will ensnare families, friends, doctors, and communities.”

“In real terms, this means that if a frightened teenager turns to her aunt, teacher, or friend’s parent for help getting out-of-state care, those adults could be criminalized. A 10-year-old raped by a family member would be forced to carry and give birth to her rapist’s child. A woman experiencing pregnancy complications could find her doctors delaying or denying care out of fear of prosecution.”

SB 323’s first hearing in the state Senate will be on October 1. In the meantime, consider supporting Palmetto State Abortion Fund and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

Quick hits:

• The ACLU is launching a half million dollar campaign to educate voters about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court election—including the role it plays in abortion rights;

• The Arizona Republic and KJZZ have more on the Arizona GOP lawmakers trying to restrict abortion despite voters passing a pro-choice amendment;

• And the San Antonio Express News has a vital op-ed on how supposedly ‘pro-life’ Texas leaders have utterly abandoned children in the state’s foster system.

Policing Pregnancy

We’re still waiting on updates in the case of Laken Snelling, the Kentucky college student arrested for ‘abuse of a corpse’ after police say they found an “infant” in her closet.

As we’ve reported, Snelling’s arrest follows a pattern we’ve seen emerge when women are criminalized for their miscarriages—so we’re following law enforcement’s account of the case with a whole lot of skepticism.

And for good reason: Earlier this month, the county coroner told Abortion, Every Day that when officials say they’re investigating the death of an “infant,” that can also mean “fetus.”

That’s why we want to remind everyone to read media coverage critically. Take the most recent sensationalized stories: most reference the 911 call that led police to Snelling’s home, repeating phrases like “baby found dead” and “cold to the touch.” The clear implication is that a caller reported finding a cold, dead baby. But not a single outlet actually quotes the 911 call.

That’s because, as the Lexington Herald Leader notes, the call dispatch records were “heavily redacted.” And it looks like “cold to the touch” came not from the 911 caller, but from a dispatcher. We’ve seen how things like this get distorted and lost in translation—remember the Nebraska teenager’s case?

The bottom line is that police are controlling the story. They’re redacting records, refusing to say how far along Snelling was, and—at least in AED’s case—declining to provide a full case report. All anyone knows is what police choose to tell us—and that means we don’t actually know anything.

No matter what happened, this young woman deserved care and compassion—not criminalization. We can only hope that, at some point, every outlet that rushed to plaster her face across their pages remembers that.

Stats & Studies

The Guttmacher Institute just released new data on minors’ access to abortion care. The group reports that 38 states have some kind of forced parental involvement law, like parental notification or consent. (There’s also a handy table if you want to look up your state.) Here’s the breakdown:

• 21 states require parental consent only,

• 10 require parental notification only,

• 7 require both consent and notification,

• 11 allow another adult to step in or waive the requirement.

Thirty-six of those states have judicial bypass procedures—so a minor can ask a court for approval instead of a parent’s. But in nearly all of those states, judges get to determine whether a teen is “mature” or “well-informed” enough to have the abortion.

While judicial bypasses may offer a path forward, they’re riddled with serious problems: judges have denied teens abortions over bad grades, or because they didn’t have a driver’s permit or car. The logic is not logic-ing!

If a teen is too ‘immature’ for a ten-minute procedure, how on earth are they old enough to parent?

In the Nation

Ms. magazine is running an important four-part series about the rise in anti-abortion violence under the Trump administration. It feels especially timely this week, as conservatives try to paint the left as politically violent in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder. (It’s an especially nervy move as Republicans work to repeal the FACE Act and the White House gives violent extremists the green light to attack providers and clinics.)

What’s especially distressing is watching the witch-hunt emerge for anyone who dares to tell the truth about who Kirk was. It’s bad enough that conservatives are rewriting history, but these doxings and firings are too much to bear.

On Monday, Vice President JD Vance even threatened that the administration would come after Kirk’s detractors with the full force of the federal government—calling them “an incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism” and “terrorist sympathizers.”

“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, [Department of] Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks.”

The Washington Post reports that the White House is compiling a list of left-leaning organizations it claims are tied to political violence, and considering different attacks against them—like stripping the groups of their tax-exempt status. So much for free speech!

Everything that’s been going on has me thinking a lot about the connection between far-right extremism and the anti-abortion movement; so I was grateful to see that KPFA Radio interviewed Carol Mason about her new book, “From the Clinics to the Capitol: How Opposing Abortion Became Insurrectionary.” Give it a listen below:

Anti-Abortion Strategy

This week, we saw the president of Heartbeat International—the country’s largest network of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers—double down on the lie that abortion pills enable domestic abuse and ‘coercion’. Jor-El Godsey writes in The Hill that access to abortion pills by mail has “opened the floodgates for abuse—and women are paying the price.”

They’ve been at this for a while: it was back in 2023 when anti-abortion lobbyists identified ‘coercion’ as their most promising talking point, because “no one is openly in favor of coerced abortions.” It also doesn’t hurt that the messaging tactic makes it appear like they care about women—something they desperately need as the maternal death rate skyrockets and children are forced into childbirth.

The truth? All credible data shows that it’s abortion bans—not access—that carry the greatest harm for abuse victims. The Turnaway Study has long shown that those denied abortion are at greater risk of long-term domestic violence. And in the first year after Dobbs, calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline involving reproductive coercion doubled—with more women reporting that their partners threatened to call police or sue them over abortions.

Anti-abortion extremists, like the literal president of Heartbeat International, couldn’t care less about the very abuse victims who they’re denying reproductive care to. They’re pushing this narrative with one single goal: further banning abortion.

And just in case you need a reminder of just how much Heartbeat International actually cares about women:

EXCLUSIVE: Health Data Breach at America’s Largest Crisis Pregnancy Org

“The more crazy stuff that the Texas legislature does around this to try and block access, the more visible the option of pills by mail becomes. They are basically publicizing that access is possible by passing this kind of draconian legislation. In the process of trying to stop it, they’re letting people know, you can get pills by mail in Texas.”

- Elisa Wells, co-founder of Plan C, in Ms. magazine

Censoring Abortion Online

It was just two days ago that we reported on the rise of social media censorship on abortion rights: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) found that platforms like Meta are increasingly taking down abortion-related content, even when users didn’t break content rules.

That reality hit close to home this week: the video I posted about the Trump administration calling IUDs and the Pill ‘abortifacients’ was removed from TikTok for violating its community guidelines. Yes, really.

Which rule did I break? Well, they didn’t say: but I wasn’t trying to sell anything, the video didn’t feature nudity, and I didn’t publish any violence. By process of elimination, that means the video was likely taken down as “misinformation.” Which is…ironic.

I’m pushing to get the decision appealed, but in the meantime watch the video on Instagram instead.