Abortion Restrictions Associated With Higher Suicide Risk

Here’s another edition of Hard to Believe It’s Only Tuesday, a weekly roundup of the top headlines, tweets (for now!), toks, takes, and more in abortion news. You can always email me ([email protected]) or DM me on instagram with action items, takes, and news clips. I took a break last week to handle some health issues, so this edition is a double, covering the news since 12/16/22.

The big takeaway: First-of-its-kind research from the University of Pennsylvania published in JAMA Psychiatry looked at suicide deaths among young women between 1974-2016. In states that restricted abortion providers or facilities via TRAP laws, researchers found that “the average annual suicide rate among women of reproductive age in those states was nearly 6% higher than in prior years when the laws weren't enforced.”

The Top Headlines

• “Abortion restrictions may have increased suicide risk among women ages 20 to 34, new research suggests” (NBC News)

• “Federal judge rules against California gun law that mimicked Texas’ abortion ban” (CNN) — The judge’s decision ruled that the CA law went farther than Texas’ SB8 “bounty hunter” abortion ban, but “stopped short of saying that those distinctions made the Texas abortion law legally sound.”

• “How the Supreme Court’s abortion decision left many youth behind” (Teen Vogue) — The fact that Dobbs has had such an outsized impact on young people’s bodily autonomy is more proof of the harm done to young people, who are consistently thrown under the bus, even by ostensibly “pro-choice” allies, when it comes to abortion access.

• “Bleeding and in pain, she couldn’t get two Louisiana ERs to answer: Is it a miscarriage?” (NPR) — We’re hearing so many stories about this post-Dobbs, but here’s another out of Louisiana, where medical professionals are afraid to fall afoul of the state’s abortion ban, so they’re refusing treatment to pregnant folks and delaying care. The penalty for providing abortion care in the state is 10-15 years incarceration, $100,000-200,000 in fines, and loss of medical license.

• “Vatican defrocks anti-abortion priest for ‘blasphemous posts’” (PBS) — As I said on Twitter: "I spent an hour or so in a room with Frank Pavone when I covered the National Right to Life convention many years ago. Being near this man was the closest I have ever felt to believing I was experiencing the presence of real, true evil on earth.”

• “The F.D.A. now says it plainly: morning-after pills are not abortion pills” (NYT)

• Two thoughtful retrospectives on the year Roe fell: “This year, the reproductive justice movement showed us what it means to fight” (Truthout) and “Six months since Roe was overturned, fighting for abortion rights is a multifaceted battle” (Prism)

• “Olivia Julianna, the young activist fighting for abortion rights” (Bloomberg) — You remember Texan activist Olivia Julianna! She recently destroyed Matt Gaetz.

• “DeSantis appoints judge who denied abortion to girl over school grades” (The Guardian)

• What’s going on with abortion legislation and regulation in the states:

  • “After string of abortion-rights wins, conservatives look to curtail the ballot measure process” (NBC News) — The anti-abortion crusade to destroy democracy by any means necessary soldiers on.

  • “State lawsuits defend abortion access with religious freedom” (AP)

  • “Texas lawmakers plan to further decimate abortion rights in upcoming legislative session” (The Intercept)

  • “Hobbs has promised abortion action starting day one, but she'll likely face challenges” (KJZZ) — Re: abortion access in Arizona

  • “Virginia Democrats vow to defeat Youngkin’s 15-week abortion ban proposal” (WaPo)

  • “Legislation to restrict abortion in Nebraska expected but details remain up in the air” (Lincoln Journal-Star)

  • “Florida lawmakers likely to consider additional abortion restrictions in the new year” (WUWF)

• What’s happening with clinics, providers, and abortion support networks:

  • “Planned Parenthood starts telemedicine abortions in Kansas” (AP/KWGS)

  • “In North Carolina, more people are training to support patients through an abortion” (NPR)

  • “What trying to access abortion care is like here in post-Dobbs Missouri” (Public Notice)

The Tweets, Toks, and Grams

• Guttmacher’s Liza Fuentes notes that a recent WaPo piece on Medicaid expansion for parents fails to capture the obvious political context: “The political calculations are beyond cynical. The journalist fails to note that anti-abortion politicians & activists could have expanded insurance for pregnant people at any time in the past…two decades at least? We need both abortion & postpartum care.”

• Via South Texans for RJ, this is just a real fucking bummer: the anti-abortion fake clinic that took over the former Whole Woman’s Heath center in McAllen, TX has painted over the building’s vibrant, celebratory mural.

The Takes

• Abortion doula Hannah Matthews is in Time with a moving and personal reflection on caring for people who have abortions post-Dobbs: “I’m drinking more, sleeping less. One coworker tells me her doctor and therapist agree that she desperately needs to take a mental-health leave, but she cannot afford to do so on her $18.57 hourly wage; another colleague has doubled their workload, traveling to a neighboring state to help as many patients as they physically, logistically can. What can you say about “self-care,” about taking time to grieve, to people whose jobs entail running back into the burning building over and over again? What can you say about “taking time” to those trapped inside that building, calling for help? I half-jokingly ask a coworker, as she washes speculums in the clinic’s industrial sink, how her mental health is these days. She laughs so hard that she starts crying.”

• Erin Grant, Deputy Director of the Abortion Care Network, is in Ms. with an urgent reminder about the importance of indie providers: “In 2022 alone, at least 42 independent abortion clinics have been forced to close or stop providing abortion care. Since Abortion Care Network began tracking independent clinic status in 2015, there has never been a state without at least one abortion clinic—but today, there are 14 states without a single abortion clinic. Independent clinics are the majority of clinics providing abortion care after the first trimester and are the most vulnerable to anti-abortion attacks. We have the numbers, but statistics alone can’t describe what we lose when independent clinics are forced to close. Communities throughout the country rely on independent clinics for not only care, but for technical knowledge, medical innovation and their work challenging abortion bans in the courts. Independent abortion providers take the risks to serve their communities and fight for human rights and dignity.”

• Legal scholars Janet Garcia-Hallett and Carla Laroche are in Ms. with a call to protect abortion access for incarcerated people: “The consequences of inaccessible abortion services in carceral settings are catastrophic. Pregnant people in correctional facilities can be (and often are) forced to endure unwanted or life-threatening pregnancies with inadequate prenatal care. According to an ACLU review, most states do not require sufficient medical support and counseling for individuals who are pregnant and less than half of states banned shackling during labor and delivery. The harm in ignoring the challenges parents face in jails and prisons goes beyond facility walls—as we have proven through our publications and research. After childbirth, many experience parent-child separation and state interventions through the family policing system. Lack of abortion access and poor medical care cause more harm than good for children, parents and families.”

• We Testify Executive Director Renee Bracey Sherman is in Prism with tips on talking to your people about abortion, this holiday season (and always): “… in the awkward tension of any holiday get-together, it can be tempting to let it slide when someone makes a misinformed, but not malicious, comment too: those ‘I’m pro-choice, but’ comments or the ones that come with good intentions but might be riddled with stigma and preferences for ‘good abortions’ over others. While it may feel easier to skip conversations with people who aren’t totally against abortion but still say things that shame people who have abortions, these are actually some of the most important conversations to have.”

• ANSIRH’s Andréa Becker and Dr. Daniel Grossman are in The Nation with a word on Montana’s recently failed anti-abortion referendum and the perpetuation of exploitative, sensationalized, medically inaccurate messaging: “But what was too often missed amid the political commentary about the efforts to protect abortion access was the way Montana’s failed referendum was worded: Anti-abortion lawmakers intentionally used biased, medically inaccurate, inflammatory language to confuse and outrage voters. The ballot measure claimed to create protections for ‘infants born alive during abortion,’ legislating an imagined situation to demonize and further criminalize abortion providers by threatening a felony charge punishable with a 20-year jail sentence and $50,000 fine. The danger for abortion providers lies not only in the threat of jail time but also within the violent language that went unchallenged in the public conversation.”

The Fuck Are We Supposed to Do About It?

• Anywhere: Buy a copy of Buckle Bunnies Fund co-founder Makayla Montoya Frazier’s zine, I Don’t Want To Be Pregnant: A San Antonio Guide to Abortion.

• Georgia: Join Atlanta’s Feminist Women’s Health Center for a legislative advocacy workshop in person on Saturday, January 7th or online Saturday, January 14th. Tickets are $10, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Register here.

• Online: Join the Kentucky Health Justice Network’s virtual Reproductive Justice 101 session on Tuesday, January 17th. Register here.

• Austin: Future Front Texas’ Texas Feminist Throwdown is Sunday, January 22nd. Sliding scale ticket sales benefit the Lilith Fund, Black Mamas ATX, and MOVE Texas.

• Anywhere, for health care providers: UCSF’s Dobbs Impact Study is looking at instances of “poor-quality medical care since the Dobbs decision,” and they’re encouraging providers to submit de-identified stories.

• Anywhere: Declare an Abortion Provider Appreciation Day in your community using this toolkit from the National Institute for Reproductive Health.

• Texas:

  • Join the Texas Abortion Hype Squad.

  • Jane’s Due Process is looking for volunteers in Bryan, College Station, San Angelo, and Lubbock to distribute repro kits containing emergency contraception and other essentials. Sign up here — and they’re looking for local businesses to volunteer as pick-up sites, too.

• Anywhere, swag edition:

  • Get you some gear from Two Little Pills, which works to scrub out dated, harmful coat hanger imagery in favor of celebrating safe medication abortion. Proceeds go to Elevated Access, a group of volunteer pilots working to make sure folks can get to the abortion and gender-affirming care they need.

  • Buy one of @PrisonCulture’s shirts supporting the National Network of Abortion Funds.

• Anywhere, best practices edition:

  • The Repro Legal Defense Fund and the Community Justice Exchange have just released an extensive, attractive, and fact-filled guide to abortion criminalization, available in both English and Spanish.

  • Check out the “Pro Choice, But” campaign to better understand how to talk with folks who are, well, pro-choice … but.

  • Read the National Immigration Law Center’s know-your-rights-guide to abortion access for immigrants and share widely.

  • Check out the If/When/How Repro Legal Helpline guide to internet safety

  • Read this guide on using trans-inclusive language from ARC-Southeast and the Transgender Law Center.

  • REPRO Rising Virginia has a thorough guide to updating your protest signs to make sure you’re using the most forward-thinking, respectful, and impactful language around abortion.

  • Familiarize yourself with this Digital Defense Fund guide to keeping your abortion private and secure, and share it widely.

  • Here’s a big list of action items and info created by @RHAVote, and another big list of action items and info created by Alison Turkos.

• California, Texas, or Georgia: SisterLove, Inc. is looking for English- or Spanish-speakers between the ages of 15 and 49 who “recently found out [they] were pregnant’” as part of a paid study through the University of Pittsburgh. Here’s the intake survey to find out if you qualify.

• Sign and share:

  • Texas: Avow Texas’ petition demands county district attorneys pledge not to prosecute people for providing abortions, or because of a pregnancy outcome.

  • Anywhere: All Above All*’s petition asks President Biden take immediate steps to ensure abortion justice for immigrants.

• From your wallet: Buy something off the wishlist of an independent clinic, abortion fund, or clinic defense group, or donate to support abortion funds. This link distributes your donation to 90+ funds around the country. Or donate to support independent abortion providers!

That’s all for this week. I’m sure I’ve missed something you’d like to see featured in this roundup, for I am but one woman with a computer and an abortion-news-induced drinking problem. Holler at me — [email protected], or DM me on Instagram, and I’ll try to add follow-ups as I’m able.