GOP-Controlled U.S. House Spends Its First Week On Anti-Abortion Efforts While Everything Else Is On Actual Fire

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. Today’s issue is too long for email — you’ll likely need to click on the headline link above to view the whole thing in your browser.

Programming note: This week, I opened up paid subscriptions for folks who’d like to support my work. You can contribute monthly or yearly (for a discount), or just go entirely out of control and become an “Above and Beyond” supporter. I’m not going to start publishing a bunch of paywalled content, and my abortion news roundups will always be free. Just wanted to make the option available for fans of my writing, and see if I can’t squeeze a couple beers out of this thing.

The big takeaway: Congress and many Republican-controlled state legislatures are back in session, which means GOP lawmakers are renewing attempts to ban and restrict abortion. The U.S. House passed two measures: a (redundant, fear-mongering) bill that creates criminal penalties for doctors, and a resolution condemning violence against anti-abortion groups. (Abortion providers, abortion supporters, and people who have abortions are overwhelmingly more likely to be attacked, terrorized, and killed by abortion opponents than the other way around.)

And: I particularly want to direct your attention to today’s Takes section, where I recommend two essays that address two issues that are far too rare when it comes to abortion conversations: what it means to be raised by a resentful or abusive parent (especially in a world where abortion access is limited), and how to talk about abortion with children.

The Top Headlines

• “Abortion bans don’t prosecute pregnant people. That may be about to change.” (The 19th) — I quibble somewhat with this framing (statutory exceptions to prosecution for pregnant people don’t stop law enforcement and prosecutors from criminalizing pregnant people) but it’s a good recap of the latest news out of Oklahoma, where an anti-abortion lawmaker has proposed felony charges for people who end their own pregnancies, and Alabama, where the state’s attorney general has said he’d prosecute people who self-manage abortions using medication under the state’s chemical endangerment law.

  • Related to the above: The West Alabama Women’s Center responded to the AG in a powerful statement, saying in part: “… we will not let the Attorney General frighten us into being silent when we can still legally help. West Alabama Women’s Center is and will always be a safe place for pregnant people who need medical care. If saving lives is a ‘criminal conspiracy’ then it is one we will commit - over and over again.”

• “‘Why am I having to explain this?’: Seven stories of barriers to reproductive care for those with disabilities” (Stat) — I’m sorry I missed this when it ran last week. Folks with disabilities are often sidelined or entirely left out of conversations about abortion and sexual and reproductive health more broadly, and this thoughtful report features several people recounting their experiences in their own words.

• What’s happening with abortion bans and restrictions at the federal level:

  • “House passes bill that could subject some abortion doctors to prosecution” (NYT)

  • “House Republicans pass two anti-abortion measures” (ABC News)

• What’s happening with abortion bans, restrictions, and laws at the state and local level:

  • “Democratic win in Virginia special election stymies Gov. Youngkin’s push for 15-week abortion ban” (NBC News)

  • “Abortion opponents pursue ban early in pregnancy” (Nebraska Public Media) — Nebraska GOP leaders want a six-week ban.

  • “Montana seeking prior authorization for Medicaid abortions” (The Flathead Beacon)

  • “Illinois Democrats push to further expand abortion, gender care access” (Capitol News Illinois)

  • “Texas abortion fund seeks early decision in aiding provision row” (Bloomberg Law)

  • “Committee considers ‘slippery slope’ abortion ordinance” (The Norman Transcript/Yahoo) — The Norman, OK city council is considering an ordinance that would, in part, encourage police to deprioritize investigations into violations of the state’s abortion ban.

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

  • “FDA’s abortion pill update has limited impact across the South” (Facing South)

  • “Florida patients will not benefit from FDA change allowing retail pharmacies to offer abortion pills” (WUSF)

  • “Next frontier in the abortion wars: Your local CVS” (Politico)

The Takes

• Austin writer Lauren Lluveras is in Catapult with an essay about the generational trauma(s) of parenting (and being parented) “resentfully,” Black motherhood (and not motherhood), and her own abortion story. I cannot think of the last time I read something so deft, so personal, and so bracing. (A content warning is in order for abusive parenting and domestic violence.) I struggle to excerpt from a piece of writing that is infinitely more than the sum of its parts, but I’ll try: “When I had my abortion in 2019, I could feel the threads of time connecting my great-grandmother’s death to my mother’s laughter after her attempt at killing us. The decision to not to carry my pregnancy felt like taking scissors to these connective fibers, separating myself and my future from this carnivorous, spiteful past.”

• Abortion care worker and writer Hannah Matthews is in Electric Lit with an essay about reading the children’s book What’s An Abortion, Anyway? to her son, abortion stigma and harassment, and her own abortion story. It’s incredibly moving, kind, and thoughtful: “I will speak with my child—in the evolving language of his development, his understanding, his emotional maturity, and his interest—about abortion, for the same reason I speak with him about race, about gender identity and sexuality, about disability justice and climate justice and police violence and all the rest of it. For the same reason I will listen to what he has to say, whenever he is ready to say it. Because access to information is care, too—and the denial of information is a weapon. A form of neglect, a method of control, a tool of manipulation. Because education is care, respect and honesty and trust are care, and care is what we owe our children. Because my child will not grow up with silence between him and the things he is curious about.”

• OB-GYN and abortion provider Dr. Colleen P. McNicholas is in USA Today with a word about that House resolution against anti-anti-abortion violence: “The rhetoric pushed by supporters of this House resolution contributes to a system that harasses, attacks and threatens abortion providers and patients. This resolution ignores the experience of abortion providers across the country, including my own. The stated purpose of the resolution – to condemn violence – is disingenuous. In fact, by erasing the violence that providers like me experience, it encourages the same kind of inflammatory language and misinformation about abortion that led to the killings of Drs. George Tiller, David Gunn, John Bayard Britton, Barnett Slepian; security guards Garrett Swasey and Robert Sanderson; staff members and volunteers James Barrett, Jennifer Markovsky, Shannon Lowney and Leanne Nichols; and Army veteran Ke’Arre Stewart.” 

The Tweets/Toks/Grams

• Robin Marty of the West Alabama Women’s Center tweets a thread highlighting inadequacy of efforts that solely focus on getting folks to clinics in legal states: “We NEED a federal law. We NEED more reproductive care centers in the south so patients have safe places to go. Their ERs ARENT seeing them.”

• Rep. Frederica Wilson tweets a video of her moving speech from the House floor about her harrowing experience with pregnancy loss.

• Rep. Ayanna Pressley tweets a video of her straight-talk speech from the House floor this week, calling out Republicans’ “selective contempt for political violence.”

The Fuck Are We Supposed to Do About It?

• Anywhere, for Latina/x folks who speak Spanish: Help the Vitala Global Foundation test and improve the Aya Contigo app, which “accompanies and supports people virtually in real-time with information in Spanish on self-managed abortion with pills.”

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

• Online: Muslims who have “had an abortion or think abortion might be the right choice for them” are invited to join the Ad’iyah Collective’s Abortion Support Circle on Sunday, January 15th.

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

• Online: The Meteor’s “Roe at 50” event featuring Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Renee Bracey Sherman, and Regina Mahone is Wednesday, January 18th.

• Georgia: The Feminist Women’s Health Center’s “Feminist Force” gathering is Thursday, January 19th.

• Ohio: Train to support the Protect Choice Ohio coalition’s efforts to get abortion rights enshrined in the Ohio constitution. Trainings are Thursday, January 19th and Sunday, January 22nd. RSVP here.

• Baltimore: Art + Feminism and the Baltimore Abortion Fund are hosting a Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon at Red Emma’s on Saturday, January 21.

• Omaha: Nebraska Abortion Resources and PP North Central States are hosting a repro rights advocacy training on Sunday, January 22nd.

• Orlando: The National March for Abortion Orlando is Sunday, January 22nd.

• Indianapolis: Indiana’s Our Choice coalition is honoring the 50th anniversary of Roe with an event featuring Dr. Katie McHugh on Sunday, January 22nd.

• 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.

• Alabama, Mississippi, Florida panhandle, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas: Folks living in the aforementioned states are eligible for the Yellowhammer Fund’s Catalysts for Reproductive Justice fellowship. The deadline to apply is Monday, January 23.

• New York City: Attend a one-night-only performance of “Spare Rib” on Monday January 23rd, benefitting Keep Our Clinics.

• Online: We Testify’s “Roe Should Be/Would Be 50” Zoom event with Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights is Thursday, January 26th.

• Iowa City, online: The Emma Goldman Clinic’s Roe anniversary event is a hybrid online/in-person to-do on Friday, January 27th.

• Ireland: The Abortion Rights Campaign and Alliance for Choice Derry are hosting an abortion stigma and pills workshop in Dublin on Saturday, February 4th.

• Texas: The Afiya Center’s #RJVoter advocacy week starts Tuesday, February 28th. Check out their Instagram for more, including a community forum, advocacy training, and an advocacy day.

• 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.

• 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, best practices edition:

  • Physicians for Reproductive Health’s has updated guidance on discussing and reporting on HR 26, the federal anti-abortion bill that criminalizes providers.

  • The Repro Legal Defense Fund and the Community Justice Exchange have an extensive, attractive, and fact-filled guide to abortion criminalization 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.

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

  • 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.

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

• 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.