Hard to Believe It's Only Tuesday: Holy Shit Some Good News

Welcome back to Hard to Believe It’s Only Tuesday, my weekly roundup of the top headlines, tweets, takes, and more in abortion news. I am fucking delighted to bring you some good news this week: Illinois’ repeal of forced parental involvement laws has gone into effect, allowing young people to access abortion care in the state without being forced to involve a parent.

The Top Headlines

• “Louisiana House passes bill to criminalize abortions with no exception for rape, incest” (The Lafayette Daily Advertiser) — An anti-abortion Democrat is behind the effort that “specifically exempts pregnant women from prosecution but doubles the 2006 penalties for doctors or others who terminate pregnancies to a maximum $100,000 fine and 10 years in jail.”

• “Illinois minors no longer have to ask for permission to get an abortion” (Jezebel) — Young people are often used as bargaining chips in anti-abortion legislation; repealing forced parental involvement laws is an essential part of ensuring everyone can access care on their own terms.

• “Major reproductive rights groups are refusing to recognize their staff unions” (Jezebel) — Labor rights are abortion rights are economic justice are reproductive justice, and on and on.

• “How racist sex-selective abortion bans wrongfully target Asian Americans” (The Quint)

• “There’s a new age gap on abortion rights” (Five Thirty Eight) — Gen Z shows more support for abortion rights than older generations.

• “Pro-choice forces are working to keep abortion legal in Michigan with a ballot initiative” (The Guardian)

• “DC wants to be a sanctuary for abortion. Could Congress stop it?” (The Guardian)

The Takes

• The National Network of Abortion Funds and the Abortion Care Network are in Rewire News laying out all the reasons you don’t need to reinvent the wheel(s) when it comes to abortion access, and offering concrete action items for folks who are new to the movement but ready to take action: “Please hear us when we say we don’t need you to create an “underground railroad” to get people to their abortions; that very proposal is harmful to both the Black people and allies who operated the historic, collaborative Underground Railroad to bring Black people to liberation despite deadly racism, and to the Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color and allies who are navigating a specific, racist abortion access system today.”

• Guttmacher Employees United writes in the Strikewave: “Depleted and demoralized, we’ve been burdened with an unsustainable amount of work at a time when the work we do is more important than ever. We’re committed to producing the critical research and analysis, the publications and facts, and the capacity-building resources relied on by policymakers, advocates, NGOs, partners, and journalists. But we’re also resolved in the belief that the only way we can change our workplace—and the world—is through a union.”

The Tweets

• The Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health celebrates the state’s repeal of forced parental involvement laws with a tweet thread featuring pictures and videos from folks who are pumped af.

• We Testify’s Renee Bracey Sherman tweets a video about the incompatibility of being pro-police and pro-abortion: “You cannot side with the oppressor while also siding with the oppressed.”

• The Meteor hosted a Twitter Spaces conversation with journalist Regina Mahone, writer Mikki Kendall, and Renee Bracey Sherman on the role of anti-Blackness in paving the way for the end of Roe v. Wade.

• Journalist Teddy Wilson hosted a Twitter Spaces conversation with Chrissy Stroop of Religion Dispatches and Pamela Merritt, ED of Medical Students for Choice, on the anti-abortion groups behind efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The Fuck Are We Supposed To Do About It?

• Anywhere, for defense attorneys: On June 9th, the Repro Legal Defense Fund and If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice are hosting a CLE seminar on the criminalization of pregnancy loss. Register by June 6th.

• Anywhere: On June 9th, the UK’s Abortion Rights campaign is hosting an online conversation featuring Kamyon Connor, the ED of the Texas Equal Access Fund, and Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and ED of We Testify.

• Anywhere: Request a copy of Rosie’s Zine to learn more about Rosie Jimenez, the Texan, college student, and single mom who died in 1977 after having an unsafe abortion when she wasn’t able to afford clinical care thanks to bans on abortion coverage. The zine supports efforts to expand insurance coverage for abortion care.

• Anywhere: The Third Wave Fund is taking applications until July 5th for their Mobilize Power Fund, “a rapid response fund that resources gender justice organizations to adapt or pivot their work when met with unanticipated, time-sensitive threats or opportunities in their movement building work and organizing conditions.”

• Anywhere: Check out this Physicians for Reproductive Health resource on how to talk about abortion without stigma — it’s a primer for journalists, but useful for anyone working to change hearts and minds these days.

• Dallas: Rally for abortion justice on June 29th, hosted by The Afiya Center, Jane's Due Process, Fund Texas Choice, Texas Equal Access Fund, Avow, ACLU, and Planned Parenthood.

• Austin: Soccer fans! Sign up for the Stuver Social 2022 on June 4th, a fundraiser for abortion and LGBTQIA rights.

• Texas: Join the Texas Abortion Hype Squad!

• Houston: Rock out for abortion access at the I’ll Have What She’s Having Rock and Roll Picnic at the Continental Club on Sunday, June 5. If you can’t attend the show, you can still buy a ticket and proceeds will go to support abortion access.

• Denton, Texas: Chalk up some sidewalks! The Texas Equal Access Fund is co-hosting “Big Pride in Lil’ D: Chalk & Chill” with PriDenton on Saturday, 6/25.

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 Twitter, and I’ll try to add follow-ups as I’m able.