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- Hard to Believe It's Only Tuesday: Texas 'Bounty Hunter' Abortion Lawsuit Thrown Out
Hard to Believe It's Only Tuesday: Texas 'Bounty Hunter' Abortion Lawsuit Thrown Out
Plus: Clinic closures doubled following the fall of Roe v. Wade.
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.
The big takeaway: The first (and only) lawsuit attempting to take advantage of Texas’ SB 8, the “bounty hunter/any motherfucker anywhere” law, was thrown out by a state judge in San Antonio this week. It’s good news for provider Dr. Alan Baird, who was sued by a Chicago man for providing abortion care in Texas, but it doesn’t overturn the law itself.
The Top Headlines
“Biden’s efforts to protect abortion access hit roadblocks” (AP)
“Nevada U.S. senator introduces ‘abortion funds’ bill” (KPVI) — UPDATE: The original piece I cited on this has disappeared from the internet, but here’s a press release from Cortez Masto’s office. This bill would create a “federal grant program to fund patient navigators who help women access reproductive health care.”
“Senate Democrats introduce bill funding travel for abortions” (The Hill) — This bill “would help fund expenses for women who need to travel to undergo abortion procedures.”
What’s happening with clinics and providers:
“Abortion clinics across the U.S. are closing. Advocates — and protesters — are still showing up” (Elle) — This is a great/depressing longer read about the ways in which activists, clinic owners, and providers are preserving clinic sites where abortion care is banned.
“Abortion clinic closures double in year after end of Roe v. Wade” (TIME)
“How Dobbs triggered a ‘vasectomy revolution’” (Politico) — I am sorry it took the fall of Roe to hip gobs of cisgender American men to the fact that they have a personal and direct obligation to prevent unwanted pregnancy, but I’m glad they’re finally catching on.
What’s happening in abortion bans and laws at the state level:
“Texas state court throws out lawsuit against doctor who violated abortion law” (Texas Tribune) — This is the first case concerning Texas’ SB 8 “bounty hunter/any motherfucker anywhere” law to be tested in court. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights via the Texas Tribune, the ruling “sets an important precedent but does not overturn the law.”
“Virginia Republican proposes total abortion ban for state to consider in January” (Jezebel)
“Here’s how states plan to limit abortion—even where it’s already banned” (The 19th)
What’s happening in abortion news internationally:
“The abortion assault: Nigerian military ran secret mass abortion programme in war against Boko Haram” (Reuters) — A deeply disturbing investigation into forced abortion, sexual assault, and war crimes that illustrates the horrors of government/military surveillance of pregnancy, of state-sanctioned reproductive abuse and violence, and the most extreme kinds of state involvement (that word is wholly inadequate, I’m sorry) in people’s reproductive lives.
Northern Ireland: “Supreme Court says bill to ban anti-abortion protests at clinics is lawful” (BBC)
The Columbia Journalism Review published “The Abortion Issue” this week, a package giving readers an inside look into post-Dobbs abortion coverage from and about some of this newsletter’s frequent flyers — among them Amy Littlefield, Becca Andrews, Renee Bracey Sherman, and Shefali Luthra — as well as the news media’s relationship(s) with sources and providers. The whole thing is very well done. Nobody asked me, but I’d love a follow-up issue with a tougher interrogation of the ways in which abortion coverage has failed (especially by putting sources at legal risk and legitimizing misinformation), the the evolution of abortion coverage norms, the experiences of reporters and editors outside of D.C. and New York, and burnout/mental health issues among folks who cover abortion.
“Anti-abortion Christian group compares its canceled restaurant reservation to segregation” (Jezebel)
The Tweets
Lots of appreciation this week for the AP Stylebook’s guidance against using “late-term abortion.”
The Takes
The Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund’s Laurie Bertram Roberts is in Rewire, reflecting on their childhood growing up in a fundamentalist Christian church and their “second-pew seat” to the rise of Christian nationalism: “As I‘ve watched Christian nationalists’ views move to mainstream primetime TV—flowing from the mouths of lawmakers—I can’t help but reflect on hearing similar things years ago. I never thought I would hear them go back to saying the quiet part out loud, but here we are. The arguments for keeping to ourselves. The messaging of xenophobia. The racist undertones and overtones. The appeals to fear and morality. I’ve seen this before, and none of it’s good.”
Repro legal experts Michele Goodwin and Mary Ziegler are in the New York Times with a warning about the next front in attacks on abortion — censorship of abortion-related information: “What’s different today is that, post-Roe, the stakes have changed. More Americans lack access to abortion than before, and abortion access has everything to do with access to information. That is where anti-abortion groups are seeking an edge.”
Reuters columnist Hassan Kanu looks at the awful case of Stacey Freeman, the Alabama woman jailed for allegedly using amphetamines while pregnant when she was not, in fact, pregnant: “Those cases demonstrate the senselessness and very real dangers of the ‘fetal personhood’ argument – which holds that the law should grant full personhood rights to fetuses and even fertilized eggs. The idea has been used to support efforts to punish women for behavior considered risky to pregnancies or for seeking abortions — a position that even the Republican establishment and anti-abortion movement leaders have previously rejected as radical.”
Jezebel’s Kylie Cheung tries (valiantly) and fails (inevitably, through no fault of her own) to make sense of the anti-abortion Republican who doesn’t want bathroom breaks for pregnant workers because something something abortion: “I almost have to give Tillis points for creativity, because… where did he get that from? In Murray’s floor remarks, the Washington senator explained that the bill is about ensuring no one is forced ‘to choose between their job and a healthy pregnancy.’ Per the bill’s language, it requires companies to offer ‘reasonable accommodations to the known limitations’ extending from ‘pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.' PWFA doesn’t even mention abortion. And, considering anti-abortion Republicans like Tillis are the reason exponentially more people will be forced to remain pregnant, and by extension, become pregnant workers, his opposition to the bill is especially cruel.”
The Fuck Are We Supposed To Do About It?
Anywhere, for playwrights: A Is For’s one-act play contest for reproductive justice is on! Submit by December 31, 2022.
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.
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, swag edition:
Partners in Abortion Care has their 2023 pet calendar on sale.
Grab holiday-themed abortion gear from JEN, the South Dakota abortion and practical support fund. The guinea pig shirt is precious/hilarious.
New gear from the Texas Equal Access Fund, including sweatshirts!
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.