Hard to Believe It's Only Tuesday: Voters Backed Abortion Protections on Every Single Statewide Ballot

Here’s another edition of Hard to Believe It’s Only Tuesday, a weekly roundup of the top headlines, tweets, toks, takes, and more in abortion news. Remember: you can always email me ([email protected]) or DM me on instagram with action items to include in the The Fuck Are We Supposed To Do About It? section!

The big takeaway: U.S. voters support abortion rights, period, end of. Not just in safely blue geographies but in red states (Montana!) the South (Kentucky!) and the Midwest (Michigan! Or are we going to get in a fight about whether Michigan is technically a part of the Midwest? I don’t know!). Maybe now those smug coastal liberals calling for a boycott of half the country (even though there are plenty of abortion restrictions in “blue” states!) will stop trying to withhold resources from the people fighting the hardest for their reproductive freedoms. (I am not optimistic.)

More importantly, I think this week’s results show that American voters understand that abortion is an economic issue as much as inflation or gas prices — and it is long past time that the political pundit/consultant class made an effort to understand that, too.

The Top Headlines

• “Abortion rights win big in midterm elections as the red wave crumbles” (Prism)

  • “Montana vote adds to win streak for abortion rights backers” (AP)

  • “Michigan Proposal 3 supporting abortion rights wins big” (Bridge Michigan)

  • “Kentucky voters reject constitutional amendment on abortion” (PBS)

  • “Proposition 1 abortion rights ballot measure passes” (Los Angeles Times)

  • “Vermont votes to protect abortion rights in state constitution” (NPR)

• What’s going on with abortion laws and restrictions at the state/local level:

  • “After wins at the ballot, abortion rights groups want to ‘put this to the people’” (NPR)

  • “New Mexico city passes ordinance to block abortion clinics from operating” (Reuters) — Efforts to ban abortion at the city level even in states where the procedure is legal began in Texas a few years ago (more in the headlines session of this past HTBIOT issue). It’s important to note that the Hobbs, New Mexico city commission passed this ordinance — not city voters.

  • “Arizona agrees not to enforce near-total abortion ban until next year” (NBC News)

  • “Florida legislators say they will discuss further restrictions on abortions” (Miami Herald)

• “The pilots flying abortion patients across state lines” (The Cut) — A look at Elevated Access, a volunteer pilot network that helps folks travel for abortion and gender-affirming care.

• “These companies claim to support abortion rights. They are backing anti-abortion Republicans.” (The Guardian) — Companies in question include Eli Lilly, Meta, Comcast, Citigroup, AT&T, and Amazon.

• “Abortion access and funding have always been a struggle in U.S. territories” (Prism) — I read a lot of abortion news, and I cannot remember the last time a publication covered abortion access in Guam, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories.

• “Rio Grande Valley abortion clinic bought by anti-abortion pregnancy center” (Texas Tribune)

• “Support for abortion surges to highest level in nearly 30 years” (Jezebel)

The Tweets

• Emory University public health scholar Hayley McMahon tweets about getting stuck in Twitter jail for sharing the World Health Organization’s publicly available protocols on self-managed abortion.

• We Testify executive director Renee Bracey Sherman tweets a thoughtful thread about the depressing state of political consultancy around abortion. A highlight: “Their new argument is that the economy is more important than abortion as if those aren't intertwined issues. I have a really hard time listening to most political ads about abortion (not only because they work hard to avoid using the word abortion) but because they silo it.”

• As Twitter dissolves into a Musky cesspool, abortion advocates are celebrating the ways in which the platform allowed them to create community, fundraise for care, and support abortion access nationwide.

The Takes

• UC San Francisco’s Biftu Mangesha, an OB-GYN and researcher, connects abortion bans and white supremacy in an op-ed for the Scientific American: “For centuries, the power to exercise reproductive freedom and to reproduce (or not) in a safe and dignified context has not been equitably distributed for marginalized communities and particularly for communities of color. Restrictions stemming from the Dobbs decision will undoubtedly bring further disparities of autonomy in communities of color, which will lead to a widening of the health and mortality disparities we currently see.”

The Fuck Are We Supposed To Do About It?

• Houston: Head over to Lil Danny Speedo’s Go Fly A Kite Lounge on Sunday, November 13th for an Ovary Action fundraiser benefitting Frontera Fund.

• Houston: Join Jane’s Due Process for an all-ages Houston Hangout at Space Cowboy on Wednesday, November 16th.

• Online: Tune into the next installment of If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice’s webinar series on self-managed abortion. The Thursday, November 17th session will cover SMA advocacy. Register by November 16th.

• Fort Worth: TCU’s Women & Gender Studies department is hosting a Reproductive Justice Advocacy Day on Friday, November 18th with the Texas Equal Access Fund.

• Atlanta: Feminist Women’s Health Center and Amplify Georgia Collaborative are hosting an abortion storytelling workshop on Sunday, November 20th. Details + RSVP here.

• Online/Ireland: Kerry for Choice’s next organizational meeting is Tuesday, November 29th via Zoom. Email them for details.

• West Texas or East Texas: Jane’s Due Process, which supports young folks’ access to reproductive care, 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, for playwrights: A Is For’s one-act play contest for reproductive justice is on! Submit by December 31, 2022.

• 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.

• Anywhere: Become a Plan C ambassador for medication abortion care.

• Anywhere, swag edition:

  • Here’s 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:

  • 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.

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

• Anywhere: Folks in Austin, TX have created model language for city-based protections for abortion. Check out this TikTok, or flip through this Instagram FAQ slide show from Jane’s Due Process.

• 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.

• Texas: Join the Texas Abortion Hype Squad.

• 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.