Hard to Believe It's Only Tuesday: Yes We Kansas!

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

This week’s big takeaway: Kansans overwhelmingly voted to maintain protections for abortion rights in the state constitution in the first post-Dobbs temperature read on voters’ attitudes toward abortion rights.

The Top Headlines

• “Kansas voters resoundingly protect their access to abortion” (AP) — 🎉

• “Biden issues executive order on abortion access, calling for more study” (NYT) — Perhaps predictably, it’s lot of hat, a little of cattle. See the Tweets section for more analysis on this from experts.

• “US sues Idaho over abortion law, cites medical treatment” (AP) — It’s the first time Biden’s Justice Department has made an affirmative effort to challenge a trigger law post-Dobbs. They’re arguing the state’s abortion ban “conflicts with a federal law requiring doctors to provide pregnant women medically necessary treatment that could include abortion.”

• “Senators unveil bipartisan abortion access bill; measure unlikely to pass” (WaPo) — The proposal “ensures federal abortion rights up to viability, and allows post-viability abortion when the health of the mother is in jeopardy.” They need 10 additional GOP votes to pass the chamber.

• “Michigan judge extends order preventing criminal charges under abortion ban” (Detroit Free Press)

• "Clinics ask Supreme Court to halt appeals court order blocking abortion in Kentucky” (Louisville Courier Journal) — The state’s abortion ban is is place; this is an ask to the state Supreme Court, not the federal bench.

• “Majority of House Republicans supported removing rape, incest exceptions from Indiana abortion bill” (IndyStar) — Indiana’s proposed abortion ban could pass on Friday; as of this arriving in your inbox, it hasn’t. Watch this space, etc. UPDATE: the Indiana House passed the bill, the Senate will vote later on Friday. UPDATE: Indiana’s abortion ban passed; barring legal challenges, it’ll go into effect on September 15.

• “Pennsylvania county could become first to divest from Wells Fargo over abortion” (Bloomberg) — The county in question is Lehigh: “Withdrawing $145 million in taxpayer dollars from the bank is one way to hold big businesses accountable for their role in shaping the law.”

• “At heated meeting, San Antonio City Council approves resolution to protect abortion access” (San Antonio Current) and “Democratic cities in Texas push to blunt impact of state’s abortion ban” (The Guardian) — Mostly posting this because of The Guardian’s 👀 characterization of Waco under the umbrella of “Democratic cities,” but we can all hope!

• “The abortion rights group other activists want nothing to do with” (Vice) — A deep dive into Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, the latest incarnation of the weird, culty Revolutionary Communist Party’s attempts to capitalize on the abortion news cycle. Sorry, I’m biased!!!

The Tweets

• We Testify’s Renee Bracey Sherman tweets a thread tying together the recent spat of anti-abortion creeps saying 10- and 13-year-olds should be forced to parent with the sordid and abusive history of religious (usually Catholic) groups forcing women to relinquish their children for adoption.

• Gen Z for Change’s Olivia Julianna with a word about the word:

• The Nation’s Amy Littlefield live-tweeted her time shadowing abortion rights canvassers ahead of last Tuesday’s vote to preserve abortion access in the state.

The Takes

• ANSIRH researcher Steph Herold in The American Prospect on abortion narratives in Hollywood: “Hollywood has always told stories about abortion, from the earliest silent films to television’s pre-Technicolor era. In recent years, the number of abortion stories on-screen has increased dramatically; we tracked just 13 plotlines in 2016, compared to 47 in 2021. Yet the stubborn endurance of cultural myths about abortion—that it is unsafe, that it is uncommon, or that it is easy to access—is no doubt facilitated, at least in part, by the ubiquity of these myths on-screen.”

• Writer Adiba Nelson in the Washington Post reflects on her own traumatic birth experience and why Black birthing folks deserve better: “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the maternal mortality rate for Black mothers is three times as high as that of White women. It’s only a worsening problem: Over the past 20 years, cases of severe maternal morbidity have increased by more than 200 percent, and cases disproportionately affect Black women, according to the American Journal of Managed Care. And yet two out of three pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Now, with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the consequences for Black birthing people look even more dire.”

• Teen Vogue’s Fortesa Latifi profiles Olivia Julianna, the 19-year-old Texas activist who raised over $2 million for abortion funds after she was harassed by Rep. Matt Gaetz. Fun fact: Julianna “credits her lifelong love of professional wrestling with helping her develop a quick wit and confidence under pressure.”

• WNYC’s Death, Sex & Money podcast talks to Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund co-founder and executive director Laurie Bertram-Roberts, who has a question for coastal liberals: “Like, we need to know are y'all gonna love us tomorrow? Like when the new, like the new bright, shiny object comes along, y'all gonna ride with us? Cuz I don't think y'all are, like y'all never do. Y'all never do. You parachute in for a crisis and then you leave. But we will find another way, like we did when we had a $20,000 a year budget, like we did when we had a $60,000 a year budget. And now that we have a $225,000 a year budget, you know what I'm saying? Like, we're gonna keep, gonna keep keepin' on.” 

• Physicians for Reproductive Health has a great set of Instagram slides breaking down Biden’s executive order abortion access.

The Fuck Are We Supposed To Do About It?

• Anywhere, but LAST CALL: This is the last week to get a kickass skeleton-tat-inspired "abortion is healthcare” shirt designed by Nat Power (who FUN FACT did this colorful kitty tat on my forearm!). Proceeds benefit Just The Pill.

• Anywhere: 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.

• Anywhere: Order your own INeedAnA promo stickers to share with folks in your community.

• Anywhere: Buy something off the wishlist of an independent clinic, abortion fund, or clinic defense group.

• Anywhere: read this guide (for journalists, but useful for everybody) on using trans-inclusive language when talking about reproductive health care, from ARC-Southeast and the Transgender Law Center.

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

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

• Anywhere: Folks in Austin, TX have created model language for city-based protections for abortion that could be replicated just about anywhere. Check out this TikTok for more.

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

• From your wallet: Donate to support abortion funds; this link distributes your donation to 90+ funds around the country.

• From your wallet: Donate to support independent abortion providers.

• Anywhere: Here’s a big list of action items and info created by @RHAVote.

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

• 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.

• Texas: Join the Texas Abortion Hype Squad

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.