Medication Abortion Access Protected For Now

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 NEWS IS GOOD. The Supreme Court has granted a full stay against changes to mifepristone’s FDA approval/protocols for now; lower court rulings mandating changes to mife are blocked and will be for some time to come as the case winds its way fully through the courts. This is what repro legal scholar David Cohen called the “BEST case scenario” when the news broke late Friday. Predictably, Justices Thomas and Alito would not have granted the stay. Because that is not what they are being paid to do. Repro legal scholar Mary Ziegler cautioned against “reading too much into” the stay when it comes to the other substantive parts of the case.

Here’s what’s been on my mind all week as we’ve been waiting on the what-comes-next: All of these people (mostly men) working to ban and block access to medication abortion by legitimizing absolutely batshit-and-a-half legal finagling? They are all friends and good ole’ boys and longtime colleagues and school chums and they are all working together to do this thing on purpose and coordinating their filings and rulings and appointments and arguments. I don’t care if it makes me sound like some sort of tinfoil hat crackpot! The glue holding them together is the Federalist Society and they have never, ever made a secret of it. I hate it!

The Top Headlines

• “Supreme Court keeps abortion pill restrictions blocked” (MSNBC)

• “‘You would only need a week’: How the next Republican president could ban abortion nationwide’” (Mother Jones) — Featuring several thoughtful experts exploring what a Comstock-enforced abortion ban could actually look like.

• “All the shady things surrounding the abortion pill judge” and “Let’s look at Senator Josh Hawley’s connections to the abortion pill case” (Jezebel)

• “Abortion pill maker sues FDA to protect drug if a court orders it off the market” (NYT) — This is a brand new suit that’s been filed in Maryland.

• “Abortion ban states see steep drop in OB/GYN residency applicants” (WaPo)

• “‘I felt that I had saved my own life’: A Polish woman’s harrowing story of illegal abortion” (The Nation)

• “Abortion divides 2024 candidates and confounds many within the GOP” (WaPo) — I really went back and forth on linking to this, because on the one hand, I think taking GOP politicians at their word on abortion with this kind of access-journalismy, breathlessly credulous coverage is one of the world’s top exercises in futility, but getting them on the record about what they say they will do and comparing it to what they actually do should at least in theory make it easier to predict what they’ll do? Except that, of course, we’re looking at electoral politics mattering less and less when it comes to abortion bans going forward now that the GOP has the anti-abortion SCOTUS majority it needs to do whatever it wants, and can distance itself from unpopular abortion restrictions by dismissing them as a courts matter, and not a political matter. Anyway. It doesn’t matter what any of the GOP presidential candidates say about abortion; they will ultimately do whatever the farthest-right, most anti-abortion members of their party/lobbyists want them to do (criminalize pregnancy outcomes other than birth, and they will even criminalize some of those, too).

• “The path to a safe abortion gets narrower — again” (Texas Observer)

• “Abortion-rights attorneys help patients and providers navigate legal chaos” (News from the States)

• “Republican donor pauses Ron DeSantis funding over abortion and book banning” (The Guardian)

• What’s going on with abortion bans, legal challenges, and bills at the state and local levels:

  • 🟢 “Abortion services to remain available at the VA after close U.S. Senate vote” (Arkansas Advocate)

  • 🟢 “Public college students in New York could be guaranteed access to abortion medication” (NY1)

  • 🟢 “Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoes bill requiring doctors to provide ‘abortion reversal’ info” (Kansas City Star)

  • 🟢 “[Oregon] Democrats propose constitutional protections for abortions, sex and gender identities” (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

  • 🟡 “The North Carolina governor’s race will be fought over abortion and LGBTQ+ rights” (The 19th)

  • 🟡 “Legislative committee advances bills to address post-Roe Louisiana” (Louisiana Illuminator) — I mean, the bills are fine? But they shouldn’t need to exist in the first place! So they get a yellow light.

  • 🟡 “Enforcement of Colorado’s new ban on abortion-reversal treatment put on hold” (Denver Post)

  • 🔴 “City of Eunice [New Mexico] sues governor and attorney general over abortion rule” (Source NM)

  • 🔴 “In a [Tennessee] town plagued by an environmental crisis, a local abortion debate consumes public attention” (Stat)

  • 🔴 “Police union spreads fear over San Antonio ballot measure decriminalizing weed and abortion” (Bolts)

  • 🔴 “Nebraska Republican: Abortion ban needed to ensure dominance of white population” (Truthout)

  • 🔴 “ACLU drops federal lawsuit against West Virginia abortion ban” (WV Public Broadcasting)

The Takes

• I’m at MSNBC writing about the Texas abortion lawyer who may just get SCOTUS to implement a nationwide abortion ban if he asks nicely enough: “… Republican donors and politicians are trying to distance themselves from hard-line abortion stances. Mitchell’s strategy allows the GOP to rely on courts to shore up their project of forced pregnancy, and it may very well work. Even the strict legal solvency of Mitchell’s finagling is practically irrelevant with a judiciary stacked with anti-abortion ideologues. If he does not succeed in New Mexico, be assured he’ll find another venue in which to challenge the democratic rule of law.” 

• Repro legal scholars Reva Siegel and Mary Ziegler are in Slate pointing out that a SCOTUS-borne abortion ban rooted in Comstock would be the very opposite of the court’s stated goals per Dobbs: “The mifepristone case will reveal the true commitments of the conservative Supreme Court justices who reversed Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Services. In that decision, the conservative justices claimed to be returning the abortion issue to the people, but was their talk of democracy just an excuse for supporting abortion bans? Will they now go further than Dobbs’ cherry-picked history by reviving Victorian laws that women had no voice in enacting in order to continue restricting abortion access?”

The Tweets/Toks/Grams

• Abortion researcher Dana Johnson tweets Project SANA’s new paper on self-managed abortion, with info on their findings and methodologies in-thread.

• We Testify’s Renee Bracey Sherman names the anti-Black respectability politics behind the way U.S. House Dems select abortion testimony in this thread:

• Are you tired? I’m tired. From reading this tweet, I feel like @RHAVote is tired, too.

Know someone who needs a little pro-abortion activism in their life, as a treat?

The Fuck Are We Supposed to Do About It?

• 🖥️ Online: Fundraising for abortion? The Online Abortion Resource Squad’s Ariella Messing has a good fucking idea: Get your ass on Reddit and tell people about it! (And why not donate a few bucks to OARS, while you’re at it?)

• 🗣️💸 Anywhere, but especially Texas: Strike this particular action item off your list because BABY MILA IS HOME! Of course, the fight to keep Black families together is ongoing, so be sure you’re following the Afiya Center on Instagram for whatever comes next. Via the Afiya Center, demand justice for baby Mila Jackson and her family. Baby Mila was wrongfully taken away from her parents following her birth in Dallas in March.

• 🗳️ San Antonio: Join Avow Texas for an Abortion on the Ballot Day training on Saturday, April 29th.

• 🥂 Austin: Celebrate Jane’s Due Process at LoLo Wine Bar on Wednesday, May 17th.

• 🥂 Dallas: The Texas Equal Access Fund’s First Bloom community awards gala is Thursday, May 18.

• 🍻 Albuquerque: The first 30 folks to buy a ticket to celebrate abortion access in New Mexico on Saturday, May 20th at Bow & Arrow Brewing Co will get a free pint glass.

• 💸 Everywhere: It’s Abortion Access Fund-A-Thon season! Find a team, a fund, and/or a fundraiser near you, or start your own! Fund some abortions!

• 📥 Anywhere: Looking for a job in repro? ReproJobs can help you spruce up your resume!

• 🧑🏾‍⚕️ Anywhere, for medical residents training in abortion care: Obstetricians for Reproductive Justice and others will fund residents who need to travel out of state for abortion care training through December 2023 (or retroactively since July 1, 2022). Here’s how to apply.

• 🧑🏾‍⚕️ 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.

• 👕 Anywhere: get swag!

  • Especially for Francophiles: these “la beauté est dans les pilules abortives” shirts benefit the Chicago Abortion Fund!

• 🤠 Texas:

  • Join the Texas Abortion Hype Squad.

  • Local teen-friendly businesses in in Bryan, College Station, Lubbock, or San Angelo can become pickup spots for repro kits assembled by Jane’s Due Process. Here’s the application form.

• 📖 Anywhere, resources edition:

  • Read this solidarity + organizing brief from Interrupting Criminalization and a coalition of repro and anti-criminalization orgs.

  • I Need An A’s new “stories” section provides resources, support, and information for folks seeking abortion care.

  • Plan C Pills has published a self-managed abortion field guide in super fun, accessible zine form.

  • Physicians for Reproductive Health has updated guidance on discussing and reporting on later abortion care.

  • 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.

• ✍️ Sign and share:

  • New York: Support access to on-campus medication abortion.

  • Anywhere: Tell Planned Parenthood North Central States to stop union-busting.

  • Anywhere: Sign the RJ Response to Stop Cop City.

  • Anywhere: All Above All*’s petition to lift outdated restrictions on medication abortion.

  • Anywhere: UltraViolet’s petition calling on pharmacies to provide medication abortion access where it’s legal to do so.

  • 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.

  • Georgia: Sign the Amplify Georgia Collaborative’s petition to support the Georgia Reproductive Freedom Act.

  • Anywhere: Use All Above All*’s online form to express your support for the EACH act in Congress.

• 💸 From your wallet:

  • Donate to the Online Abortion Resource Squad, which supports the R/Abortion subreddit 24/7/365.

  • Donate to Elevated Access, which transports folks for abortion and gender-affirming care.

  • Use one link to split your donation between a number of Florida abortion funds.

  • Via the Repro Legal Defense Fund: donate to the defense fund for pro-abortion organizers targeted under a law originally meant to protect abortion clinics and providers.

  • The Valley Abortion Group is a new all-trimester abortion facility fundraising to open in New Mexico — donate to the GoFundMe.

  • 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.