North Carolina Rushes 12-Week Abortion Ban

Plus: a Texas prison guard disciplined an incarcerated woman for talking about abortion

May 06, 2023

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.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: I launched Hard to Believe It’s Only Tuesday one year ago this week, when the Dobbs leak previewed the decimation of federal protections for abortion rights. Wow! Thanks for subscribing! If you’ve been following the newsletter since day one, why not upgrade to a paid subscription or gift a subscription to a friend who needs a little pro-abortion goodness in their life?

The big takeaway: It’s more bad news for the future of abortion care in the South, as North Carolina lawmakers have passed a 12-week abortion ban after going to unusual lengths to hide the proposed bill text and expedite its passage by blocking public debate. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has vowed to veto the bill, though the state GOP likely has the votes to override him.

Remember: Anti-abortion politicians have attempted to situate 12-week bans as ~ moderate compromises ~ on abortion bans (because something something Europe), which of course they are not! There is no such thing as compromising on bodily autonomy and reproductive dignity.

The Top Headlines

  • Abortion researchers Andréa Becker and Ushma Upadhyay are in The Nation arguing for increasing access to and protections for telehealth abortion care: “Although telehealth abortion is currently available in only 25 states and Washington, D.C., because Republican-controlled legislatures have banned the provision of care in their respective states, it’s a pillar in reproductive health care. Telehealth abortion now accounts for 11 percent of all abortions in the United States, while in-clinic medication abortions represent more than half of all abortions in this country. Research showsthat telehealth is as safe and effective as obtaining these medications in a facility.”

  • Rewire’s Garnet Henderson interviews clinic worker + abortion doula Hannah Matthews about her new book, You Or Someone You Love: Reflections of an Abortion Doula. Says Matthews: “I think part of what’s so isolating for so many people who have abortions, especially if they come from a very pro-abortion, progressive context, is that pressure to just speak about abortion as if it’s 100 percent positive all the time, and easy. And if they’ve had abortion experiences that aren’t positive and easy, they feel so alone. There is that feeling of like no, don’t give them anything. Don’t concede an inch of our beautiful fortress. And I think abortion is a social good. I think it’s wonderful. I work in abortion care, obviously I’m pro-abortion. But I think people should be listened to and that we need to hold space for every person who has an abortion. I trust them, and I believe them, and I listen to them.” Bonus: Matthews has also published a sweet essay in TIME about giving gifts to people who have abortions.

The Tweets/Toks/Grams

  • GHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH. I’ve seen several recent reports concerning a group called NYC for Abortion Rights, which has been disrupting patient care with their “clinic defense” demonstrations, even though they’ve been asked not to. (CORRECTION: this is not Rise and Resist NYC, the bunch who thought “fuck Texas” was a cool and bold organizing statement, apologies!)

  • Repro legal scholar David S. Cohen tweets a short thread on another federal ruling on mifepristone and Comstock out of West Virginia. In this case, a judge opined that Comstock has been “widely abrogated.”

  • The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice’s Nancy Cárdenas Peña tweets an example from her own inbox of what not to do when reporting on abortion:

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

The Fuck Are We Supposed to Do About It?

Goodnight and good dunk — Welp!

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.