Oh Good, Brett Kavanaugh Gets To Decide About Our Abortions (Again)

Plus: Florida Democrats arrested for protesting proposed abortion ban

April 09, 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.

The big takeaway: Late Friday afternoon, we got conflicting federal rulings out of Texas and Washington State on two cases surrounding the way(s) the FDA regulates mifepristone, the first pill used in most medication abortion regimens. The Washington (state) case aims to expand the pill’s availability, while the Texas case concerns rescinding its FDA approval. Which means mife’s availability in general — and potentially, but not definitely, its accessibility in states where medication abortion remains legal — is about to be in the hands of the anti-abortion Supreme Court. Right now, though, nothing about mifepristone access changes until the end of this week, and maybe not even then. (It’s also possible to end a pregnancy using just one medication — misoprostol — though some studies have found that method to be slightly less effective, and more likely to be painful/uncomfortable than the mife-miso combo.)

Kaiser has a good backgrounder on the two cases and their implications. A number of legal experts have noted that Trump appointee Matt Kacsmaryk’s ruling out of Texas is explicitly and intentionally anti-abortion, and more than that, attempts to lay groundwork for fetal personhood. Which is exactly and only what he was hired to do.

Repro legal scholar David Cohen’s twitter thread on the Texas ruling is probably the most coherent and quick read on what the future of these two cases looks like right now. There are a number of live issues, among them the fact that the Comstock Act, which Kacsmaryk cites as applicable to restricting mife distribution, applies only to the FDA, and that the overall impact of the case, even if SCOTUS privileges the Texas ruling over the Washington ruling, might not be as dire as some have feared.

The Top Headlines

The Takes

  • For smart mife case context from actual experts: watch repro legal scholar Michele Goodwin and OB-GYN Dr. Jamila Perritt on MSNBC discussing the rulings, or tune into Boom! Lawyered with Rewire’s Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo.

  • The Nation’s Elie Mystal on anti-abortion fear-mongering proceeding apace: “As of this writing, I simply do not know if it is legal in the United States for a pregnant person to receive a medical prescription to terminate their pregnancy. And that is part of the point. Confusion is the point. Fear is the point. Letting people know that their bodies are subject to the whims of random male judges and shadowy religious organizations is the point. This is not Law we’re dealing with. This is Inquisition. This is theocratic forces using the apparatus of the state to force their religious views on everybody else.”

  • Jezebel’s Kylie Cheung reminds us that “abortion trafficking” is not a thing: “Anti-abortion lawmakers don’t care about children’s safety—they care about finding the most potent, convenient boogeyman of the day to ban abortion for as many people as possible.”

The Tweets/Toks/Grams

  • Perhaps a break for something a little lighter? Enjoy this Pedro Pascal-tastic thread from the Texas Equal Access Fund.

  • I find nothing to argue with in this post from Buckle Bunnies Fund: 

  • We Testify’s Renee Bracey Sherman reminds us that pregnancy criminalization is a nationwide issue, not just a “red state” problem.

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: With friends like these, who needs enemies?

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.