'Rushed' Six-Week Abortion Ban Looms for Florida, the South

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: An impending (and “rushed”) six-week abortion ban in Florida could decimate access to care in the South — but it’s not a done deal yet, and there are legal hurdles ahead as Floridians first await a state Supreme Court ruling on an existing 15-week ban.

The Top Headlines

• “Abortion wins elections: The fight to make reproductive rights the centerpiece of the Democratic Party’s 2024 agenda” (The Cut) 

• “How the LAPD abortion squad went after women and doctors in pre-Roe Los Angeles” (Los Angeles Times)

• “How the GOP got comfortable pushing abortion bans without rape exceptions” (HuffPo)

• “Dueling court cases in Washington State and Texas could determine legality of abortion pill” (CNBC)

• “Senate Democrats ask military to protect abortion access for service members” (NBC News) and “Alabama senator blocking military promotions over abortion policy says he’ll ‘work it out’” (Alabama Reflector)

• “Man charged with firebombing Wisconsin anti-abortion office” (AP)

• “Whole Woman’s Health opens New Mexico clinic after closing Texas locations” (CBS News)

• What the anti-abortion crowd is up to lately:

  • “Federal judge rules insurance doesn’t have to cover PrEP drugs, mammograms, and much more” (Jezebel) — A Dubya Bush appointee made the anti-Obamacare ruling, and the lawyer representing the right-wing interests fueling the case? Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of Texas bounty-hunter abortion ban.

  • “Ohio Right to Life makes spurious, anti-trans argument in favor of supermajority amendment” (Ohio Capital Journal) — It’s a back-door play to get an anti-democratic twofer, blocking public votes on abortion rights and protections for trans folks.

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

  • 🟢 “New Mexico Supreme Court blocks local abortion ordinances” (WOKV)

  • 🟢 “Proposal to decriminalize women who have abortions presented at [South Carolina] state house” (ABC25 Columbia)

  • 🟢 “[Montana] Senate Judiciary Democrats walk out in protest over abortion rhetoric” (Daily Montanan)

  • 🟢 “Maryland lawmakers tee up referendum on abortion protections for 2024 ballot” (DCist)

  • 🟡 “Georgia Supreme Court justices hear arguments in challenge to state’s 2019 anti-abortion law” (Georgia Recorder)

  • 🔴 “Florida’s six-week abortion ban likely to pass. What other hurdles exist?” (Tampa Bay Times) 

  • 🔴 “Kansas House passes bills dealing with flat tax, abortion, wind turbines, energy, fentanyl” (Kansas Reflector) — The abortion bill would require “health care providers to tell people undergoing medication abortions that it may be possible to reverse them,” which is a lie.

  • 🔴 “Kansas attorney general urges state Supreme Court to reverse 2019 abortion-rights decision” (Kansas Reflector)

  • 🔴 “Idaho law could criminalize helping minors get abortions” (AP) — A lot of the coverage of this awful proposal characterizes it wrongly as the “first” attempt to restrict interstate travel around abortion, but that’s not true. As Missouri repro lawyer Steph Kraft Sheley pointed out on Twitter, Missouri has restricted such travel for young people since 2005. More here from The Meteor, too.

  • 🔴 “Tennessee considers $100 million in funding for anti-abortion clinics” (Rewire)

  • 🔴 “How Florida uses a little-known law to punish abortion clinics” (Politico)

The Takes

• The National Latina Institute’s Nancy Cárdenas Peña tweets her reaction to proposals for interior border checkpoints between New Mexico and Texas: “I get asked what keeps me up at night when it comes to abortion care post roe in this country and I'll continue to say that the cooperation between immigration and the state when it comes to criminalization, enforcement, surveillance for abortion in Texas is extremely concerning.”

• Repro legal scholar Mary Ziegler is in Slate arguing that the anti-abortion backers of a Texas man’s attempt to sue his ex-wife’s friends for allegedly helping her end her pregnancy are hoping for a bigger outcome than just a cash windfall for their client: legally solidifying fetal personhood. She writes: “[Lawyer Jonathan Mitchell’s] suit advances a particularly chilling vision: Personhood is primarily about incarcerating anyone who helps someone have an abortion, shaming those who end pregnancies, and vindicating the prerogatives of men who oppose it. This is reminiscent of the arguments made by self-proclaimed anti-abortion abolitionists, who argue that true equal treatment for the fetus requires punishing people who have abortions. This faction may not yet be a majority of the anti-abortion movement, but it is incredibly vocal about its intents—in South Carolina, a bill that could subject women to the death penalty initially won the sponsorship of more than 20 lawmakers.”

The Tweets/Toks/Grams

• Union-busting sucks, even/especially when Planned Parenthood does it!

• Physicians for Reproductive Health’s Kelsey Rhodes on that anti-Obamacare ruling:

• A reminder from the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund about the state’s impending six-week abortion ban:

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: Counter-protesting abortion clinic protesters only disrupts care and escalates tension, but the Digital Defense Fund’s Kate Bertash has a lot of actionable suggestions on what you can do instead to improve clinic access, mostly from the comfort of your own computer.

• 💻 Online: Prism’s virtual event, Disrupting Adoption Narratives: Adoptees for Reproductive Justice, is Tuesday, April 11th.

• 🎨 Dallas: Join the Afiya Center for Rise Up for RJ: A Night of Art and Performance at the African American Museum of Dallas on Friday, April 14.

• 💸 United States: Applications for the Third Wave Fund’s Own Our Power Fund are due by Friday, April 21. From Insta: “youth-led reproductive and gender justice organizations with an annual budget of up to $500,000 USD are eligible to apply, with a priority on groups located in regions or focused on issues that are philanthropically under-resourced.”

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

• 💸 Everywhere: 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.

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

• 🖌️ Baltimore: Get these tattoos for abortion! Or get these other tattoos for abortion!

• 💸 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!

• 💸 From your wallet: The Repro Legal Defense Fund, which supports and defends people criminalized for abortions and pregnancy loss, has teamed up with the Transgender Law Center to launch the Trans Legal Health Fund. Donate today to fund legal defenses for people criminalized for accessing gender-affirming health care!

• 🧑🏾‍⚕️ 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.

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

• 🧑🏾‍⚕️ 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!

  • “Don’t Talk To Cops” tees from If/When/How say all you need to say: nothing.

• 🤠 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:

  • 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: 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.