Here’s another edition of Hard to Believe It’s Only Tuesday, a weekly roundup of the top headlines, tweets, toks, takes, and more in abortion news. You can always email me (andrea.grimes@gmail.com, or grimesandrea@proton.me for more sensitive inquiries) or DM me on instagram with action items, takes, and news clips. This post is probably too long for email, so click the headline above or head to the HTBIOT page to get the full read in your browser, because you don’t want to miss this week’s Goodnight and Good Dunk!
Photo courtesy of REACH Fund board member Livia Wallick
Self promo corner: You can hear me talking Texas abortion policy in a couple of places this week! I joined legal scholars and activists on ReproAction’srecent webinar on abortion support travel bans. I also had the pleasure of appearing on the Boom!Lawyered podcast’s final episode of 2023 and enjoyed a good holler with repro legal expert Imani Gandy. And if you really can’t get enough: here’s my latest TikTok video looking at why nobody should have to move cross-country to access basic reproductive health care.
The big takeaway: Days after the Supreme Court announced it will consolidate and hear oral arguments in two cases related to medication abortion access, the New York Times dropped a Sunday blockbuster looking at what basically amounts to the story of Sam Alito’s enthusiastic dismantling of whatever ethical credibility the court had left in the pursuit of overturning Roe v. Wade.
There’s good news embedded, though: in refusing to take up a third case involving a group of anti-abortion doctors’ suit seeking to wholesale repeal FDA approval for mifepristone, SCOTUS has more or less ensured that the medication will be available going forward, though the question is to what extent. Arguments in the consolidated cases will take place in 2024, with a decision expected in June.
The Top Headlines
“Behind the Scenes at the Dismantling of Roe v. Wade” (NYT) — This is a long read that tick-tocks through the Supreme Court’s path to issuing the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe. I have a couple of quibbles (will mainstream and legacy media ever learn that “life” vs. “choice” framing is anti-abortion propaganda?) but it’s a worthwhile piece that makes a strong case (without making a strong case, if you get my drift) for Sam Alito being the source of the original Dobbs leak to Politico and the overall architect of making SCOTUS look like a bunch of partisan stooges sucking at the tainted teat of the Federalist Society. So that’s satisfying, I guess, in a really soul-crushing way.
“The Woman Who Fought the Texas Abortion Ban” (NYT/The Daily) — As far as I know, this is the only interview Kate Cox has given since her story broke a couple of weeks ago.
“Republicans struggle as they keep getting forced to talk about abortion“(Politico) — The struggle is due, of course, to the fact that it’s hard to get many dozens of absolute fucking dipshits to get and keep their stories straight on the massive lie the GOP is trying to sell to the public, which is that they are done attacking abortion. They are not. We know this because:
“Conservatives move to keep abortion off the 2024 ballot” (Politico) — ‘We don’t believe [abortion rights] should be subjected to majority vote’ is the key quote from a top legal strategist at Americans United for Life, a group that dictates national anti-abortion policy via turnkey model legislation that can be filed by any halfway sentient warm body elected to office. Groups like AUL (and the Federalist Society, and the Susan B. Anthony List, and ALEC, etc.) are the ones driving the bus on this stuff and when they say shit like this, we should believe them. In contrast, we should not take seriously stories like this next one:
“Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway leads charge to overhaul GOP abortion strategy, end Dems’ 2024 advantage” (Fox News) — I’m highlighting this not because it is a worthwhile read on its own, but simply to observe the anti-abortion/Fox News/spin machine in action. First, the GOP likes Conway as a messenger on this topic (because lady, and also because she’s somehow seen as being Trump-distant while remaining fundamentally Trump-aligned). Second, they love the credulous Fox News framing, which presumes that what Republicans have is a political “strategy” problem on abortion (i.e., a voter optics/outreach problem) and not a political substance problem. Of course what they have is the latter: GOP bankrollers and puppetmeisters (see: Leo, Leonard) intend to criminalize abortion nationwide and they will not stop until they get what they want, no matter what lies about “compromise” and “protecting contraception” (AHAHAHAHAHAH PAGING CLARENCE THOMAS??? COME ON NOW) the Kellyanne Conways try to sell to voters. Which isn’t to say Republican voters won’t fall for it, or that they won’t pretend to fall for it. (Pretending to fall for it has a lot of advantages, chief among them the fact that you get the abortion bans you really want, because you do in fact believe the government should punish the noncompliant sluts, and then waking up on election day expressing shock — SHOCK — that there is gambling going on in this establishment.)
⚖️ What’s going on with abortion bans, legal challenges, and bills at the state and local levels:
🟢 “Ohio Supreme Court dismisses challenge to order blocking enforcement of abortion ban” (PBS/AP) — A lot of the headlines on this story are weirdly confusing; the upshot is that Ohio’s highest court has disallowed the resurrection of the state’s six-week abortion ban following the passage of the Issue 1 repro rights initiative, which went into effect on December 7.
🟡 “Attorneys for Kentucky woman seeking abortion withdraw lawsuit” (AP/Seattle Times) — It’s a voluntary dismissal, coming “after the woman learned her embryo no longer has cardiac activity.” Per the ACLU, they’re still looking for potential plaintiffs going forward.
Repro legal scholar Greer Donley is in the New York Times looking at the ways Texas’ abortion bans were intended to traumatize people with complicated pregnancies: “This problem cannot be solved with clearer language; it is a problem intrinsic to the Dobbs ruling that allowed the complicated experience of pregnancy into the courtroom. The only way forward is to protect abortion, no matter the reason — to refuse to play the game of “good abortion” vs. “bad abortion.” What happened to Kate Cox, and so many patients like her, is a symptom of a broken law that cannot be fixed.“
Adam Serwer is in The Atlanticwith another angle on the deliberate deception behind so-called “exceptions” to Texas’ abortion bans.
UCSF’s Dr. Aisha Mays and April Bell, PhD, are in Cosmopolitanwith a powerful call to stop shaming teen parents: “Supporting the principles of reproductive justice for all individuals—the right to have a child, the right not to have a child, and the right to parent one’s children in healthy and safe communities—means also supporting pregnant and parenting youth, plain and simple.”
The Tweets/Toks/Grams
Austin American-Statesman reporter Bayliss Wagner tweets a thread about her latest story, reporting on the ordeal of Taylor Edwards, who like Kate Cox, had to travel out of state for an abortion that saved her life and her fertility:
All the time they had to spend in public while grieving the loss of an expected family member, the uncertainty about whether her husband could be arrested, the fact that they had to undergo the procedure away from their support systems in Texas — it was "emotional torture."
Amarillo: Join the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance on Tuesday, December 19 at 2 p.m. for a “low-key hang” outside the Amarillo Civic Center to let local officials know you oppose abortion support travel bans.
🍑 Georgia: There are three, three, three! opportunities to join the Feminist Women’s Health Center‘s Legislative Advocacy workshop(s), on Thursday January 4, Saturday January 6th, or Sunday January 7th, 2024.
⚖️ Online, for lawyerfolk: Join If/When/How and the Birth Rights Bar Association for a CLE-eligible virtual training series on birth justice beginning Wednesday, January 24th.
🥂 The Carolinas: The Carolina Abortion Fund’s second annual gala is Saturday, February 3, 2024.
🔬 Anywhere, for abortion fundleaders: Participate in a UCSF study!
🦺 St. Louis area: Illinois’ Hope Clinic is looking for clinic escorts. Here’s how to learn more.
🚗 Kentucky: The Kentucky Health Justice Network is looking for volunteer drivers and case managers. Here’s where to sign up.
📱 North Texas: The Texas Equal Access Fund is looking for bilingual Spanish-speaking volunteers for their text line. Here’s where to sign up.
🤠 Texas: 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.
⛰️ Southwestern Virginia and Appalachia: The New River Abortion Access Fund is looking for volunteers.
🗳️ Anywhere, U.S.: Hey Jane x Vote America helps prep voters to support pro-abortion policies and candidates
💸 From your wallet:
The IPPF and the Palestinian Family Planning Association are attempting to provide care for tens of thousands of pregnant people in Gaza; learn more here and donate/spread the word.
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.
Abortions Welcome is a “pro-choice spiritual companion for use before, during, and after abortion.”
Want to become a practical support volunteer helping folks access abortion? Read this essential FAQ from Apiary first.
📚 Research:
Here’s If/When/How‘s new report on the criminalization of self-managed abortion between 2000-2020.
New research from Pregnancy Justice looks at the data behind rising criminalization of pregnancy.
Here’s new research from Gynuity on the safety and effectiveness of misoprostol-only medication abortion.
Read Dr. Autumn Asher BlackDeer’sreport, “Towards an Indigenous Reproductive Justice: Examining Attitudes on Abortion among American Indian and Alaska Native Communities.”
Here’s new research on abortion access for incarcerated folks.
Goodnight and good dunk — OARS’ Ariella Messing drops in to remind us that even supposedly abortion-friendly geographies have more to do when it comes to supporting reproductive freedom:
👀 interesting statement from the governor of a state where insurance doesn’t cover abortion for Medicaid enrollees and public employees. https://t.co/ctbTl9aLtm
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 — andrea.grimes@gmail.com or grimesandrea@proton.me for more sensitive inquiries, or DM me on Instagram, and I’ll try to add follow-ups as I’m able.
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