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!
The big takeaway:I’m in the midst of finishing up a major spring project (my annual Texas Writers Byline Scan) which is why I missed last week’s roundup (though I did write a holler). I don’t have as much time as I’d like to dig into catching up this week, but I do want to tease out a few things:
This story, from Texas, about a 25-year-old woman who was refused treatment for an ectopic pregnancy, the Alabama IVF ruling declaring that embryos are people, and Republicans’ latest attacks on contraception are intertwined. The anti-abortion movement is a white supremacist, Christo-fascist, eugenicist project with one goal: to force every pregnant person to carry every pregnancy to term or die trying (or go to jail). The “die trying” part is important. Their goal is not to ensure that everyone who wants to become a parent can do so. They care about working wombs, only — and only to the extent that they can be forced to submit to government control. People who have ectopic pregnancies, people who use assisted reproductive medicine and technology, and people who use contraception are not useful to the anti-abortion movement. As NYT writer and sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom put it: “All white women back into the home and all other women to service them.” Those of us who don’t fit into that scheme are expendable.
The category of “expendable” is a deliberately moving target. This is why we hear about people expressing shock and surprise when they find abortion bans and restrictions — and, now, IVF-related personhood rulings — suddenly affect their own reproductive decisions and outcomes. It’s why we’re hearing Republican voters (and politicians) say they ~ didn’t realize ~ reproductive restrictions and personhood rulings were going to be used, well, the way they’re being used — for example, to deny pregnancy care to people with life-threatening and unviable pregnancies. These laws were only supposed to be used to punish non-compliant sluts who have abortions for fun! A lot of people are waking up to the idea that “non-compliant slut” was always intended to be a fungible category that could be applied to anyone, whenever it’s convenient for the anti-abortion politicians and lobbyists who are obsessed with patriarchal power and control.
““What Can I Even Say Without Having to Go to Jail?”” (Mother Jones) — This deep-dive into the impact of abortion bans on victims and survivors of domestic violence, and anti-DV advocates, is well worth a read.
“Trump Says He Supports I.V.F. and Calls for Treatment to Remain Legal” (NYT) — Always good to remember that there are light years between any given thing Trump “says” and what Trump will actually do to obtain and retain power. The anti-abortion folks backing him oppose IVF, and they’re the ones dictating his policies.
Writer Ana Marie Cox is in MSNBC with a call to action for abortion-shy Dems: “The horror of this moment could be a political gift, if only Democrats would accept it. They no longer have to worry that a “radical” position on abortion will turn off voters, because it’s the Republicans who have taken a radical position — and voters are turned off by it, endorsing access and rebuking the forced-birth position whenever the issue is on the ballot.”
🤠 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.
Donate to rebuildAffirmative Care Solutions, the Illinois clinic attacked by an anti-abortion extremist who drove his car through the front of the building.
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.
The Center for Reproductive Rightshas an interactive online resource looking at “the current status of abortion rights through state court constitutional decisions.”
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.
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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I’ve been reading “The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America” by Daniel Okrent this last week. And all of this is tied together with conservatism in America. The same folks are always fearmongering immigrants and minorities, and using “the purity of white women” as the scapegoat. It’s frustrating to see Americans falling for the okie doke over and over again.
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