California CVS Denies Abortion Medication to Woman Experiencing Miscarriage

Andrea Grimes
10–16 minutes

Plus: Iowa Supreme Court drops injunction against six-week abortion ban

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 by Victoria Pickering via Flickr/Creative Commons

The big takeaway: Late last week, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the state’s six-week abortion ban, which had been blocked by an injunction, could go into effect. Though as yet it’s not clear when exactly that happens. From the Des Moines Register:

“The injunction will remain in place until the district court formally receives the case, a process that will take at least three weeks, according to Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office. In the meantime, an Iowa law predating the fetal heartbeat statute, allowing abortions until the 20th week of pregnancy, will continue to apply.”

I said this on Threads and I’ll say it here, too: If you’re in the repro donor ecosystem, chances are you’re getting texts and emails from highly resourced national organizations about ~ fighting back ~ by making a donation today. Please remember that your money goes a lot farther and has more impact at indie and local providers, state/local and grassroots advocacy groups, and abortion funds. In Iowa, that means:

And: The presidential debate was awful. Trump and Biden were both awful on abortion. Trump spewed his usual outright lies and anti-abortion propaganda, and Biden failed to string two coherent words together except for the part where he threw people who need later abortion care under the bus. I knew it wasn’t going to be great, but the fact that the only thing that got those two miserable fuckos at all animated and coherent in the entire 90 minutes was a wanky argument about their golf handicaps honestly just makes me want to catapult myself into the sun. These men are embarrassing and it’s embarrassing that the American people are in this situation and the whole thing makes me fucking ashamed and miserable.

Before somebody drops in the comments or my inbox to inform me that Trump would be worse for abortion rights than Biden (I assure you: I fucking know), please allow me to direct you to my latest piece for DAME Magazine, in which I argue that people who need abortion care deserve better than the bare fucking minimum on bodily autonomy. Women, trans folks, and non-binary people have paid a terrible price for a long time now, and it’s a goddamned insult to be told that we have to complacently, even enthusiastically, accept “better than nothing” because that’s all we’re ever going to get. We are not sacrificing our bodies and our mental health and our wellbeing for “better than nothing” or “Trump would be a lot worse.”

I’m comforted and invigorated by the incredible pro-abortion work being done at the state, local, and grassroots levels, especially in “red” states. I am inspired by the resilience and dedication of people who are surviving and thriving either by choice, or for lack of it, in hostile geographies. I am dreaming of better than nothing and I know millions of other people are, too.

Okay, off the soapbox and on to the news. Kinda light this week.

The Top Headlines

The Takes

  • I wrote two abortion-related takes last week at MSNBC and DAME Magazine.
  • Court-watcher Elie Mystal is in The Nation with a take on SCOTUS’s “cynical ploy” on abortion: “… it feels very obvious to me that the conservative justices intended, when they took the case, to uphold Idaho’s law and send desperate pregnant people to the helipad, but three of them balked at the thought of reminding women just how much the court hates them so close to an election. So these three joined with the liberals to dismiss the case and reinstate the injunction the court had previously overruled, meaning that there will be no videos of helicopters flying sick women out of Jesus Potato Land at the order of the Supreme Court during the election cycle.”
  • From “Why we observe Shabbat outside an abortion clinic” in The Forward: “We feel it is our responsibility as Jews to not only honor the sacred agency of this clinic’s patients and the holy work of the staff, but also to bring attention to the fact that Judaism permits abortion, and in fact requires it if the life of the mother is at stake. Anti-abortion activists often argue that abortion goes against biblical values. It is our job to fiercely prove them wrong.“

The Tweets/Toks/Skeets/Grams

  • On Insta, Kansas Abortion Fund breaks down new state abortion restrictions that take effect there today, July 1.
  • On Insta, Tennessee’s Mountain Access Brigade breaks down the ban on abortion support for young people that goes into effect today, July 1.
  • With Twitter gasping its last and Threads taking over as hashtag-brand-engagement central, it really feels like bald-faced engagement farming is becoming the norm these days. I appreciate the Palmetto State Abortion Fund righteously dunking on this dude’s bad joke while spreading the good word of Fuck Your Abortion Stigma.

The Fuck Are We Supposed to Do About It?

  • 👕 SWAG OF THE WEEK! 👕
    • Support the ARC-Southeast abortion fund with these colorful “funding abortion is radical love” designs.
  • 💻 Anywhere: Join the Midwest Access Project for a virtual workshop, “HIV Advocacy in Reproductive Justice: Decriminalizing HIV & Supporting BIPOC Patients” on Tuesday, July 16.
  • 💻 Anywhere: INeedAnA just released a fabulous, comprehensive online resource for people under the age of 18 who need information about how to access abortion care, especially in states that require parental involvement.
  • 🌅 Arizona: Here’s a big list of events with opportunities to sign the petition for the state’s abortion rights ballot measure. (Plus info on joining on as a volunteer!)
  • 🗣️ Anywhere: Women on Web is looking for Polish speakers to join their help desk.
  • 🦺 St. Louis area: Illinois’ Hope Clinic is looking for clinic escorts. Here’s how to learn more.
  • 🐝 Anywhere: The “Pollination Station,” Apiary Practical Support‘s volunteer training series, is now taking applications.
  • 🚗 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

Goodnight and good dunk — Abortion researcher Andréa Becker is not wrong.

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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