Plus: ‘Leave it to the states?’ Republicans across the country are weaponizing bureaucracy in attempt to shut down abortion rights votes.
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:Because “leave it up to the states” is a bald-faced lie, anti-abortion Republicans and secretaries of state across the country are trying to put the full force of bureaucratic bullshittery to work to keep abortion rights ballot initiatives from going in front of voters.
Most notably, Arkansas SOS John Thurston is trying to pull a duly filed petition there, claiming that an abortion rights groups’ paperwork, which was demonstrably in order, was not in order. In Montana, abortion rights petitioners are suing the secretary of state for “rejecting signatures without cause.” In Florida, an all-Republican committee is dragging its feet over the financial impact forecast attached to an abortion rights ballot initiative there. And in Arizona, Republicans tried to insert partisan, anti-abortion propaganda language about that state’s abortion rights ballot initiative into a voter information pamphlet; Arizona for Abortion Access is suing.
The Top Headlines
“Texas Sends Millions to Crisis Pregnancy Centers. It’s Meant to Help Needy Families, But No One Knows if It Works.” (ProPublica) — Kind of depends on what you mean by “works,” here! If the goal is to distribute $140 million in taxpayer dollars to a handful of anti-abortion lobbyists, religious counselors, and anti-abortion charities in exchange for absolutely no services rendered, the Alternatives to Abortion program is a roaring success. If the goal is to support Texas families, it’s pretty safe to say it does not work. Indeed, it’s less that “no one knows if it works” and more that there are no parameters for success, and even if there were, no one is measuring them, because the state of Texas is simply doling out millions and millions to right-wing Christian charities that exist to disseminate misinformation about reproductive health and pregnancy for the express purpose of manipulating and shaming pregnant people out of having abortions. This fuckery is a long-time interest of mine: Back in 2016, I broke some of the first stories about anti-abortion centers grifting Texas taxpayers out of millions for the Texas Observer. The Heidi Group, which is the ur-model for these outfits, ultimately lost its contract with the state after basically setting taxpayer money on fire for Jesus. Now, it seems, the state has decided not just to repeat the failures it made funding the Heidi Group, but to do so by orders of magnitude.
USA Today columnist Chris Brennan tried to nail the Trump campaign down on Trump’s claims about Democrats killing babies “even after birth.” You’ll never guess what happened next: “Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national press secretary, responded with zero examples and just simply repeated his claim from the debate while offering a list of instances when Biden and other Democrats supported abortion rights. The Biden campaign, when I asked for his position on the issue, sent me five examples of media reports from 2020, 2022 and 2024, including a CNN fact-check article from last month, that easily debunk Trump’s claim.“
PRRI’s Melissa Deckman is in The New Republic offering her org’s answer to the question of “why abortion bans keep getting passed, even though they’re unpopular.” She writes: “The answer has to do with the disproportionate influence of more extreme voters—as well as the growing ascendancy of religious conservatives as Republican Party power brokers.”
The Tweets/Toks/Skeets/Grams
It’s Disability Pride Month! Check out this slide show from Abortion on Our Own Terms on the connections between disability justice and abortion:
💻 Online: Join the Midwest Access Project for a virtual workshop, “HIV Advocacy in Reproductive Justice: Decriminalizing HIV & Supporting BIPOC Patients” on Tuesday, July 16.
💻 Online: Join Frontera Fund and Texas Rising for a “Stop the Stigma!” workshop on talking about abortion. It’s Thursday, July 18.
🎉 Amarillo, TX: Celebrate one year of the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance on Saturday, July 20 at Caliche.
🎥 Fort Worth, TX: The TEA Fund’s“Docs & Diapers” event includes a screening of Preconceived and a diaper drive on Saturday, June 27.
👶🏽 Dallas, TX: The TEA Fund’sinfant care resource drive is Saturday, August 10 at the Church in the Cliff.
🦺 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
💸 From your wallet:
The $1 Million for Black RJ campaign is live! Donate here.
Donate to keep the West Alabama Women’s Center’s doors open so they can provide gender-affirming care, repro care, pre- and post-natal care, miscarriage management, and much more.
Buy a wishlist item for the Yellowhammer Fund‘s Repro Raven bus.
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.
Anywhere: UltraViolet’s petition calling on pharmacies to provide medication abortion access where it’s legal to do so.
🔎 Abortion Resources
⚕️ Abortion providers, rights, and support:
Looking for a clinical abortion provider? AbortionFinder and INeedAnA are trustworthy and updated regularly.
Here’s INeedAnA‘s 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.
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 latest report on the criminalization of self-managed abortion between 2000-2020, plus a new report that looks at how callers to their Repro Legal Helpline have been affected post-Dobbs
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 — Yeah! It was super boring not being able to get clinical abortion care where I live, but then somebody tried to kill the guy responsible for it, and I thought, never mind, “This is the best summer blockbuster ever!”
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.
If you’d like to get these abortion news roundups directly in your inbox every week, subscribe:
Or support my art + design work by picking up something funfrom my store!
Home With The Armadillo 
Leave a comment