Trump’s latest claim? That he has moderate abortion views – but don’t be fooled

This week in patriarchy: Trump is walking a tricky tightrope trying to appeal to his evangelical base and moderate voters. His solution? A bunch of contradictory nonsense

Arwa Mahdawi
Sat 13 Apr 2024

Trump’s abortion conundrum
In recent years, Donald Trump has sold NFTs, sneakers, and bibles. Now the perennial marketer is busy selling a new and improved version of himself to voters. Meet Don 2.0: a reasonable man with moderate views on abortion.

Hang on a second, you might say. Trump? The guy who, in 2016, said “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who get abortions? The guy who can’t stop bragging about how he is responsible for overturning Roe v Wade because he filled the supreme court with conservative justices? The guy who, just a few weeks ago, was pondering a 15-week national abortion ban? That guy has now moderated his views on abortion.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/13/donald-trump-abortion-rights-views

13.04.2024

national abortion ban

Roe v. Wade

United States

Politics

USA – Alone in a bathroom:

The fear and uncertainty of a post-Roe medication abortion

By Caroline Kitchener
April 11, 2024

Angel tucked two white pills into each side of her mouth, bracing herself as they began to dissolve. Her deepest fears and anxieties took over.

Angel had wanted to talk to a doctor before she took the pills to end her pregnancy, worried about how they might interact with medication she took for her heart condition. But in her home state of Oklahoma, where almost all abortions are banned, that wasn’t an option.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/abortion-pill-experience-stories/

The History Behind Arizona’s 160-Year-Old Abortion Ban

The state’s Supreme Court ruled that the 1864 law is enforceable today. Here is what led to its enactment.

By Pam Belluck
April 10, 2024

The 160-year-old Arizona abortion ban that was upheld on Tuesday by the state’s highest court was among a wave of anti-abortion laws propelled by some historical twists and turns that might seem surprising.

For decades after the United States became a nation, abortion was legal until fetal movement could be felt, usually well into the second trimester. Movement, known as quickening, was the threshold because, in a time before pregnancy tests or ultrasounds, it was the clearest sign that a woman was pregnant.

Unlocked: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/health/arizona-abortion-ban-history.html

Florida’s strict laws make Latin America a potential destination to get an abortion

WLRN 91.3 FM | By Helen Acevedo, Sergio R. Bustos
April 9, 2024

With the Florida Supreme Court upholding the state’s new stricter abortion ban, pregnant women in Florida — especially those in South Florida — may soon head to countries in Latin America, where several countries have legalized the procedure, a reproductive health expert told WLRN on Friday.

“We have something unique because we do have a population in South Florida that has a Latin American connection and that has cultural roots, family members and the language,” said Daniela Martins. “So it is very likely that we will see folks that do have that connection with Latin America now start to travel to Colombia, Mexico or Argentina for an abortion.”

Continued: https://www.wusf.org/politics-issues/2024-04-09/florida-strict-laws-six-week-ban-latin-america-potential-destination-get-abortion

Arizona supreme court upholds 1864 law banning almost all abortions

Justices rule to hold off on requiring state to enforce ban for 14 days, to allow advocates to ask lower court to pause it again

Carter Sherman
Tue 9 Apr 2024

The Arizona supreme court ruled Tuesday to let a law banning almost all abortions in the state go into effect, a decision that could curtail abortion access in the US south-west and could make Arizona one of the biggest battlefields in the 2024 electoral fight over abortion rights.

The justices said Arizona could enforce a 1864 near-total abortion ban, first passed before Arizona became a state, that went unenforced for decades after the US supreme court legalized abortion nationwide in the 1973 decision Roe v Wade. However, the justices also ruled to hold off on requiring the state to enforce the ban for 14 days, in order to allow advocates to ask a lower court to pause it again.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/09/arizona-supreme-court-abortion-decision

Biden rips into Trump over abortion statement

The president’s campaign launched a barrage of attacks – putting every draconian state law at the ex-president’s feet.

By ADAM CANCRYN and ELENA SCHNEIDER
April 8, 2024

Joe Biden’s advisers didn’t know if Donald Trump would ever offer up a formal policy on abortion.
But when the moment finally arrived, they were ready.

Trump’s announcement on Monday that he supports leaving the debate about abortion restrictions to the states sparked a torrent of political attacks, with Biden and his allies accusing their GOP rival of ushering in “cruelty and chaos” in the post-Roe v. Wade era.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/08/trump-abortion-biden-2024-00151062

08.04.2024

national abortion ban

USA – How a network of abortion pill providers works together in the wake of new threats

Groups such as Aid Access, Hey Jane and Just the Pill stay in close contact to help women seeking abortions in states with bans.

April 7, 2024
By Abigail Brooks and Dasha Burns

When the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in March about restricting access to the abortion drug mifepristone, Elisa Wells, co-founder and co-director of Plan C, was ready. Plan C, an information resource that connects women to abortion pill providers, almost immediately saw a spike in searches for the medication.

With Florida’s Supreme Court paving the way for the state’s six-week abortion ban, Wells says she’s expecting even more search activity and more creative thinking from providers.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/network-abortion-pill-providers-works-together-wake-new-threats-rcna146678

Abortion Might Be a Winning Issue — Even in Florida

An architect of the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution speaks out.

By RYAN LIZZA
April 6, 2024

Abortion rights supporters have been on a hot winning streak in state ballot initiatives since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. Now here comes Florida.

The Florida Supreme Court issued a pair of decisions earlier this week that upheld a strict abortion ban in the state and also cleared the way for Amendment 4, a November referendum on whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the Florida Constitution.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/06/abortion-rights-florida-anna-hochkammer-00150870

06.04.2024

Interviews/Podcasts

Amendment 4

Anna Hochkammer

constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights

Florida Supreme Court

Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition

‘Extreme’ US anti-abortion group ramps up lobbying in Westminster

The UK branch of the Alliance Defending Freedom has increased its spending and is forging ties with key MPs

Shanti Das, Home affairs correspondent
Sat 6 Apr 2024

A rightwing Christian lobby group that wants abortion to be banned has forged ties with an adviser to the prime minister and is drawing up policy briefings for politicians.

The UK branch of the US-based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has more than doubled its spending since 2020 and been appointed a stakeholder in a parliamentary group on religious freedoms in a role that grants it direct access to MPs.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/06/extreme-us-anti-abortion-group-ramps-up-lobbying-in-westminster

An 1873 law banned the mailing of boxing photos. Could it block abortion pills, too?

BY: JENNIFER SHUTT
APRIL 5, 2024

WASHINGTON — An anti-obscenity law enacted in 1873 that hasn’t been enforced in decades shot to the forefront of the nation’s abortion debate in the past week thanks to two U.S. Supreme Court justices, amid expectations a future Republican president would use the law to order a nationwide ban on medication abortion.

The Comstock Act, which prohibited the mailing of anatomy textbooks and boxing photographs as well as contraceptives, drew fresh attention after Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas during March 26 oral arguments seemed to suggest the law would block the mailing of mifepristone.

Continued: https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/05/an-1873-law-banned-the-mailing-of-boxing-photos-could-it-block-abortion-pills-too/