Hundreds Of People Who’ve Had Abortions Tell Biden: ‘We Need To Hear From You’

As a historic Supreme Court decision approaches that could have a devastating impact on reproductive access, activists want more from the president.

By Alanna Vagianos
03/10/2022

In just a few months, the constitutional right to get an abortion in the United States could disappear or be severely limited. Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that afforded that right, is facing a serious challenge in the high court. Meanwhile, conservative state legislatures are on a rampage: 2021 saw the most abortion restrictions ever enacted in a single year.

But President Joe Biden has said very little on the topic. His administration has made some limited moves to protect abortion care in the wake of these historic attacks, but abortion rights activists are worried that the president’s hesitance will have major consequences.

Continued: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hundreds-people-abortions-biden_n_622a12bde4b0fe0944d24ee7?k3


Lawmakers are racing to mimic the Texas abortion law in their own states. They say the bills will fly through.

‘Copycat bills’ are a tradition that has been a hallmark of the antiabortion movement for decades

Caroline Kitchener
October 19, 2021

Less than 48 hours after Texas’s abortion law went into effect, banning almost all abortions, West Virginia state delegate Josh Holstein was reminded of the promise that got him elected in 2020.

Holstein ran as a “100 percent pro-life” Republican alternative to the two-term Democratic incumbent. He would pursue a “heartbeat bill” that would ban abortion once cardiac activity is detected, around six weeks of pregnancy. On Sept. 2, the day after Texas became the first state to successfully implement a six-week ban without court interference, a West Virginia resident called Holstein and other state delegates to task in a private post on his Facebook page. He wanted to know: Can we do the same thing in West Virginia?

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/lawmakers-are-racing-to-mimic-the-texas-abortion-law-in-their-own-states-they-say-the-bills-will-fly-through/


USA – Supporters of Abortion Rights, at Nationwide Marches, Try to Regain Momentum

A nationwide march for abortion rights on Saturday offered an early test of Democratic enthusiasm in the post-Trump era.

By Lisa Lerer and Campbell Robertson
Oct. 2, 2021

Last fall, Hannah Dasgupta spent her days focused on politics, channeling her fear and anger over President Donald J. Trump into activism. Worried about the future of abortion rights, among other issues, during the Trump administration, she joined a group of suburban Ohio women who were working to elect Democrats.

A year later, Ms. Dasgupta, 37, still cares just as deeply about those issues. But she did not attend a nationwide women’s march for abortion rights on Saturday. In fact, she hadn’t even heard about it.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/02/us/politics/abortion-rights-march.html


Thousands gather at Women’s March rallies in D.C., across U.S. to protect Roe v. Wade

By Caroline Kitchener, Meagan Flynn, Lola Fadulu, Donovan J. Thomas and Paul Schwartzman
Oct 2, 2021

Thousands of protesters marched at rallies in Washington and cities across the country Saturday, decrying Texas’s recent ban on most abortions and warning that the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority could impose further restrictions in the coming months.

Amassing in downtown D.C. before walking in a clamorous procession to the Supreme Court, a roster of speakers bemoaned a looming threat to Roe v. Wade and implored Americans to enlist in a nationwide campaign to preserve abortion rights.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/10/02/womens-march-dc-abortion/


There has never been an antiabortion law like the one just passed in Texas

The state is seen as a ‘testing ground’ for new kinds of antiabortion bills

Caroline Kitchener, The Lily
May 25, 2021

AUSTIN — As John Seago looked up at the Texas Capitol, he smiled. For 12 years, he has walked across the manicured lawns, schmoozing with legislators in the limestone halls. He has always urged lawmakers to “be bold." In a state as antiabortion as Texas, he’d tell them, “there is no excuse not to be aggressive.”

Finally, they listened.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/there-has-never-been-an-antiabortion-law-like-the-one-just-passed-in-texas/


Texas governor signs extreme six-week abortion ban into law

Senate Bill 8 bars abortion at six weeks with no exception for rape or incest, amounting to a near-total ban

Mary Tuma in Austin
Wed 19 May 2021

The Texas Republican governor Greg Abbott has signed into law one of the most extreme six-week abortion bans in the US, despite strong opposition from the medical and legal communities, who warn the legislation could topple the state’s court system and already fragile reproductive healthcare network.

“This bill ensures that every unborn child who has a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion,” said Abbott, flanked by several members of the Texas legislature this morning.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/19/texas-abortion-ban-law-greg-abbott


USA – Abortion Fight Evolves, Overshadowed in 2020 but With Huge Stakes

Anti-abortion groups hope to keep Americans voting Republican despite anger at leaders’ handling of the coronavirus, race and the economy. Abortion-rights groups say the issues are all linked.

By Maggie Astor
Aug. 18, 2020

It would be difficult to overstate the significance of this year’s elections for the future of abortion in America. The results could eventually determine whether Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court or codified by Congress.

Normally, stakes that high would make abortion a primary focus of the 2020 campaign. But normally, the country wouldn’t be experiencing a pandemic, a recession and a civil rights movement all at once. On Night 1 of the Democratic National Convention, the sum total of the attention abortion received was the second it took Kamala Harris to say “reproductive justice” in a video montage.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/us/politics/abortion-2020-election.html


Texas abortion ban can go back into effect, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules

Texas abortion ban can go back into effect, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules

By Kate Smith
March 31, 2020 / CBS News

Texas will again be allowed to implement its temporary ban on abortion, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday afternoon. Per the order, any abortion "not medically necessary to preserve the life or health" of the patient must be halted as part of the state's directive suspending "non-essential" medical procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The ban was briefly lifted on Monday evening when a lower court ruled the suspension of abortion services was unconstitutional and in violation of Supreme Court precedent, including Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Continued: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-abortion-halted-united-states-court-of-appeals-fifth-circuit/


USA – How Abortion Storytellers Feel About Michelle Williams’ Golden Globes Speech

How Abortion Storytellers Feel About Michelle Williams’ Golden Globes Speech
Actress Michelle Williams highlighted that parenting and choosing abortion are not mutually exclusive. Her speech comes at a critical juncture for abortion rights in the United States.

Jan 7, 2020
Aimee Arrambide, Jordyn Close & Sarah Lopez

During Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, actress Michelle Williams used her win for best actress in a limited series to emphasize the power of supporting working women in all aspects of their lives, including being able to choose what to do with a pregnancy.

Williams, pregnant with her second child, told the audience that winning the award meant they were “acknowledging the choices” actors make, including “the education they pursued, the training they sought, the hours they put in.” Her speech then pivoted to talk about “choices” as they relate to pregnancy, and alluded to the #MeToo movement in Hollywood and the power of voting rights:

Continued: https://rewire.news/article/2020/01/07/how-abortion-storytellers-feel-about-michelle-williams-golden-globes-speech/