The abortion activists who say bringing back Roe is not enough

Abortion rights groups split with mainstream movement over support for former legal framework of ‘viability’

Susan Rinkunas
Sun 21 Jan 2024

Since the devastating loss of Roe v Wade, the abortion rights movement has seen historic levels of support for its cause, particularly through major victories on state ballot initiatives, with more expected this November. But as advocates move to re-enshrine the right to abortion at the state level, a struggle has emerged over whether to reproduce Roe’s legal framework – or go further.

…A number of ballot campaigns slated for November seek to bring back that standard – but a group of advocates is banding together to declare that the broader movement is engaging in harmful compromises when it could instead use the momentum to push for “clean” policies that don’t draw a strict limit to abortion access.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/21/abortion-activists-future-roe-v-wade

Why ‘viability’ is dividing the abortion rights movement

By Associated Press AP
Jan. 16, 2024

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Reproductive rights activists in Missouri agree they want to get a ballot measure before voters this fall to roll back one of the strictest abortion bans in the country and ensure access. The sticking point is how far they should go.

The groups have been at odds over whether to include a provision that would allow the state to regulate abortions after the fetus is viable, a concession supporters of the language say will be needed to persuade voters in the conservative state.

Continued: https://ny1.com/nyc/brooklyn/ap-top-news/2024/01/16/disputes-over-viability-are-dividing-abortion-rights-groups-and-complicating-ballot-measure-efforts

6 months after end of Roe, Illinois abortion providers treat a ‘historic high’ number of out-of-state patients

Dec 27, 2022
Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

CHICAGO — Six months after the historic fall of Roe v. Wade, Illinois abortion providers say they’re seeing an unprecedented number of out-of-state patients — and they’re traveling from more states than ever before.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to rescind federal abortion protections, Planned Parenthood of Illinois saw dozens of patients from other states every month. Now hundreds of patients are crossing state lines each month to have an abortion at one of Planned Parenthood’s 17 health centers across the state.

Continued: https://www.gmtoday.com/news/illinois/6-months-after-end-of-roe-illinois-abortion-providers-treat-a-historic-high-number-of/article_9d358896-85f8-11ed-ac24-e7f0c1a0ab27.html

State legislatures got redder in 2020. It’s a ‘dire reality’ for abortion rights, advocates say.

29 state legislatures now have antiabortion majorities

Caroline Kitchener, The Lily
Feb. 2, 2021

When the South Carolina legislature convened on Jan. 12, one issue took priority over any other. Senate Bill 1, the first piece of legislation introduced on the Senate floor, bans most abortions, outlawing the procedure once a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat — around six weeks — except in cases of rape and incest, when there is a fatal fetal anomaly, and when a mother’s life is at risk.

SB 1 cleared the state Senate on Thursday. Now it will head to the South Carolina House, where it will almost certainly pass, before making its way to the desk of Gov. Henry McMaster (R).

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/state-legislatures-got-redder-in-2020-its-a-dire-reality-for-abortion-rights-advocates-say/

USA – This November, Vote Like Your Abortion Access Depends On It

By AMANDA MATOS & BONYEN LEE-GILMORE
September 17, 2020

This is the story of two worlds in the U.S. — where the power to decide what happens to your body, your life, and your future depends on the state you live in, who you are, and how much money you earn. We are cisgender heterosexual women of color, representing two of the fastest-growing groups in the American electorate. As a Latina and an Asian American woman, we know the right to live free from discrimination goes beyond who we elect to the White House. We are freedom-fighting activistas who carry light-skinned privilege, and know our votes are bigger than our individual stories.

As a New Yorker, one of us benefits from state leaders who protect the right to an abortion, no matter who sits in the White House or on the Supreme Court. Yet not everyone in New York has equal access to that right. Even if you can find money for the abortion — a big “if” — you may not be able to take time off from work or afford childcare or transportation.

Continued: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/planned-parenthood-abortion-access-vote-1060691/

17.09.2020

anti-abortion restrictions

anti-choice restrictions

Bonyen Lee-Gilmore

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Votes

USA – Indie Abortion Clinics Can’t Be Replaced, but They’re Dying Out

Indie Abortion Clinics Can’t Be Replaced, but They’re Dying Out
Abortion clinics that aren't connected to large national organizations like Planned Parenthood provide more than half of all abortions.

by Marie Solis
Dec 23 2019

Laurent Delli-Bovi is used to operating her Brookline, Massachusetts, abortion clinic in a state of financial precarity. Women's Health Services, which has been around for almost 28 years, has been in the red for the last 13 of them.

Delli-Bovi, the clinic's medical director, said those years have mostly consisted of "robbing Peter to pay Paul": putting off paying some bills in favor of more urgent ones. The independent clinic runs on a "day-to-day" basis, its future never guaranteed.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qjdp4x/independent-abortion-clinics-are-closing-thanks-to-abortion-restrictions

USA – “Failed” abortions, a period-tracking spreadsheet, and the last clinic standing: the controversy in Missouri, explained

“Failed” abortions, a period-tracking spreadsheet, and the last clinic standing: the controversy in Missouri, explained
Hearings will determine if Missouri will be the first state without an abortion clinic.

By Anna North
Oct 31, 2019

At a hearing over an investigation of Missouri’s lone abortion clinic, a state official testified to something that has disturbed reproductive health advocates in the state and beyond: With the help of state medical records, his office had created a spreadsheet tracking patients’ menstrual periods.

The goal, according to the Kansas City Star, was to investigate “failed” abortions, instances in which the patient needed to return a second time to complete the procedure. The idea was apparently that, by gathering data on patients’ periods, state officials would know who was still pregnant after a scheduled abortion.

Continued: https://www.vox.com/2019/10/31/20939890/missouri-abortion-clinic-hearing-periods-roe-wade

What’s Become of All the Extreme Abortion Bans From This Year?

What’s Become of All the Extreme Abortion Bans From This Year?
By Amanda Arnold
Oct 2, 2019

The first six months of the year saw relentless attacks on abortion rights on the state level. Five states passed bills banning the procedure after six weeks, before many women even realize they’re pregnant. And in May, Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed a near-full ban on the procedure. The same month, Missouri — a state with only one abortion clinic — passed an extreme eight-week ban that didn’t include any exceptions for instances of rape, incest, or human trafficking. In all, seven states have passed similarly stringent laws in 2019, and more are considering them.

But in recent months, judges in many of these states have started to issue preliminary injunctions, which allow patients to continue accessing important reproductive care while the court hears the case in full to determine whether or not the bill is constitutional. In short, these court orders — also known as temporary blocks — maintain the status quo, allowing abortion to remain legal. Most recently, on October 1, a federal judge temporarily blocked Georgia’s ban.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2019/10/states-with-early-abortion-bans-a-comprehensive-list.html