USA – Abortion Wins Elections for Democrats. What Should Advocates Demand in Return?

How can this popularity translate into political power for a movement that is not accustomed to making bold demands of its political leaders?

AMY LITTLEFIELD
Nov 20, 2023

If abortion were a 2024 presidential candidate, it would wipe the floor with Donald Trump. On November 7, abortion helped Democrats take back the Virginia House, keep the Kentucky governorship, and secure a Pennsylvania Supreme Court seat. In Ohio, 57 percent of voters approved enshrining abortion access in the state Constitution; it was the seventh time abortion has faced a direct vote since Dobbs and the seventh time it’s won.

Abortion wins. Abortion rights activists have known this. Voters have often chosen to defend abortion when they get a direct vote, including in red states. What’s changed is that Democrats have finally started treating abortion like an issue they can win on—and in the wake of Dobbs, they’re doing just that.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/abortion-democrats-elections/

One Woman’s Story Of Self-Managing Her Abortion In An Anti-Choice State

Managing your own abortion is not a crime in Ohio, but a politically motivated prosecutor might believe Julia should be punished for what she did.

By Alanna Vagianos
Aug 7, 2023

SOMEWHERE IN OHIO — It’s a pretty short drive to the polling site from the cabin where Julia has been self-managing her abortion. Julia took the last of her abortion pills the day before, which she believes have ended her unwanted pregnancy. She still has some minor cramping and is tired from the whole ordeal, but she feels reasonably OK — well enough to go vote on a ballot referendum that could help decide the fate of abortion rights in Ohio.

Issue 1, a ballot initiative to raise the threshold to alter the state constitution from a simple majority — the standard in Ohio for over a century — to 60%, is a preemptive attempt to block a pro-choice constitutional amendment that Ohioans will vote on in November.

Continued: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/one-womans-story-of-self-managing-her-abortion-in-an-anti-choice-state_n_64c03e6be4b053a7009335eb

Lawmakers in blue states are linking protections for abortion and gender-affirming care

The push for “shield” bills reflects a growing recognition that the concept of bodily autonomy and the ability of doctors to make decisions with their patients links the two issues.

By Grace Panetta, Orion Rummler
June 9, 2023

Blue states are crafting a new kind of legislation to respond to a dramatic wave of restrictions on abortion access and gender-affirming care across the country. Democrats are invoking the fall of Roe v. Wade as a reason to protect both areas of health care simultaneously — while aiming to create safe havens for those fleeing surrounding Republican-controlled states.

Lawmakers in five states — Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington state and Vermont, which has a Republican governor although Democrats control the state legislature — plus the District of Columbia have enacted such “shield” laws so far this year.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2023/06/abortion-trans-health-care-shield-laws/

USA – Abortion Pills Will Be Crucial in a Post-Roe World. But They’re Not the Magic Fix Many Think They Are.

Let me repeat: equity, equity, equity.

BECCA ANDREWS
Jun 7, 2022

Ever since it became evident that Roe is likely to fall in the coming weeks, activists and folks who are generally interested in preserving abortion access have heralded medication abortion as the great solution to the end of legal abortion. And it’s true—mifespristone and misoprostol have a lot of advantages that will surely come in handy in our post-Roe future, the main one being that it’s a do-it-yourself, at-home abortion method that is safe and effective.

As Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director at URGE (Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity), said in a media briefing, “As we look at the impact of abortion bans, particularly disproportionately impacting communities such as Black and Brown folks, young people, as well as low-income communities, and immigrants, and trans young people, it is even more important that we consider the potential of self-managed abortion as an essential tool for accessing reproductive health care and autonomy for these marginalized communities.”

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/06/medication-abortion-roe-solution-access/

USA – Anti-Abortion Protesters Exploit Clinics’ COVID-19 Safety Precautions To Harass Patients

By: Clare Busch
July 17, 2020

On June 29, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to also have the ability to admit and treat patients at a local hospital. The same day, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a new mandatory 24-hour waiting period between consulting with a physician and having an abortion. Other state legislatures are back at work enacting new barriers on accessing abortion.

While abortion clinics prepare to navigate additional legal restrictions on patients’ reproductive rights, workers are also navigating how to safeguard patients’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the country, anti-abortion activists have flouted CDC guidelines by not wearing masks when they protest clinics and exploit new distancing protocols to increase patient harassment.

Continued: https://therealnews.com/columns/anti-abortion-protesters-exploit-clinics-covid-19-safety-precautions-to-harass-patients