Post-Roe, anti-abortion groups target law protecting clinics from violence

The Face Act penalizes people for blockading and threatening abortion clinics. Anti-abortion activists want it repealed

Carter Sherman
Sat 16 Sep 2023

The inside of the abortion clinic was chaotic. Anti-abortion protesters lined the walls. A few had sat down on the clinic’s lime green chairs and draped themselves in chains. “Please inspire these parents to keep their babies!” one man shouted, before he started singing about the Virgin Mary. As some of the protesters sang and prayed loudly, the police officers crowded inside the clinic tried to urge them to move. They didn’t want to budge.

It was 22 October 2020, and one anti-abortion advocate was livestreaming a group of activists who were at the Washington DC-area clinic to, in their view, “rescue” people from having abortions. One redheaded young woman turned to the camera.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/16/face-act-anti-abortion-threaten-clinics

Abortion bans fuel a rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals

By Kristen Schorsch, WBEZ Chicago
SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

When she was around 22 weeks pregnant, the patient found out that the son she was carrying didn’t have kidneys and his lungs wouldn’t develop. If he survived the birth, he would struggle to breathe and die within hours.

The patient had a crushing decision to make: continue the pregnancy — which could be a risk to her health and her ability to have children in the future — or have an abortion.

Continued: https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/hospital-abortions-npr-partnership/

USA – We Need Courageous Leaders Who Stand Up to Anti-Abortion Extremists

Anti-abortion violence has increased significantly since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Our political leaders must not cower.

9/2/2023
by CARRIE N. BAKER

While headlines focus on politicians’ efforts to ban abortion at the state and national levels, anti-abortion forces are also working at the local level to erode abortion access—even in deep blue states such as Massachusetts. In addition to pumping massive funds into anti-abortion fake clinics in blue states, they are also working to block municipal protections for abortion healthcare by using threats and legal intimidation.

Recently, in the progressive Western Massachusetts city of Easthampton, both the mayor and city council president—both Democrats that claim to support abortion rights—voted against an ordinance to protect access to reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care. The ordinance was supported by over 20 reproductive and trans rights groups in the community, who were perplexed and frustrated by their actions.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/09/02/anti-abortion-massachusetts/

Abortion bans are fueling a rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals

August 23, 2023
By Kristen Schorsch
3-Minute Listen with Transcript

When she was around 22 weeks pregnant, the patient found out that the son she was carrying didn't have kidneys and his lungs wouldn't develop. If he survived the birth, he would struggle to breathe and die within hours.

The patient had a crushing decision to make: continue the pregnancy — which could be a risk to her health and her ability to have children in the future — or have an abortion.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/23/1193898181/abortion-bans-are-fueling-a-rise-in-high-risk-patients-heading-to-illinois-hospi

Canada – Her obituary requested donations to an abortion clinic. It’s a final political act for some

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, a number of people have made donations to the pro-choice movement in Canada

Natalie Stechyson · CBC News
Posted: Jul 18, 2023

At first glance, Kathleen Dyer's obituary might seem like any other.

Beneath the photo of a smiling, older woman, we learn the basics: Dyer, who was living in Halifax, died on June 14 at age 84. She is survived by her husband, her son and his wife, and two sisters-in-law. But it's the third and final line that stands out: In lieu of flowers, Dyer asked for donations to the Nova Scotia Women's Choice Clinic.

The clinic, which performs medical and surgical abortions, doesn't know Dyer, except that she had once sent them a donation. And Dyer, who dedicated her life to supporting her husband and raising her children, wasn't a known abortion advocate.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/abortion-donations-canada-1.6909124

18.07.2023

News

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights

Naral Pro-Choice America

National Abortion Federation

Nova Scotia Women's Choice Clinic

Roe v. Wade

Canada

Activism

Abortion Activists Are Targets of Violent, Gendered Threats After Overturn of Roe

The threats almost always come from men.

BY ZELLY MARTIN, DR. MARTIN RIEDL, EDITH HOLLANDER, AND DR. INGA TRAUTHIG
JULY 10, 2023

If your job necessitated that you cope with constant death threats against you and your three-year-old, would you do it? What if you weren’t getting paid? Cathy* is an abortion rights activist whose answer is a resounding, yes. But Cathy wasn’t always an activist. Four years ago, she was a pregnant woman living in Ohio and thought she was having a miscarriage. “I went to the emergency room because I was having a lot of fluid leaking. And when you're pregnant, that's obviously a cause for concern, and I was having horrible pain, and I thought, Oh, my God! I'm miscarrying.”

She came into the ER sobbing, and the staff immediately took her into a small room without her partner. “What did you do to cause this miscarriage?” they asked. “I'm sobbing, and leaking, and I'm like, ‘Nothing, nothing! Can you help me? I think I’m losing my pregnancy,’” Cathy recalled saying.

Continued: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/abortion-activists-violent-threats-roe

10.07.2023

Commentary

anti-choice cruelty

anti-choice death threats

anti-choice fanaticism

anti-choice hatred

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice threats

criminalization of pregnancy

Melissa Fowler

National Abortion Federation

Propaganda Research Lab

United States

Anti-choice

Human Rights

North Carolina was an abortion haven. With its new 12-week ban, the protection will vanish.

Medical providers fear the new law and requirements for abortion clinics will make it impossible for many to access care — leaving an entire region without viable alternatives

Shefali Luthra
June 27, 2023

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The kids were sleeping and it was still dark when Rocky left her house in Stockbridge, Georgia. It was 4:30 a.m., but she knew she and her fiancé had to leave early to make it to the clinic, which was a four-and-a-half hour drive — maybe a little less if they could beat traffic.

Rocky thought she’d caught her pregnancy early enough. A 31-year-old paralegal, she’d tested only a few days after missing her period and took two days to think about what to do. She realized that her family couldn’t afford another child — she already had three kids, ages 3, 10 and 11.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2023/06/north-carolina-12-week-abortion-ban-regional-access/

USA – One year after Dobbs, getting an abortion is much more expensive

June 26, 2023

(Bloomberg) — While the long-term consequences of the end of Roe v. Wade could take years to tally, one outcome is already clear: a year after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion, the costs associated with ending a pregnancy have soared.

The Brigid Alliance, which provides logistical support to people seeking abortion care, estimates that the average cost of traveling for care has increased 41% since the first half of 2022, when it was just over $1,000. The average spend for patients that need to fly has jumped 17% to $994; while a hotel stay — usually three nights — is up 29% to $919, according to the group.

Continued: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/health-care/abortion-much-more-expensive-one-year-after-dobbs

Anti-abortion violence on the rise a year after Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade

KERA | By Caroline Love
June 26, 2023

Abortion was a right people thought was secure — the Supreme Court protected it more than half a century ago. But the same court snatched that right away last year.

The reaction across the country was visceral. People took to the streets during hot summer nights in cities across North Texas. They chanted “hands off my body,” channeling their anger into protests.

Continued: https://www.keranews.org/news/2023-06-26/anti-abortion-violence-on-the-rise

Alito said Dobbs would lower the temperature. Instead, it fanned the flames of abortion extremism.

Federal prosecutions of abortion-related crimes are way up in the year since the court overturned Roe v. Wade.

by BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN
06/24/2023

When the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion a year ago, Justice Samuel Alito suggested that returning the issue to lawmakers might alleviate extremism on both sides of the issue.

Roe v. Wade and other rulings protecting abortion, Alito wrote, had “enflamed debate,” “deepened division,” and prevented a “national settlement of the abortion issue.”

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/24/abortion-extremist-violence-dobbs-00103539