USA – The next wave of abortion rights ballot measures looks different from the last

How the tactics and arguments are changing ahead of 2024.

By Rachel M. Cohen
Jul 12, 2023

Last election cycle, abortion rights won in all six states with abortion ballot measures, including in red states like Kentucky and Montana that otherwise elected Republican lawmakers.

Now, this fall and in next year’s election, national liberal groups are planning to invest more heavily in ballot measure campaigns, seeing them as vehicles both to protect access to abortion care and to amplify their broader political message that abortion bans are out of step with voters.

Continued: https://www.vox.com/policy/23784409/abortion-ballot-measure-ohio-reproductive-rights-2024

Meet Republicans’ New Boogeyman: So-Called ‘Abortion Trafficking’

Restrictions on abortion travel are simply meant to stop people from red states from crossing into blue states to access care safely and legally.

By Kylie Cheung
Apr 3, 2023

For years now, Kiki Council, an attorney in Colorado, has helped minors obtain judicial bypass to get abortion care. Council, who works as legal counsel for pro bono initiatives at the Lawyering Project, has often supported teens traveling out-of-state for the health service without parental consent.

“The minors who can’t tell their parents about their choice are in very precarious, vulnerable positions at home,” Council told Jezebel. “They’re experiencing emotional, verbal, or physical abuse. They’re living with parents or guardians who are extremely religious, or have extreme views that make them feel like they can’t safely share that choice with them.”

Continued: https://jezebel.com/meet-republicans-new-boogeyman-so-called-abortion-tr-1850293302

USA – Teenagers already face extra barriers to abortion care. It’s about to get worse.

Will states seeking to provide safe haven for abortion patients in the wake of Roe reconsider their parental consent laws?

Sara Sirota
June 19 2022

THANKS TO A draconian new law, a pregnant Texan who wants an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy now has no other choice but to leave the state. She could go to Louisiana or Arkansas, but they have tight restrictions and trigger laws in place to outright ban the procedure when Roe v. Wade is overturned. Nearby Oklahoma is not an option either, since the government already effectively outlawed abortions in May.

The only remaining neighbor is New Mexico, where patients who have the means to travel can receive care under some of the country’s most liberal regulations. But New Mexico’s clinics have limited capacity: In 2019, the state’s providers performed about 3,800 abortions, compared to more than 55,000 in Texas. For many of those unable to secure an appointment, the next closest option is Colorado, a state with no gestational age limits, waiting periods, or other controls.

Continued: https://theintercept.com/2022/06/19/abortion-minors-parents-roe/

USA – Abortion opponents don’t care if pregnant women get murdered

The top cause of maternal mortality is violence. Forcing women to carry to term will make it so much worse

By MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
PUBLISHED MAY 30, 2022

This all happened in the past two weeks alone: Nekea Brooks was 27 years old, and two months pregnant, when she was shot and killed in Fayetteville, NC on May 16. She leaves behind a five year-old daughter. Mijor Kay Anderson was a pregnant 30 year-old mother of eight when she went missing from Vicksburg, MS last October. Her body was found, "rolled up and tossed away like trash," in the words of her sister Amy Anderson-Williams, on May 17. Tamarra Deloache of York, PA was 32 and six months pregnant when was found dead from "sharp force trauma" in her apartment on May 18. She leaves behind a 12 year-old son.

The leading cause of death in pregnant and postpartum women in the US is not heart disease, diabetes, or infection. It's murder. Gutting abortion rights will make it so, so much worse.

https://www.salon.com/2022/05/30/abortion-opponents-dont-care-if-pregnant-women-get-murdered/

Abortion pill use spikes in Texas as thousands of patients circumvent state’s ban

Orders for the drugs from an international nonprofit spiked 1,180 percent in the first week after the Texas law took effect in September.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
02/25/2022

Texans have been ordering abortion pills online at record rates in the wake of the state’s law banning the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, according to a new study published Friday in JAMA Network Open.

Orders for the drugs from the international nonprofit Aid Access spiked 1,180 percent in the first week after the Texas law took effect in September, increasing from about 11 purchases per day to more than 137 per day. And though orders decreased over the next few months, researchers found that they remained 175 percent higher than before the Texas law took effect.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/25/abortion-pill-use-spikes-in-texas-as-thousands-of-patients-circumvent-states-ban-00011728

What It’s Like to Get an Abortion in Florida

What It’s Like to Get an Abortion in Florida
Florida already makes minors to tell a parent if they're having an abortion. Now lawmakers want to require the parent to come to the clinic with them. Here's one 17-year-old's story.

by Paige Alexandria
Feb 6, 2020

Republican lawmakers in Florida tried and failed to pass a bill in 2019 that would have banned abortion at six weeks. In fact, in the last six years, lawmakers in the state have made more than 50 attempts to limit abortion access, including a ban on a common second-trimester procedure and imposing a 24-hour waiting period for all abortions.

Another bill proposed recently would change the state’s parental involvement law for minors from requiring notification to mandating parental consent. Over half of U.S. states have parental involvement laws. Currently, a minor’s legal guardian or parent must be notified 48 hours before the abortion. But SB 404 would require a parent or guardian to accompany the young person to the clinic on the day of the abortion and provide a government-issued ID along with notarized, written consent. It isn’t the first time lawmakers have tried to pass a law like this, and it’s already been proven that parental involvement laws delay care—which is exactly the intent.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/z3b3w9/florida-abortion-laws-how-to-get-an-abortion-in-florida