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/

Why Maryland became a haven for abortion care after Roe’s fall

The state has emerged as an example of how Democratic lawmakers can take proactive steps to bolster abortion access

Ava Sasani
Sat 22 Jul 2023

When the US supreme court upended the federal right to abortion enshrined in Roe v Wade, the immediate task before Democrats seemed simple: keep abortion legal in as many states as possible.

But over a year since Roe’s demise, some leaders in the reproductive rights movements worry that Democrats have tunnel vision, focusing their messaging and resources entirely on the legal tug-of-war over abortion bans in the midwest and south.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/22/maryland-abortion-bolstering-access

22.07.2023

abortion care training

National Institute for Reproductive Health

pro-choice legislation

Some states are restricting abortion. Others are spending millions to fund it

June 20, 2023
Sarah McCammon

As a growing number of states restrict abortion, other states and some local municipalities are substantially increasing funding for abortion and other reproductive health services.

At least 15 municipal and six state governments allocated nearly $208 million to pay for contraception, abortion and support services for people seeking abortions in the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to data provided to NPR by the National Institute for Reproductive Health.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/20/1182722556/abortion-funding-states-dobbs-supreme-court-restrictions-ban

20.06.2023

News

Andrea Miller

funding for abortion

Michelle Lujan Grisham

National Institute for Reproductive Health

National Network of Abortion Funds

USA – Small, rural communities are becoming abortion access battlegrounds

After local leaders in rural Nevada reached an impasse over a proposed Planned Parenthood clinic, an anti-abortion activist pitching local abortion bans arrived at their remote city hall.

May 21, 2023
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez | KFF Health News

WEST WENDOVER, Nev. — In April, Mark Lee Dickson arrived in this 4,500-person city that hugs the Utah-Nevada border to pitch an ordinance banning abortion.

Dickson is the director of the anti-abortion group Right to Life of East Texas and founder of another organization that has spent the last few years traveling the United States trying to convince local governments to pass abortion bans.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/small-rural-communities-are-becoming-abortion-access-battlegrounds-rcna84921

Some major pharmacies are planning to dispense abortion pills, but not in every state

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN
Thu January 5, 2023

After a change to US Food and Drug Administration rules, major pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens say they plan to seek certification to distribute abortion pills where legally allowed.

The FDA said on its website Tuesday that pharmacies that become certified to dispense mifepristone, which may be used in a medication abortion, can do so directly to someone who has a prescription from a certified prescriber.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/04/health/fda-abortion-pills-pharmacies-xpn/index.html

Abortion rights groups look to build on their victories with new ballot measures

Efforts are already underway in 10 states to push citizen-led ballot initiatives that would enshrine abortion in their constitutions.

Dec. 23, 2022
By Adam Edelman

Energized by a perfect record on ballot measures in last month’s midterm elections, abortion-rights groups are setting their sights on more victories over the next two years.

Activists are already planning citizen-led ballot initiatives that would enshrine abortion rights in the constitutions of 10 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/abortion-rights-groups-look-new-ballot-measures-2023-2024-rcna61317

USA – We Are Not Prepared for the Coming Surge of Babies

The post-Roe rise in births in the U.S. will be concentrated in some of the worst states for infant and maternal health. Plans to improve these outcomes are staggeringly thin.

By Melissa Jeltsen
DECEMBER 16, 2022

A typical pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks. Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that created a constitutional right to abortion, was reversed less than six months ago. This means the U.S. is currently at a unique inflection point in the history of reproductive rights: early enough to see the immediate effects of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—closed clinics, a rapidly shifting map of abortion access—but too soon to measure the rise in babies born to mothers who did not wish to have them. Many of these babies will be born in states that already have the worst maternal- and child-health outcomes in the nation. Although the existence of these children is the goal of the anti-abortion movement, America is unprepared to adequately care for them and the people who give birth to them.

Continued: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/12/abortion-post-roe-rise-in-births-baby-care/672479/

USA – White coats in the state capital: OB-GYNs become political force in abortion wars

As lawmakers debate how much to restrict access to abortion, doctors are becoming increasingly vocal.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and MEGAN MESSERLY
08/22/2022

Red state lawmakers rushing to pass new abortion restrictions are being stymied
by an unexpected political force — OB-GYNs.

These physicians — many of whom have never before mobilized politically — are
banding together in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade,
lobbying state lawmakers, testifying before committees, forming PACs, and
launching online campaigns against proposed abortion restrictions. Legislators
who are themselves physicians are using their medical backgrounds to persuade
colleagues to scale back some of the more restrictive and punitive portions of
anti-abortion laws being considered.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/22/doctors-abortion-state-capitals-00052946

Doctors worry that online misinformation will push abortion-seekers toward ineffective, dangerous methods

By Naomi Thomas, CNN
Wed July 13, 2022

After a US Supreme Court draft decision on Roe v. Wade was leaked in May, Dr. Joshua Trebach noticed a disturbing turn in the online conversation around abortion.

"I started seeing things on social media, things like TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, people saying 'oh, if Roe v. Wade does get overturned, here are some secret, sneaky ways that you can drink some tea and have an abortion,' " Trebach said.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/13/health/abortion-misinformation-social-media/index.html

State Democrats, abortion-rights activists ‘incredibly frustrated’ with federal inaction

Democratic inaction at the federal level could complicate the party’s efforts to run this fall as champions of reproductive rights.

By MEGAN MESSERLY and ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
05/23/2022

State-level Democratic officials and abortion-rights advocates are discouraged by how little their allies in Congress and the White House have done since a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade became public.

Instead of executive actions that could increase access to abortion pills or help protect people’s medical information, national Democrats have largely highlighted what they can’t do in the Senate and focused on fueling midterm-election turnout, angering state and local leaders who feel the burden to protect and expand access is falling almost entirely on their shoulders.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/23/state-democrats-abortion-rights-activists-federal-inaction-00034191