“Chaos” for patients and providers after US abortion ruling

Susan Jaffe
July 09, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01268-5
The Lancet - WORLD REPORT| VOLUME 400, ISSUE 10346, P85-86, JULY 09, 2022

The US Supreme Court's bombshell decision overturning Roe v Wade on June 24, 2022, assures Americans that each state can choose whether and under what conditions its residents have a right to a safe and legal abortion. So far, the result is an incoherent and volatile jumble: 16 states have severely restricted or banned the procedure and bans in ten more states are likely to take effect in a matter of weeks. Providers who violate the laws can face as much as 10 years in prison. However, in 22 Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia, abortion access is protected. Several claim to be abortion sanctuaries as they prepare for an influx of health-care refugees who can afford to travel for an abortion no longer available at home.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01268-5/fulltext

USA – Abortion funds feel frustration, gratitude at ‘rage giving’

When a leaked draft decision signaled the likely withdrawal of the legal right to an abortion in the U.S., donors clicked on donations buttons and mailed checks in a spasm of fury

By Thalia Beaty Associated Press
June 10, 2022

Casie Pierce doesn't usually work Fridays. But on the Friday after the draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked, Pierce, the development director for a Dallas-based abortion fund, which helps people pay for the procedure and associated logistics, had to be at her computer.

She was monitoring the “rage giving.”

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/abortion-funds-feel-frustration-gratitude-rage-giving-85311358

For Decades, We’ve Helped Open Abortion Access. Here’s Where We’ll Go Post-‘Roe.’

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel of abortion care—we need to build on it.

Jun 2, 2022
National Network of Abortion Funds & Abortion Care Network

Abortion funds and independent abortion clinics are grateful for the outpouring of support in the wake of the devastating Supreme Court draft decision leak in early May. In a moment when discriminatory, racist, patriarchal systems are working hard to isolate us from each other and our collective power, so many of you know that turning to the people on the forefront of abortion access in each of our communities is an important way to fight back together.

Thank you for plugging in with your communities and each other, spreading the word that abortion is still legal no matter where you live in the United States, and comforting your loved ones with the knowledge that there are still avenues of support (including you).

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2022/06/02/for-decades-weve-helped-open-abortion-access-heres-where-well-go-post-roe/

Women who are denied abortions risk falling deeper into poverty. So do their kids

May 26, 2022
Jennifer Ludden

Like most women seeking an abortion, Brittany Mostiller already had children when she unexpectedly got pregnant again. "I had two young daughters both under the age of 5, sharing a two-bedroom apartment with my sister," she says. She'd also just been laid off from her overnight job as a greeter for Greyhound buses. Her unemployment benefits were less than her wages there, and nearly all of them went toward rent and utilities. "I'm not even sure I had a cellphone at that time," she says. "If I did, it was certainly on and off," to save money.

Continued:https://www.npr.org/2022/05/26/1100587366/banning-abortion-roe-economic-consequences

What the U.S. Could Learn from Abortion Without Borders

A coalition across Europe is resisting Poland’s abortion ban. Its strategy could foreshadow activism in a post-Roe America.

Anna Louie Sussman, The New Yorker
May 17, 2022

Last month, an abortion-rights activist named Justyna Wydrzyńska stood in a courtroom in Warsaw, Poland, and described her abortion. Her lips were painted a defiant red; her voice cracked at times, but she was unapologetic. When she was thirty-three, she said, she was in an abusive marriage and learned that she was pregnant. She struggled to find accurate information online and had to order three packs of abortion pills—the first two, from the black market, were duds. She was terrified that she would bleed out or fall unconscious in front of her three children, who were too young to call an ambulance. Wydrzyńska, who is forty-seven, is now part of a coalition of activists called Abortion Without Borders. She was on trial for helping another Polish woman get an abortion.

Abortion was legal when Poland was under Communist control, but, in 1993, the predominantly Catholic country outlawed most abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, severe fetal conditions, and risk to the life of the patient. As the U.S. Supreme Court considers Roe v. Wade and giving states the ability to ban abortion, the diverse, international coalition of Abortion Without Borders may model an effective approach to abortion-rights activism in a post-Roe America—and also its risks.

Continued: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-the-us-could-learn-from-abortion-without-borders

USA – Abortion rights funds brace for impact ahead of court ruling

Wed, February 16, 2022
Haleluya Hadero, The Associated Press

In the past few months, the number of women who call Fund Texas Choice has doubled to more than 100 per week. The demand, driven by a state law banning abortions at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, has forced the abortion rights fund to hire more people. But it’s still been difficult to keep up with the avalanche of requests.

Texas has tightened abortion restrictions over the past two decades, leading women there to increasingly seek out-of-state abortions. Even before the new law took effect last September, at least half of the women who sought help from the fund got abortions in neighboring states. Today, nearly all of them do.

Continued: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/abortion-rights-funds-brace-impact-230059128.html

USA – A Reproductive-Rights Activist Explains the Realities of Abortion for Latina Women

“When you have to flee a country . . . it’s women who are being raped, sexually harassed, sexually assaulted,” Elizabeth Estrada, of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, said.

By Lizzie Widdicombe
January 26, 2022

With the Supreme Court seemingly inching closer to overturning Roe v. Wade, many Americans are trying to imagine a future in which abortion is a crime in roughly half the country. How will women cope with unwanted pregnancies? What will the public-health consequences be? All signs point to a fractured nation, in which barriers to abortion exacerbate existing inequities. But, if you talk to reproductive-rights advocates, they’ll tell you that, to some extent, that America already exists. While abortion is technically constitutionally protected, in practical terms, many women have a hard time accessing the procedure, owing to restrictive local laws, prohibitive costs, and social stigma. That’s especially true for immigrants, the poor, and those living in marginalized communities.

Continued: https://www.newyorker.com/news/as-told-to/a-reproductive-rights-activist-explains-the-realities-of-abortion-for-latina-women

Mark Ruffalo, Jane Fonda, Cyndi Lauper, and More Back Abortion Within Reach Campaign

Among the Abortion Within Reach campaign’s demands is access to “compassionate, affirming abortion care for people of all identities”

By TOMÁS MIER
January 19, 2022

A coalition of nearly 100 celebrities from Mark Ruffalo and Mac DeMarco to Cyndi Lauper and Portugal. the Man is coming together to support the Abortion Within Reach campaign, launched by a group of abortion rights organizations to fight for access to safe pregnancy and abortion care.

Jane Fonda, Bon Iver, Busy Philipps, Chelsea Handler, Fleet Foxes, K. Flay, Megan Rapinoe, Margo Price, Soccer Mommy, Sylvan Esso, and Yung Bae are among the stars supporting the healthcare initiative in time for the 49-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Continued: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mark-ruffalo-jane-fonda-cyndi-laiper-support-abortion-campaign-1287388/

We don’t need an ‘abortion Underground Railroad’—Black and brown people already lead the most powerful abortion fund network in the country

Recognition and support for decades of work by Black and brown-led abortion funds are even more critical as access to abortion care shrinks

by Jessica Pinckney
December 15th, 2021

ccess to abortion is on the line like never before. Here in California, we’re preparing for an increase of up to 1.4 million women and other pregnant people who may have to leave their homes and drive to our state for abortion care. The good news is, we have a robust infrastructure in place to respond to our communities’ needs and support people who need abortions. While California recently announced that it will be a safe haven for those seeking abortion if the Supreme Court significantly guts Roe v. Wade next year, I constantly need to remind people that for as long as I can remember, and since before Roe was decided in the first place, there has been a network of abortion funds, practical support volunteers, and advocates who already work tirelessly to make every community a safe haven for those seeking access to abortion.

Continued: https://prismreports.org/2021/12/15/we-dont-need-an-abortion-underground-railroad-black-and-brown-people-already-lead-the-most-powerful-abortion-fund-network-in-the-country/

15.12.2021

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Abortion in the Surveillance State

The digital platforms people rely on to access or learn about abortion are also being wielded to spy on and punish them.

By Kylie Cheung
November 22, 2021

Shortly after Texas enacted Senate Bill 8, a near-total abortion ban that’s primarily enforced by citizens spying on and policing each other, Texas Right to Life launched what can really only be called a snitch hotline, calling on the nosiest of neighbors and worst of people to submit “tips” about people they suspected to be seeking or helping people seek abortions.

Things didn’t go as planned for the hotline, once the teens of TikTok and other Very Online abortion rights advocates caught wind of it. Good Samaritans across the internet joined forces to inundate the hotline with false tips, Shrek memes, furry porn, and other generally ludicrous submissions, rendering the thing useless for anyone but ride-or-die Shrek fans. The hotline — which likely would have been weaponized by abusive ex-partners or anti-abortion activists seeking to make an easy $10,000 by suing people who help others have abortions — has since been dropped by several hosting services.

Continued: https://jezebel.com/abortion-in-the-surveillance-state-1848076906