USA – “This is the beginning of a very long arc”: The midterms prove abortion can galvanize voters

Voters overwhelmingly supported women’s reproductive freedom on Tuesday, both electing pro-abortion-rights lawmakers and voting in favor of abortion rights—even in red and purple states—on ballot initiatives. “When voters have a chance to decide on this issue, they choose to protect their rights,” one activist said.

BY ABIGAIL TRACY
NOVEMBER 9, 2022

For weeks, pundits and prognosticators questioned whether the fall of Roe v. Wade would actually be a key voting motivator this election cycle. Democratic consultant James Carville’s famed 1992 adage, “It’s the economy, stupid,” rang loud as the narrative grew that gas prices and inflation would overshadow the importance of protecting women’s reproductive rights. Then Josh Shapiro beat Republican Doug Mastriano, who had indicated, without hesitation, that he would sign whatever antiabortion law was put in front of him. Kentucky voters blocked a constitutional amendment that would have denied any abortion rights. Vermont enshrined abortion protections into its state constitution, while Michigan did the same. And California voters went one step further, also writing access to contraceptives into law. Democrats vastly surpassed expectations on Election Day.

As the results rolled in throughout the night, one thing became crystal clear: Abortion was on the ballot.

Continued: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/abortion-midterms-democrats-2022

‘We’re sick of watching women die’: In Michigan, doctors rally to protect abortion access

Olivia Goldhill
Nov. 7, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Doctors are on the frontlines of a political battle raging across the country, as abortion rights are added to the ballot in the first election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Michigan is at the heart of the struggle.

“Doctors fought hard for these rights because we’re sick of watching women die,” Melissa Bayne, an OB-GYN in Fremont, Mich., told the audience at a rally Saturday in Grand Rapids. Her voice shook as she told the stories of patients who’ve died from pregnancy complications. The risks of forcing rape victims to carry their attacker’s child are all too real, she said: “As much as I don’t want patients or you to go through this, they do and have. Every day, I see women who’ve had consent stolen from them. Every day.”

Continued: https://www.statnews.com/2022/11/07/abortion-michigan-ballot-measure-proposition-3/

The crisis pregnancy center next door: How taxpayer money intended for poor families is funding a growing anti-abortion movement

By Casey Tolan, Majlie de Puy Kamp and Isabelle Chapman. Photographs by Maddie McGarvey for CNN
Tue October 25, 2022

A few blocks from the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, America’s battle over abortion is playing out under one roof.

On one side of a squat single-story office building, a Planned Parenthood clinic offers reproductive health care and refers patients for abortions. Next door is a branch of Pregnancy Decision Health Center, a crisis pregnancy center that offers counseling and support for pregnant women – but also works to dissuade them from terminating their pregnancies and has been accused of promoting misinformation about abortion.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/us/crisis-pregnancy-centers-taxpayer-money-invs

Abortion Bans Skirt a Medical Reality: For Many Teens, Childbirth Is a Dangerous Undertaking

Oct 9, 2022
Sarah Varney, Kaiser Health News

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Maryanna’s eyes widened as the waitress delivered dessert, a plate-sized chocolate chip cookie topped with hot fudge and ice cream.

Sitting in a booth at a Cheddar’s in Little Rock, Maryanna, 16, wasn’t sure of the last time she’d been to a sit-down restaurant. With two children — a daughter she birthed at 14 and a 4-month-old son — and sharing rent with her mother and sister for a cramped apartment with a dwindling number of working lights, Maryanna rarely got out, let alone to devour a Cheddar’s Legendary Monster Cookie.

Continued: https://www.physiciansweekly.com/abortion-bans-skirt-a-medical-reality-for-many-teens-childbirth-is-a-dangerous-undertaking/

USA – There’s A Dishonest Right-Wing Furor Over Recent Arrests Of Anti-Abortion Activists

Prominent conservatives are claiming the Biden administration launched a "war on pro-lifers" after the Justice Department arrested several protesters for blocking access to abortion clinics.

By Alanna Vagianos
Oct 8, 2022

It’s been a federal crime for nearly 30 years to intimidate or interfere with any person trying to obtain or provide reproductive health care services. But two recent indictments by the Department of Justice for such violations have enraged some influential conservatives, who are now stoking a false narrative about a supposed war against the religious right.

It started with prominent anti-abortion minister Mark Houck, who late last month was arrested on federal charges that he allegedly twice assaulted a 72-year-old patient escort outside of a Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia. If proven, it would be a clear violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a 1994 law that makes it a federal crime to use force or the threat of force to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person trying to obtain or provide reproductive health care services.

Continued: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/right-wing-arrests-anti-abortion-activists_n_634082dbe4b028164534c4ee

Planned Parenthood maps strategy to protect abortion rights

Planned Parenthood leaders from across the country are meeting in California to discuss how to defend abortion rights

By SOPHIE AUSTIN and ADAM BEAM, Associated Press
September 9, 2022

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Planned Parenthood leaders from 24 states gathered in California's capital Friday to begin work on a nationwide strategy to protect and strengthen access to abortion, a counteroffensive aimed at pushing back against restrictions that have emerged in more than half of the country after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Their goal is to emulate the success liberals have had in California, where state lawmakers passed some of the most robust abortion protections in the country this year, culminating in a statewide election this fall that would make abortion a constitutional right in the nation's most populous state.

continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/abortion-leaders-gather-california-talk-strategy-89614443

New abortion restrictions may push patients to more expensive, complicated care

With longer wait times, patients could be forced into their second trimester.

By Nadine El-Bawab
August 07, 2022

As more states enact near-total bans and restrictions on abortion, providers say many patients are experiencing delayed care which can force them into later stages of pregnancy.

Abortion care options are becoming more limited and complex in some cases, which often means higher costs for patients. For example, medication abortion, which is less costly than other options, is only an option up to 10 weeks into pregnancy.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/US/abortion-restrictions-push-patients-expensive-complicated-care/story?id=87803769

08.08.2022

Blueprinting the Kansas Abortion-Rights Victory

Pro-choice forces fought misdirection and marshalled enormous turnout. Can their success be replicated?

By Peter Slevin
August 7, 2022

It was Election Night in a hotel ballroom in Overland Park, Kansas, and Ashley All didn’t know what to think. For months, she had been a public face in the fight to protect abortion rights from a ballot initiative that would change the state constitution and open the door to severe restrictions, or even a ban. Polling had been iffy, the opposition had been relentless, and she was afraid to trust the promising early returns. Nervous, she ducked into a conference room, where Mike Gaughan, a friend and colleague, was sitting at a computer. “He pointed out the impressive numbers in some of the big counties and also great numbers in some not-so-big counties in rural areas,” All told me. It was really happening. A broad coalition with a fresh message was beating the Kansas right-to-lifers at their own game.

Continued: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/blueprinting-the-kansas-abortion-rights-victory

USA – How to Make an Abortion Emergency Plan Right Now

So you can get the care you deserve as quickly as possible.
By Korin Miller
July 30, 2022

By now, you’re probably well aware that Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed the right to abortion in the U.S. on a federal level, has been overturned. With that, many people across the country now live in states where abortion is illegal or severely restricted—and access to crucial reproductive health care is only expected to become more challenging.

People are scared, and it’s understandable. There are a lot of changes happening right now and the rights that you had a month ago may no longer exist in your state. That’s why experts say it’s essential to anticipate what could happen if you need an abortion—and what actions you would need to consider taking to get the care you deserve.

https://www.self.com/story/abortion-emergency-plan

Dozens of clinics have dropped abortion services since Roe v. Wade was overturned

Abortion providers are worried that closures in states where the procedure isn’t legal will impact wait times at their clinics.

Shefali Luthra, Health Reporter
July 28, 2022

In the month since Roe v. Wade was overturned, 43 abortion clinics in 11 states have stopped offering abortions.

Data from the Guttmacher Institute shows that in the seven states that are enforcing total abortion bans — Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas — there are no longer any clinics providing abortions. Some of the clinics have stayed open and continued to provide other services, while others have closed altogether. Texas accounts for more than half of all the abortion clinics lost in the past month: Prior to Roe’s reversal, it had 23 abortion-providing clinics. Alabama and Oklahoma previously had five abortion clinics each. Arkansas had two clinics, and the other three had one each.
https://19thnews.org/2022/07/abortion-clinics-closed-roe-v-wade-overturned/

28.07.2022

Zach Gingrich-Gaylord