More Than A Magazine, A Movement
For years, anti-abortion groups have dominated the American landscape with billboards. Now abortion rights supporters are battling back with their own.
Shout Your Abortion recently posted six abortion rights billboards along interstate 55 through five states that have banned abortion—from Memphis, Tenn., to Carbondale, Ill. The billboards include messages like, “God’s Plan Includes Abortion” and “Abortion is Okay: You Know What’s Best for You.”
On Tuesday, Sept. 26, Massachusetts-based Reproductive Equity Now, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, announced an expansion of its work into Connecticut and New Hampshire to create a regional organization to strengthen abortion access across New England. As more states ban abortion, advocates hope this regional strategy will ensure abortion health care for New Englanders and patients traveling to the region for care.
“As 20 states have moved to restrict or ban abortion, wiping out access to care in broad regions of our country, we must focus on state-by-state work to build regional blocks for abortion access. This work will begin in New England, and we hope that this model can be replicated to advance reproductive freedom nationwide.”
On Tuesday, Sept. 12, reproductive health experts launched a new online chatbot named Charley to help abortion seekers in all 50 states find quick, accurate and confidential abortion information, tailored to their individual needs and circumstances.
Charley only asks for a user’s zip code and date of their last period to determine how far along they are in their pregnancy. Charley also makes referrals to medical and legal support services, as well as community support networks. Co-founded by former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards and the former head of Planned Parenthood’s digital department Tom Subak, Charley launched in partnership with INeedAnA.com, Plan C and the Miscarriage + Abortion (M+A) Hotline.
“There’s a lot of fear and confusion out there about how abortion is available, especially in restricted states, and there are different resources out there. But there hasn’t been a single resource that includes all the information. Charley does that,” said Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C. “Charley walks people through their options and then directs them to the resources that are available to help them find more specific information.”
The Mexican Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, Sept. 6, that national laws prohibiting abortion are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights. The sweeping decision entirely removed abortion from the federal penal code. The ruling also required the federal public health service and all federal health institutions to offer abortion to anyone who requests it. In a statement, Mexico’s Supreme Court said the “criminalization of abortion constitutes an act of gender-based violence and discrimination, as it perpetuates the stereotype that women and people with the capacity to get pregnant can only freely exercise their sexuality to procreate and reinforces the gender role that imposes motherhood as a compulsory destiny.”
The increased access to abortion in Mexico stands in stark contrast to decreasing access in the United States, where 14 states now ban abortion entirely and another eight states ban abortion early in pregnancy.
Our political leaders must stand up to the intimidation tactics of the anti-abortion movement. They must not cower when faced with blood-soaked letters, condemnations to damnation or threats of frivolous lawsuits. If we cave in to their tactics, we embolden them. Now more than ever before, we need courageous leaders at the national, state and local levels of government who will stand up to anti-abortion bullies.
In September 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed one of the country’s first laws explicitly prohibiting coercive control in intimate partner relationships. On Aug. 10, Vanessa A. Zecher—a judge of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County— entered a permanent restraining order against a man for coercive control domestic abuse. With campaigns for similar laws moving forward in several states, the case gives advocates concrete evidence of how coercive control laws are critical for freeing survivors from the grasp of abusive partners.
“This case is one of the first cases in the United States where coercive control was considered domestic violence in the absence of physical abuse,” said Lisa Fontes, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and an expert on coercive control.
“I hope this case gives other victims hope that there is a pathway out,” said the wife’s attorney, Rebekah Frye. “I hope they will recognize that what they may think in their head or heart is normal—that they will realize it’s not. And then hopefully at some point in time, if they choose to leave, there will be a court, an attorney, a professional out there that will help them get out.”
On Aug. 16, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals released a decision in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA that dismissed a challenge to the FDA’s 2000 approval of mifepristone but would sharply restrict access to medication abortion nationwide and eliminate telemedicine abortion. The decision remains on hold until final review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Fifth Circuit decision has no impact on access to misoprostol, which is a safe and effective alternative way to end a pregnancy.
“We are outraged that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals wants to reinstate medically unnecessary restrictions on access to mifepristone, a safe and effective medication used in medication abortion care,” said Lupe M. Rodriguez, executive director of National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. “This decision is wrong and if it goes into effect, puts politics and lies about mifepristone over the health and well-being of people who need abortion care.”
On Aug. 8, a coalition of Arizona organizations announced the filing of the Arizona Abortion Access Act, which would place a proposed constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on Arizona’s November 2024 general election ballot.
“Every Arizonan should have the freedom to make decisions about their bodies, their lives and their futures,” said Chris Love, senior advisor for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona. “We know the work for achieving reproductive freedom is an uphill battle, and this ballot initiative is the next critical step in our renewed drive to protect the health and freedom of our patients and our communities.”
The state of Texas and an anonymous plaintiff associated with the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress alleges that Planned Parenthood engaged in fraud when they filed Medicaid reimbursement claims for healthcare services they provided to thousands of people in Texas and Louisiana. The plaintiffs are seeking up to $1.8 billion in civil penalties.
If anti-abortion judge Matthew Kacsmaryk rules in favor of the plaintiffs, Planned Parenthood could face bankruptcy, potentially depriving millions of people of basic healthcare, especially women, people with low incomes, young people, immigrants and people who face healthcare barriers due to race discrimination.
On Thursday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) signed “The Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act” (SB 1909) into law, prohibiting anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” from using deception or fraud to interfere with a person seeking access to abortion or other reproductive health services. The law became effective as of signing.
Illinois is the fourth state, following Connecticut, Colorado and Vermont, to enact a law reigning in the deceptive practices of crisis pregnancy centers, which often masquerade as reproductive health clinics to lure vulnerable women, and use lies and disinformation about abortion to pressure them to carry pregnancies to term. In applying to both deceptive advertising and fraudulent practices, the Illinois law goes far beyond the Connecticut, Colorado and Vermont laws, which address advertising and, in Colorado and Vermont, specific standards of practice.
“If the medical provider does not lie,” Rep. Margaret Croak said, “they have nothing to worry about.”
