More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Even though I work to advance reproductive rights for a living, it can still be incredibly difficult to have meaningful conversations with them about abortion. I know it’s going to come up, though, and I need to be prepared.
Open, civil dialogue is the best way to make your voice heard and hopefully change hearts, minds and cultures. We must arm ourselves with facts, and not automatically write people off. Here’s what else I’m keeping in mind as I go into holiday gatherings with my family.
GenBioPro, the nation’s only generic manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, appealed the dismissal of a federal lawsuit challenging a West Virginia abortion ban that restricts access to the FDA-approved abortion medication mifepristone.
If successful, GenBioPro’s lawsuit could prevent states from banning mifepristone and could also protect access to other FDA-approved medications that have significant health benefits, such as vaccines.
The West Virginia court’s ruling could be helpful to people in states that still allow some abortions but block telemedicine abortion, such as Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin.
Twenty women are challenging the state’s abortion laws, saying they were unable to get the healthcare they needed for their medically complex pregnancies.
Tuesday, Nov. 7, is the last day for voters in several states to head to the polls to vote in a number of off-year elections. While they may be lower-profile, some of these races are still deeply consequential.
We’ll be watching: Ohio’s pro-abortion ballot measure; Virginia’s state legislature; the Pennsylvania supreme court race; and the Kentucky and Mississippi governors’ races.
Protect Women Ohio would like you to think it’s a “grassroots” coalition of anti-abortion momentum in Ohio. In reality, it’s fueled by millions of dollars tied to Leonard Leo—the man responsible for packing the U.S. Supreme Court with the very justices responsible for overturning Roe.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s path to the speakership was circuitous, but it puts an ally of one of the country’s most influential anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion groups third in line for the presidency.
Reports of abuse involving reproductive coercion—actions that prevent someone from making crucial decisions about their body and reproductive health—nearly doubled in the yearlong period after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Reproductive coercion can take the form of any situation in which one partner is exerting power over another in a way that impacts their reproductive health: forcing someone to engage in sexual activity, refusing to use contraception, restricting a partner from seeing a healthcare provider, telling a partner they are not allowed to receive abortion care.
Former abortion provider Dr. Steven Eisinger shares his decades-long experiences in this special edition of Our Abortion Stories.
“Abortion providers are often given advice on how to avoid attacks: Drive different routes; never allow your car to be boxed in; be acutely aware of your surroundings; never stand in a window; carry a whistle, a vest, or a gun.”
Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.
The Alliance Defending Freedom is the group that overturned Roe v. Wade. And they’re clear on what they’re coming for next: Trans rights. Gay rights. The separation of church and state. Secularism. Anti-discrimination laws. And contraception.
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.”
