They Never Deserved to Be Called ‘Pro-Life’

Less than three weeks after Alabama’s State Supreme Court unleashed massive chaos and hardship by ruling that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) must be considered children, the state legislature passed a bill providing immunity to clinics that provide IVF and people who access that care. Alabama’s stridently anti-abortion governor hastily signed the legislation into law. Are we supposed to be grateful?

Protecting and supporting families is not the focus of the Republican Party. They prove that every day by opposing food and nutrition assistance, childcare subsidies, paid family leave, Medicaid expansion and other programs that help families be healthy and thrive.

Supreme Court to Hear Two Key Cases on Abortion Access

Rather than being done with the issue of abortion, the Supreme Court has taken up two cases this term that could have further disastrous effects on abortion access. One case could lead to limits on access to one of the two drugs used for medication abortion, and the other could allow states to ban emergency abortion care to save a patient’s life.

Decisions in both cases would have effects nationwide—illustrating the chaos and confusion that the Dobbs decision has created for providers and patients.

‘Small But Mighty’: Abortion Funding in New England

Since the fall of Roe, states in New England have been fairly protective of abortion. In spite of these protections, there are still abortion seekers in New England who need help accessing costly procedures. That’s where abortion funds come in—local nonprofits that pay for someone’s abortion, plus extra costs, like transportation or lodging.

We interviewed representatives from Tides for Reproductive Freedom (Tides) in Massachusetts, the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire (ReproFund), and the Women’s Health and Education Fund of Rhode Island (WHEF). More than one fund activist called their group “small but mighty”—acknowledging both the community-based approach, but also the power that comes with their smallness.

(This piece is the second in a series of articles spotlighting interviews with fund representatives across the U.S.)

From The Vault: We Have Had Abortions (Spring 1972)

In what The Washington Post says “changed the course of the abortion rights movement,” Ms. published “We Have Had Abortions” in its first issue, featuring the signatures of 53 prominent American women. Women who have had abortions have spoken out many times during the past 50 years, and millions of women and men have marched in countless rallies and demonstrations for abortion rights.

For more ground-breaking stories like this, order 
50 YEARS OF Ms.: THE BEST OF THE PATHFINDING MAGAZINE THAT IGNITED A REVOLUTION (Alfred A. Knopf)—a collection of the most audacious, norm-breaking coverage Ms. has published.

Alliance Defending Freedom Seeks to Persuade Arizona Supreme Court That Not All Life-Saving Abortions Are Emergencies

On Dec. 13, 2023, the Republican-appointed justices of the Arizona Supreme Court heard arguments in Planned Parenthood Arizona v. Mayes/Hazelrigg over whether an 1864 law banning abortion should take precedence over the state’s 2022 15-week gestational ban. A decision could come any day now.

Even in this bleak post-Roe environment, it is hard to comprehend how a law dating back to Arizona’s territorial days when it was believed that “[t]he paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother” is deciding women’s reproductive rights. And a victory before the Arizona Supreme Court simply avoids having Arizona move into the group of states where abortion is completely banned—a distinction it would share with 14 other states.  

The Three Genders, Per One GOP Super PAC: ‘Male,’ ‘Working Woman’ and ‘Homemaker’

How many genders are there, according to one GOP Super PAC? Three: “Male,” “working woman” and “homemaker.” Those are the categories given in a survey sent out to Montanans on behalf of the super PAC More Jobs, Less Government, which is supporting Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy.

It could more broadly speak to how antiquated views of women’s roles persist in parts of the Republican electorate.