Understand that this moment has been in the making since the mid 1970s. (White) Evangelical Christians have been building alliances and coalitions with Conservative Republicans with the aim of warping public institutions into conformity to their specific brand of Conservative Christian Nationalism. One strategy has been building schools and colleges that specialize in training religiously motivated lawyers and judges to achieve positions of legal power. This quiet effort, which has affected most of the countries judiciary system, has culminated in the election of three hard right Supreme Court judges, all of whom were funneled through the same Conservatively religious legal pipeline run by groups like the Judicial Crisis Networkandthe Federalist Society (Fueled by dark-money religious extremists) (more on the Federalist Society here, slightly dated but still relevant)
Of course, abortion rights activists have seen this coming for a long time now: “This abandonment by lawmakers is why so many of the most effective solutions we have right now are being developed far outside the realm of electoral politics. Increasing abortion access through abortion funds and education on self-managed abortion, including establishing legal defense funds for abortion, isn’t just something to do while waiting for a better election outcome (maybe) to win back our rights; it’s what advocates have already been doing to survive even when Democrats win. They have secured this right even when legislators failed to.”
I don’t know what more I can add. Part of me just wanted to rant about the state of the country into which I was born. While cathartic, it doesn’t help when it comes to formulating possible plans of action or political solutions. While I still believe that getting people to vote matters, that’s just one method of political participation (and one of the laziest). On an individual level, we could encourage more men to get vasectomies and shift some of the burden and responsibility on reproductive justice onto men’s shoulders. It’s not much but it could help.
As to systemic strategies for securing bodily self-determination and privacy, I’m sure there are plenty of local groups out there for you, dear reader, to find and join that are putting in the effort and would love your help (feel free, dear reader, to offer possible resources in the comments if you have any to share). Not a satisfying conclusion to all of these words but it’s what I’ve got to offer at the moment.
I’ll leave you with some additional things to consider:
From the White House to statehouses across the country, anti-abortion politicians and activists are pushing inflammatory lies about abortion that shame women and their doctors. It’s all part of their agenda to overturn Roe v. Wade and ban abortion entirely. Enough.
With their eyes on the 2020 election, President Trump and fellow anti-abortion lawmakers nationwide have been spreading lies and passing a slew of restrictions on safe, legal abortion. Why? Because they think it will win over voters they view as their base: the small minority of Americans who want to ban abortion and don’t believe women should control their bodies.
To understand where we are with abortion in America, you first need to know this: The vast majority of people in the United States support the right to access abortion without interference from politicians. In fact, 73% of Americans do not want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that affirmed the constitutional right to abortion. And in the 2018 midterm elections, the American people issued a mandate: They want more access to health care, not less.
But the anti-abortion politicians in power have an agenda. Because they think it will score political points, President Trump and his allies are telling outlandish lies that downplay the complexity of abortion later in pregnancy and are using insulting language that shames women.
These lies are simply bolstering the anti-abortion agenda of the Trump-Pence administration, its cronies in state legislatures, and the new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. That trifecta poses a huge threat to Roe v. Wade and safe and legal abortion in this country. But in the face of this threat, there is hope. Pro-reproductive health lawmakers are stepping up not only to protect women’s health and ensure abortion remains safe and legal in their states, but also to EXPAND access. Their landmark bills could truly change the abortion landscape for the better.
Anti-abortion state lawmakers’ inflammatory language…
If you’ve heard anti-abortion politicians talk about provocative, hypothetical scenarios related to bills like New York’s Reproductive Health Act, know that these politicians are just hiding from the fact that they don’t care about women’s health.
While anti-abortion politicians are making bogus claims and wild stories — which aren’t based in fact or medical science about the fraction of abortions that occur later in pregnancy — they are literally trying to end family planning programs. They’re also working to take away health insuranceandcarefromwomen and children. The same restrictions these legislators support have meant fewer medical professionals can provide abortion, which forces women to take time, save money, travel much longer distances (even out of state), and arrange for lodging to reach a safe, legal abortion provider.
…mirrors Trump’s inflammatory language on abortion.
Let’s not forget: It was Trump himself who said “there must be some form of punishment” for a woman who has an abortion three years ago as a candidate.
Anti-abortion politicians in the states are in lockstep with Trump’s behavior. In Trump’s State of the Union address, he lied about how abortions work — using outrageous rhetoric from the anti-abortion movement that vilifies women who make the personal medical decision with their doctors to terminate their pregnancies in the second or third trimester.
This rhetoric is the same old smokescreen that anti-abortion politicians always pull out to distract from their true agenda: to push abortion out of reach, shut down clinics, and throw women and providers in jail.
The good news: New York and other states are shoring up abortion rights.
With Trump’s Justices on the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade and the right to safe, legal abortion is at risk like never before — more than any time since the case affirmed women’s constitutional right to abortion in 1973.
So here’s the silver lining: These threats have spurred reproductive health advocates to introduce bills that protect and expand access to safe, legal abortion. In several legislatures, lawmakers are building momentum and taking abortion out of the criminal code and treating it as health care.
Why New York’s Reproductive Health Act is one of the strongest protections for abortion access in the U.S.
Affirms abortion is a “fundamental right” in the state of New York.
Ensures that, if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned, abortion would remain a legal health procedure — and patients and doctors would not go to jail.
Moves abortion regulations off the state’s criminal code (where it had been for almost 50 years) and onto its health code.
Expands access to abortion later in pregnancy if the pregnancy cannot survive.
New York’s Reproductive Health Act is one of the strongest protections for abortion access in any state in the country. It’s about making sure that at every point in a pregnancy, a woman’s health (not politicians’ ideology) drives medical decisions.
Illinois, New Mexico and Rhode Island are protecting and expanding abortion access.
In Illinois, pro-women’s health lawmakers introduced a Reproductive Health Act and are calling for the repeal of the state’s Parental Notification of Abortion Act. These bills would codify into law what we already know: that abortion is not a crime. The Illinois Reproductive Health Act fixes the state’s outdated abortion law with regulations that reflect current medical standards. And repealing Illinois’ parental notification mandate would help young people access health care without putting their confidentiality and safety at risk.
Back on the East Coast, Rhode Island’s Reproductive Health Care Act also protects the right to safe, legal abortion. It will repealunconstitutional laws from Rhode Island’s law book.
Although22 states have laws on the books that would ban abortion if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, bills like these Reproductive Health Acts build on existing laws in 17 statesthat do the opposite and protect access to abortion if the Supreme Court reverses its ruling. These new, protective bills are a direct response to a Supreme Court that is poised to do just that. Remember, Trump delivered on his promise to nominate Supreme Court justices who would overturn the case: Trump’s appointees Neil GorsuchandBrett Kavanaugh have a track record of opposing abortion access, most recently with a Louisiana law that could eliminate abortion access at all but one health center in the state.
Here’s the impact of overturning Roe v. Wade.
We are dangerously close to a world that looks much like the one before Roe v. Wade was decided 46 years ago. Experts fully expect the case to be challenged in the Supreme Court before the 2020 election.
The consequences: If Roe v. Wade is overturned or further eroded, more than 25 million women could lose the ability to access abortion in their state. That’s one-third of all women of childbearing age in America. That is unacceptable.
Here’s how the Supreme Court could ban abortion in all but name.
Aside from overturning Roe v. Wade itself, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is poised to give states more leeway to heap restrictions on abortion and its providers. Trump has reshaped federal courts across the country with judges who are hostile to reproductive health and rights. All that gives the signal to anti-abortion lawmakers that their abortion restrictions won’t face resistance in court at home or in Washington.
Right now, 16 abortion-related cases are moving through federal courts — just one step away from the Supreme Court. The wrong ruling on these cases could erode the constitutional right to safe, legal abortion to the point where millions of women across the country do not have access.
State attacks are making your zip code and your paycheck determine your right to abortion.
More than 420 state restrictions have gone into law since 2011, and they are taking their toll on women’s ability to access abortion.
In 2017, 19 states passed 63 laws restricting abortion access — the largest number of anti-abortion laws enacted since 2013. So far in 2019, a whopping 10 states introduced six-week abortion bans, which push abortion out of reach before many women even know they’re pregnant. Just this week, OhioandMississippi are moving six-week bans through their legislative process.
The consequences of such efforts are dire:
Louisiana is still facing the very real threat of losing all but one abortion clinic — that’s after years of attacks from anti-abortion politicians, and a temporary Supreme Court ruling that shows abortion access hangs in the balance.
Idaho politicians are pushing a bill that would not only make abortion illegal but jail women and providers.
The kicker: These restrictions burden poor women the most. Women who can’t access abortion are already three times more likely to end up below the federal poverty line. When safe, legal abortion providers are far away, women with low incomes struggle to reach the care they need — if they can get it at all.
Every day, women across our country face the deeply personal decision of whether or not to continue their pregnancy. One in four women in America will have an abortion during her lifetime. Every person deserves to access the best medical care available.
Any doctor can tell you — every pregnancy is different, and people have abortions for many different reasons. Politicians cannot make a one-size-fits-all determination about abortion that is safe for every woman’s situation and medical condition. It’s time for all politicians to start showing respect to the women who are facing personal decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood will continue to fight alongside reproductive health advocates to protect and expand access to health care — including access to safe, legal abortion — no matter what.
“They asked me to tell you what it was like to be twenty and pregnant in 1950 and when you tell your boyfriend you’re pregnant, he tells you about a friend of his in the army whose girl told him she was pregnant, so he got all his buddies to come and say, “We all fucked her, so who knows who the father is?” And he laughs at the good joke…. What was it like, if you were planning to go to graduate school and get a degree and earn a living so you could support yourself and do the work you loved—what it was like to be a senior at Radcliffe and pregnant and if you bore this child, this child which the law demanded you bear and would then call “unlawful,” “illegitimate,” this child whose father denied it … What was it like? […] It’s like this: if I had dropped out of college, thrown away my education, depended on my parents … if I had done all that, which is what the anti-abortion people want me to have done, I would have borne a child for them, … the authorities, the theorists, the fundamentalists; I would have born a child for them, their child. But I would not have born my own first child, or second child, or third child. My children. The life of that fetus would have prevented, would have aborted, three other fetuses … the three wanted children, the three I had with my husband—whom, if I had not aborted the unwanted one, I would never have met … I would have been an “unwed mother” of a three-year-old in California, without work, with half an education, living off her parents…. But it is the children I have to come back to, my children Elisabeth, Caroline, Theodore, my joy, my pride, my loves. If I had not broken the law and aborted that life nobody wanted, they would have been aborted by a cruel, bigoted, and senseless law. They would never have been born. This thought I cannot bear. What was it like, in the Dark Ages when abortion was a crime, for the girl whose dad couldn’t borrow cash, as my dad could? What was it like for the girl who couldn’t even tell her dad, because he would go crazy with shame and rage? Who couldn’t tell her mother? Who had to go alone to that filthy room and put herself body and soul into the hands of a professional criminal? – because that is what every doctor who did an abortion was, whether he was an extortionist or an idealist. You know what it was like for her. You know and I know; that is why we are here. We are not going back to the Dark Ages. We are not going to let anybody in this country have that kind of power over any girl or woman. There are great powers, outside the government and in it, trying to legislate the return of darkness. We are not great powers. But we are the light. Nobody can put us out. May all of you shine very bright and steady, today and always.”
Conservatives like to point at late term abortions as a morally unjustifiable, but the truth is that they are usually performed on women who were trying to carry to term. These women don’t “want” abortions, they NEED abortions.
My grandmother nearly died having a miscarriage. My teenaged mother had to take her to the hospital when she refused to take herself because she was in denial. She was literally bleeding out. She had a late stage abortion and it saved her life. The doctors told her that if she tried to carry another baby to term it would kill her. Not “could” kill her, it WOULD kill her.
I only got to know my grandmother because she had access to a safe and legal abortion. She never spoke about her loss. Ever. I know she remained sexually active, which means if she had gotten pregnant again she would have gotten another abortion. I dont know if that was ever neccessary as, again, she never spoke about any of this.
I only know the story because my mother shared it with me. My mother was the first woman in her family that didn’t miscarry at least once.
So yes, I support access to all abortions, even if not especially late term abortions.
These are two major points often erased from the conversation. The first, the question of whose decision this is to make, and the second being the actual reason behind late-term abortions, which are often characterized as irresponsible and cruel acts of indecision when they are often decisions made by women who had every intention of having her child.
This week is going to be tough one - full of Trump foolishness, nominations nonsense, and who knows what else. To inspire you in the face of all this, here are some of the throwback moments I’m holding close from the last year. It’s easy to look back on 2016 with a pessimism: after all, the reality of Donald Trump as our next President has shaken many of us to our core. But we cannot let that erase the fact that in many ways, 2016 was a year of women kicking butt all over the place, whether it was with athletic prowess, astrophysics, policy, or musical brilliance:
10. Women shine at the Olympics.
It may seem like a long time ago now, but 2016 was the year of the Woman Olympian. They broke records: Simone Biles’ feats of gymnastic excellence made her the most decorated U.S. gymnast ever in a single Olympics, while Katie Ledecky brought in four golds and a silver medal as she broke not one but TWO world records. They also broke barriers: Ibtihaj Muhammad became the first American athlete to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab. She also won a bronze medal in fencing. As Muhammad said to US Magazine, “A lot of people don’t believe that Muslim women have voices or that we participate in sport…I want to break cultural norms.”
From gymnastics, to swimming, to fencing, women Olympians inspired us all.
What do we say about King Bey’s Lemonade that hasn’t already been said in a million think pieces and tribute gifs? First came the surprise “Formation” video. Then the explosive Super Bowl performance. Then the transformative Lemonade. THEN, she capped it all off with that defiant and joyful performance of “Daddy Lessons” with the Dixie Chicks at the damn COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS.
Whatever else we say about 2016, it will go down as the year Beyoncé slayed. And slayed. And slayed. OK.
8. Latina Scientists discover Einstein’s gravitational waves.
This year, Argentina-born Dr. Gabriela Gonzalez and Mexican-American Dr. France A. Cordova accomplished the impressive feat of detecting gravitational waves from two black holes colliding, a discovery that confirms many of Albert Einstein’s theories about the universe. This discovery by these Latina scientists is one for the history books!
In 2013, Purvi Patel was imprisoned and sentenced to 20 years for feticide and the neglect of a dependent—all because she ended a pregnancy on her own. The story is shocking – after all, no woman should fear arrest or jail for ending a pregnancy, losing a pregnancy, or seeking medical help. A small measure of justice was won for Purvi when she was released from prison in September. This case also creates an important precedent that strikes back against disturbingly widespread state laws that criminalize a woman for ending her pregnancy.
A major highlight from this year’s Oscars was Lady Gaga’s performance of her Oscar-nominated song, “Til It Happens To You.” She was introduced by Vice President Joe Biden and ultimately joined onstage by survivors of sexual assault. This was an important moment of visibility for survivors of sexual assault, who also made headlines later in the year when the #NotOkay hashtag moved women from around the world to share their stories of sexual assault and rape.
Back when it was just sinking in that Trump would be the Republican nominee, 100 women posed nude while holding mirrors as part of an art installation protesting the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. While their motives and politics were reportedly very diverse, there’s no question that the women’s agency over their bodies carried extra resonance this election season. Whatever their reasons, it was a powerful moment and brave demonstration.
This year saw women across the planet declaring their human rights and resisting schemes to take those rights away. Polish women organized a massive strike to protest an abortion ban. It was incredible to watch – and is a tactic we may need to learn from if Trump, Pence, and their cronies in Congress have their way.
3. The Supreme Court declares that abortion must be accessible in real life.
Think back to late June: people gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court to hear the happy news – in a 5:3 decision, SCOTUS struck down Texas’ clinic shutdown law, HB 2. This landmark decision affirmed that a woman should be able to get an abortion with dignity, respect, and WITHOUT politicians standing in the way. In the wake of that decision, several other clinic shutdown laws fell. While there is still a lot to be done, this was a huge moment.
2. “This is not normal.” Michelle Obama responds to Trump’s videotaped admission and history of sexual violence.
When Michelle Obama took the stage in New Hampshire shortly after the video surfaced of our now President-elect bragging about sexually assaulting women, she articulated beautifully and painfully what so many of us had been feeling. It’s worth quoting at length:
“It’s that feeling of terror and violation that too many women have felt when someone has grabbed them, or forced himself on them and they’ve said no but he didn’t listen — something that we know happens on college campuses and countless other places every single day. It reminds us of stories we heard from our mothers and grandmothers about how, back in their day, the boss could say and do whatever he pleased to the women in the office, and even though they worked so hard, jumped over every hurdle to prove themselves, it was never enough.
We thought all of that was ancient history, didn’t we? And so many have worked for so many years to end this kind of violence and abuse and disrespect, but here we are in 2016 and we’re hearing these exact same things every day on the campaign trail. We are drowning in it…
This is not normal.”
With this speech, Michelle gave us the mantra we’ll need to get through the next four years, and face down the regressive policies Trump has promised. This. Is. Not. Normal.
1. A major party presidential candidate spoke out against the Hyde Amendment!
Even as we grieve, and cry, and even fear for our safety and the lives and well-being of those we love, we must remember this: More than 64 million Americans voted for a future where women are treated as human, and where the amount of money you have doesn’t determine whether you can get an abortion. Sixty-four million Americans voted to move forward, not backward, for love instead of hate, compassion instead of division. By a margin of more than 2 million, Americans voted for Secretary Hillary Clinton, the candidate who supported women’s health and rights and spoke out against the Hyde Amendment. While we won’t get to welcome her into the White House, we’ll always remember when she said:
“Any right that requires you to take extraordinary measures to access it is no right at all… [N]ot as long as we have laws on the book like the Hyde Amendment making it harder for low-income women to exercise their full rights.”
Here’s what I’ve learned from this year: women are STRONG AS HELL. We can do anything. We are resilient, we are talented, we are driven, and we resist. And that’s exactly what we’ll need to do to hold onto what we’ve won and keep fighting forward for as long as we have to.
[ Image Description: A collage with pieces of red and purple flowers as the background. In the middle is a green heart made up of small rectangle shapes, with a heartbeat line going through it (the flat line that goes up and down in sharp peaks like a heartbeat on a monitor). White words painted over the flowers read: “Abortion is Healthcare.” End Image Description ]
Congratulations to Kentucky state senator Dr. Karen Berg for taking her ignorant Republican colleagues out to the proverbial woodshed and whipping their old white male asses with facts and logic. Shame on them and more power to her, science, and women’s choice over their own bodies and lives.
[VD: A video in a courtroom. Dr. Karen Berg is sitting behind a microphone and talking to the other senators. At the bottom of the screen it says, “Discussion of SB 321 (Sen.Wise) An Act Relating to Abortion”. Dr. Berg says:
Explain my no vote. (Another voice says, “Yes m'am.”) [Heavy sigh] You know, I’m a diagnostic radiologist. And diagnostic radiologists, historically and in many places in this state, still do all of the first trimester OB ultrasound. So I am extraordinarily, personally familiar with the devopment of a fetus in the womb. And for you to sit here and say that at 15 weeks, a fetus has a functional heart; a four-chamber heart that can survive on its own, is fallacious. That is not true. There is no viability. You know, I look around at my colleagues on this committee. I am the only woman on this podium right now. I am the only physician sitting on this podium. This bill is a medical sham. It does not follow medicine. It does not even purport to listen to medicine. And for each and every one of my colleagues to be so willing to cast an aye vote, when what you are doing is putting your finger; putting your knee; putting your- a gun to women’s heads. You are killing women because abortion will continue. Women will continue to have efficacy over their own body, whether or not you make it legal. I vote no and I really, really apologize to the people in Kentucky that we are spending this much time and this much energy when we have families in poverty. We have single women heading households in poverty at a higher rate than any other group in the state. And you all are not addressing that. You all are making it worse. Thank you.
the supreme court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is not official yet. someone leaked a draft of the opinion that the members of the court have been circulating and revising (the draft was created by justice samuel alito).
which is insane by the way. it’s the first time that a draft of a supreme court decision has ever been leaked in the entire history of this country.
it makes perfect sense to feel grief or panic or dread or sadness or anger or whatever you’re feeling right now. this is fucking terrible and scary. just for the sake of avoiding misinformation, i wanted to clarify this because i think a lot of the headlines have been misleading, and the info gets even more misconstrued when it’s rephrased on social media and stuff
Reproductive rights, including the right to an abortion, is a matter of bodily autonomy. TAAAP will always stand with the right of every individual to make their own decisions regarding their body and needs.
[ID: “Bodily Autonomy. The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project stands for the right to be in control of one’s own body and choose what to do with it as a fundamental human right. We are fully pro-choice and pro-abortion.“
“Bodily Autonomy. Important reminder: some people are at higher risk of losing their bodily autonomy, and they need to be supported and kept at the forefront of these conversations. -People of color -Poor people -Disabled and neurodivergent people -Queer and trans people -People without emotional or financial support networks.”
“Resources. Donate to a local abortion fund: https://abortionfunds.org↵↵Support reproductive justice: https://www.liberateabortion.org↵↵For more information and actions: tinyurl.com/AbortionResourceKit.” Each graphic includes an image of a hand holding up a sign with a pro-choice slogan. End ID.]
