This Week in Abortion, 2023 Elections
This Week in Abortion, 2023 Elections
A collection of good reads, events from the week, and policy insights.
Welcome back to your weekly roundup of good reads, legal updates, and legislative tracking on abortion. If you are tired of hearing about Trump, DeSantis, and Pence, we have great news for you - there are actual elections going on in 2023! In this week’s feature, we take a look at what’s going on in state politics this year.
“Good” Reads
Vox goes in-depth on the comparisons between US and European abortion restrictions, which some Republicans are using as arguments for more restrictive practices. As always, the devil is in the details and, as it turns out, a 12-week restriction in Europe has a very different meaning than in the US.
Religion and abortion are often discussed together and the AP’s David Crary highlights the current state of things in a new report. TLDR: religious leaders are split.
USA Today featured a long-form piece on Carbondale, IL, and abortion - highlighting the town’s role as a central access point for a lot of southern states. A great read (esp for Illinois lovers).
A United Nations panel of experts put out a new statement criticizing state abortion restrictions. It is worth noting that other recent expert statements are on topics such as Russia’s charges against a Nobel Prize winner and Myanmar’s forced repatriation of Rohingya individuals. Not great company.
State and Local Events of the Week
👍 California advanced a privacy law meant to protect the locations of those visiting abortion clinics. This is an interesting policy situation where reproductive rights, digital privacy, and police investigations for non-abortion-related crime converge. The bill’s sponsor agreed to work with law enforcement to tailor the law to abortion protections.
👍 Ohio’s ballot measure will move forward as-is. The state’s Supreme Court threw out a challenge that - had the ruling gone bad - would have forced the advocates for the initiative back to square one and essentially tanked their prospects for getting on the ballot. (More on ballot measures Here.)
🤷 This week on the list of unlikely heroes:
South Carolina State Senator Katrina Shealy was formally reprimanded by the local republican party in her district because she voted against the recent abortion ban.
We’ve said it before…the heroes aren’t always the ones you want (Shealy would likely support a 12-week ban), but they are the ones we’ve got. She is going to get primaried in 2024 and if she loses it’s unlikely a Democrat will replace her.
Nebraska Senator Merv Riepe has lost the endorsement of Nebraska Right to Life. No surprise there - he voted against a 4-6 week ban in favor of a less restrictive 10-12 week ban. One quote from Nebraska Examiner’s excellent coverage stands out:
“Do I like abortions? Absolutely not. Do I want abortions? Absolutely not,” Riepe told the Nebraska Examiner. “But I live in a real world, and I know that there have been abortions before the days of Christ.”
Legal Updates
All those lawsuits against state abortion bans are getting their day in court. The Washington Post has a guide to help you keep them all organized.
👎 Speaking of which, the Tampa Bay Times went in-depth on the Florida total abortion ban’s legal case. This is a nail-biter for access and it could set the tone for Governor DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
Intriguingly, a Florida Supreme Court Judge has a wife who co-sponsored the ban and a daughter who works in Governor DeSantis’ office and has yet to recuse himself.
👎 A coalition of pregnancy centers in New Jersey are suing the state over a consumer protection alert that went out about them. The coalition said, “if there is a problem, why wouldn’t they tell us about it so we can correct it?” We suggest they read our piece on the challenges with crisis pregnancy centers.
👍Indiana’s abortion ban suit was granted class-action status this week, a pretty big deal.
👍 A Kansas abortion provider is suing the state about the new law requiring providers to tell patients incorrect medical advice, that medication abortions can be reversed. We covered what this means in a feature a few weeks ago.
Feature: Elections to Watch in 2023
As the Presidential Primary news (drama) piles up, it’s worth remembering that there are actual elections in 2023, some of which are more important to abortion access in those states than who gets to wear the Republican crown. So, we’ve gone through the lot for 2023 and we’re sharing the most important here. We are only looking at this from the perspective of abortion policy. There are many other issues out there that might inspire you to get involved in your own local elections, so we encourage you to explore more at Ballotpedia.
August General Elections
Ohio is holding a statewide election for one signal issue - whether to increase the voting and signature requirements for ballot initiatives. That’s it. There are no actual races on the ballot, just this one question. If the measure is approved, a pro-access initiative this November will need a 60% super majority to win instead of the usual 50%. Education and turnout in the race will be critical to winning. If you are thinking of getting involved in elections this year, Ohio should be top of your list.
November General Elections
Ohio voters will need to go to the ballot again in November to decide whether to add abortion protections to their constitution. That is if the initiative backers are able to collect enough signatures to qualify by July 5. More info here. We’ll say it again: If you are thinking of getting involved in elections this year, especially with dollars, these initiatives should be top of your list.
Virginia will be voting on all state legislative seats. Virginia’s pro-access status is very much on the line in this election. Currently, the VA chambers are divided - Senate is majority Democrat and House is majority Republican. 30% of seats are open, meaning no incumbent is running, that is both a huge risk and a huge opportunity. In 2023, VA is the hottest potato in the country. Once primaries are held on June 20, we anticipate a lot of national attention landing on any and all close partisan races.
Kentucky will be voting on all executive statewide offices. Of particular interest to us are the gubernatorial race and the attorney general race. KY’s Democratic (pro-access) Governor Andy Beshear is very popular. Beating him should be challenging. But, the Republicans have a strong contender in the current Attorney General Daniel Cameron (anti-access). Polls right now show the two contenders neck and neck. Voters in KY sent a message last year when they rejected a ballot measure that would have carved out abortion from constitutional protections. Electing an anti-access governor now would be a major backstep. On the upside, since Cameron can only run for one office it means there is an opportunity to elect a pro-access attorney general.
Other notable races
Like Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey hold off-year elections for state officials. The elections in these three states are low-priority compared to some of the others we’ve mentioned. It seems unlikely that their elections will affect access in the short term. But, we hope advocates are paying attention - especially in LA and MS. A good state/local ground game is critical to establishing better abortion laws in the long run, and in LA and MS this chance is now, not 2024.
Pennsylvania will be holding elections for one supreme court and four appellate court judges. This one election will not tip the scale of the Court, which currently leans pro-access. However, by now we should all appreciate how important judicial races are.