This Week in Abortion: EMTALA in Supreme Court, Money Moves, and Ladies in the Good Reads

A collection of good reads, events from the week, and policy insights.

Welcome back to This Week in Abortion - Your weekly substack roundup of good reads, news updates, and policy insights on abortion.

There are only two good reads this week, so there is no excuse not to click. Then see my Supreme Court hot takes and reporting from across the country on the anti-access moves to empower crisis pregnancy centers and cut off funding to abortion providers.

Finally, I will be taking a break next week. See you in May!

Good Reads

• Check out this series in States Newsroom about a group of Wisconsin residents, who are at odds on abortion but are trying to come up with policies they can all support. (I reference her so much, I should start calling this the Sofia Resnick Fan Club Letter.)

• Speaking of people and publications I like, a North Dakota affiliate of States Newsroom (yep, them again) published a profile of Cara Mund. Mund is running as a pro-access candidate in the Republican primary for the state’s only US House seat. She ran as an independent in 2022, citing the overturning of Roe as her key motivation for jumping in the race. Now, she is doubling down on her pro-access, pro-democracy stance. It will be interesting to see what happens in June, it’s also a unique opportunity for you center-right peeps out there (you are there, you know who you are) to jump into a 2024 race.

Supreme Court 

As I was listening to this hearing, my husband ambled over to see what debate I was watching. That should give you an idea of the mood in the court. But, tensions felt high for good reason. Amanda Seitz’s article is a reminder of the mismanagement and mistreatment of emergency health complications going on around the country as a result of abortion bans. And Kelcie Moseley-Morris’s interview with a self-described “pro-life” doctor speaks to the specific consequences of Idaho’s ban, which was the one in question this week. 

It’s hard to predict what the outcome of this hearing will be. You can listen here and Amanda Seitz (again) provides a concise summary of the key points.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett seemed to me to be genuinely torn over her moral objections to abortion and her understanding of the law/actual care for women’s health. No matter what she said, I heard… “Idaho (ADF), buddy, I really really really want to be with you on this, but you are making it so fucking hard!” Analyst Chris Geidner puts her solidly on the pro-access side of this matter, Ian Millhiser puts her in the center. Either way, between her, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the decision is up in the air.

Although not central to the case, fetal personhood made a strong showing, with Justice Samuel Alito dropping the phrase “unborn child,” into almost every sentence he spoke. To be fair, these words are in the text of EMTALA. However, his questions did not seem to get to the root of the issue before the court. (The folks at Breitbart might disagree.)

So that’s done. As we wait for the opinion to drop, the world will keep moving. And, that means new reporting rules in Texas for the application of life-saving care will move forward and women in states with bans will continue to suffer. But, at least in some good news for Idaho, a group is exploring whether a ballot initiative is an option this November!

Top abortion updates

• 👍 The Campaign for Accountability asked that the AGs in Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington investigate crisis pregnancy centers that claim to comply with federal HIPAA laws when they aren’t actually subject to them. The complaints ask AGs to look into exactly what data these centers are collecting, and what they do with it.

• 👍 Arizona’s House passed a repeal of the 1864 ban on abortions, with three Republicans joining all Democrats to repeal. The Senate is very likely to pass the repeal as well. The maneuverings this week show how the politics of the abortion fight are going to be entering increasingly uncomfortable, twisted territory, especially for the GOP. Rep. Tim Dunn (R), who voted for repeal said it best, as quoted by the AP, it was ‘the most pro-life vote I could possibly make’ because, he said, backlash to the total ban would lead voters to support abortion even after 15 weeks.”

• 👎 Well, that happened fast. As predicted, anti-access AGs from 17 states have sued the Biden administration over its recent requirement that covered employers (those with 15 or more employees, unions, employment agencies, and the Federal Government) must give pregnant employees time off for an abortion.

• 👎Following Louisiana’s lead, Arkansas looks likely to increase the amount of money it gives to anti-abortion pregnancy centers.

  • 👍 In Kansas this week, Gov. Kelly vetoed a law that gave tax breaks to these centers and their donors.

• 👎 Tennessee passed its “abortion trafficking” bill. It will almost certainly be approved by the governor. Then, advocates will definitely be asking a judge to put a hold on the law, as was done to Idaho’s. Finally, it will be in the Supreme Court, but that’s not for quite a while and after more states have also passed their versions of the law. 

• 👎 Missouri is officially cutting Planned Parenthood out of its Medicaid program (joining Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas). If you are wondering how individual states can so drastically alter a basic social safety net - and, one that includes federal funds at that.  John Oliver published a lovely explainer just last week. Also note that EMTALA, the subject of this week’s Supreme Court case, rests on the ability of DC to force rules on hospitals that receive Medicaid dollars…his team really knows how to time a release!

 

• 👎 Ohio may be headed in the same direction as MO. It’s even innovating on the concept. A legislator recently introduced a bill that attempts to “prohibit state funds from being given to any entity that supports, promotes, or provides abortions'  including by preventing local jurisdictions from spending money on abortion care.