This Week in Abortion: Happy Thoughts
This Week in Abortion: Happy Thoughts
A collection of good reads, events from the week, and policy insights.
Welcome back to your weekly roundup of good reads, news updates, and policy insights on abortion.
I spent a lot of time this year writing about what was going wrong around the country with abortion policy. So, for the last newsletter of the year, I’m reflecting on what’s going right and what I’m grateful for as I look back at 2023. Hope it serves as food for happy thoughts during the holiday season.
I’ll be taking the next few weeks off to concentrate on preventing my toddler from destroying all the neighborhood decorations she can get her hands on.
See you in 2024!
2023 Round Up
🙂 Happy Thought 1: Policies in pro-access states are better than they were before Dobbs.
In the decades before Dobbs, many “pro-access” states were in a sort of stasis. Some relied on the Supreme Court ruling to counter otherwise bad laws that were still on the books, others had allowed restrictions on clinics and patients to creep into the law, and very few had taken proactive steps to make abortion procedures as safely accessible as any other medical service. In the years leading up to the Dobbs decision, only a handful of states had affirmatively protected abortion rights and patient privacy. Now others are joining them.
Guttmacher cites 129 laws that were passed this year, “protecting the legal right to abortion, improving and expanding patient access, supporting the health care workforce, improving clinic safety and security, and expanding insurance coverage for abortion access.” For perspective, last year there were 77 similar laws passed, and, across the entire decade before 2022, there were only 95. Many of these laws are improving policies that were in place before Roe was overturned.
States are also allocating funding to help clinics deal with patients from outside their borders. And, companion issues like the dishonest practices of crisis pregnancy centers and restrictive and inequitable access to birth control are getting renewed attention.
There is a huge gap developing, the landscape in states like Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana still looks pretty bleak. And the influx of patients from those states into access havens requires constant attention. But for those on the lucky side of it, “letting the states decide” means that access to safe, effective, and informed abortion and reproductive healthcare are increasing in ways that they just weren’t two years ago.
🙂 Happy Thought 2: It Could Have Been Worse
Yes, it’s a trope, but it’s worth the reminder. Despite the loss of access in states around the country, in some cases, the worst expectations weren’t realized.
In Nebraska and South Carolina, Republican lawmakers prevented a ban after 4-6 weeks of pregnancy and a total ban from passing, instead they supported eventual bans of 10-12 weeks (12 weeks post gestation) and 4-6 weeks respectively. So, access didn’t exactly win, but neither did the other guys, at least not like they thought they would. Given the legislative makeup of those states and the other practical barriers in the way, I’m putting this in the happy thought bucket for 2023 and will be watching both states closely in 2024.
Ohio voted for access. This may feel like a given now, but it wasn’t. The ballot initiative had to pass in an off-year election and with an establishment entirely set against it - they even held an extra election to (unsuccessfully) change the rules of the game. The initiative was meaningful and hard-fought - it cost over $20 million to support. It will have a special place in my heart as I wave goodbye to 2023 next Sunday.
While recent research has shown that bans do prevent some people from getting abortions, most people are getting around the restrictions thanks to general mobility, a responsive community of providers and advocates, and the availability of safe, medicated abortion. As such, I was reassured by an announcement from the Supreme Court that made it clear the underlying FDA approval of medicated abortion is not going away.
🙂 Happy Thought Three: Women are Fighting Back
It should be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway. Just because a majority of people can get around bans, that does not make them ok. As usual, it means those with the least will suffer the most. So, there is still a long fight ahead.
An important step in this fight is taking actual pregnancies to court. As part of cases in Texas, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Tennessee women across the country stepped up to tell their stories and put their security and in some cases their health, on the line to serve as living proof of the amplified tragedy that abortion bans create. One of these women is now running for office.
I believe these cases can do more than anything else to expose the incredible consequences of bans and how they systematically fail women. If the recent story of Kate Cox, and her battle to get approval for an abortion doesn’t have a few Texas legislators wringing their hands as we enter election season nothing will.
🙂 Happy Thought Four: You All
I am grateful for how this newsletter has grown over the last year. Mollie Foust was and continues to be a huge part of that. But, we also had guest posts (shout out to Sharita Thomas and Beth Kenefick!) and a lot of support from our partners and friends. In particular, this fall Rachel Nackman has been bringing significant editing skills to the table.
Whatever opinions you came with, I hope what we’ve been sharing this year has been informative and that this has been a welcoming space for you.
