This Week in Abortion: Landscape Review
A collection of good reads, events from the week, and policy insights on reproductive health.
Welcome back to This Week in Abortion - Your weekly Substack roundup of good reads, news updates, and policy insights on abortion.
Some recent reports have me thinking about the general landscape for abortion access as it stands today. The Guttmacher Insititute published a report this week estimating that the, “number of [clinician-provided] abortions in states without total bans and interstate travel for abortion care remained stable from 2023 to 2024.” The finding, based on monthly samples and historic trends, also highlighted that states with new bans experienced drops in care.
Their report comes on the heals of another finding by Caitlin K. Myers and colleages, that even with abortion medication available, disparities persist: “In counties where the nearest abortion facility was 50 miles away pre-Dobbs, a total ban increases births by 2.8% when distance rises to 300 miles…The largest increases occur among Black and Hispanic women, those without a college degree, and unmarried women.”
So, while bans haven’t been as effective as the anti-folks might like, they have created significant barriers that force pregnant people to jump through uncesssary, sometimes painful and expensive, hoops and disproportionately affect marginalized groups. This inequity is not only deeply unfair but also destabilizing. And this is just the beginning.
The infamous (and long dead) Congressman Henry Hyde reportedly once said “I certainly would like to prevent, if I could legally, anybody having an abortion, a rich woman, a middle-class woman, or a poor woman.” Unfortunately, he implied, using the Medicaid bill, he could only regulate poor people.
The policy landscape is shifting rapidly, from technical bans to cultural battles, including anti-abortion education in schools and fetal personhood laws. Particularly scary is the increasing willingness of anti-abortion power players to criminalize preganacy and abortion. Christine Fernando did a great job capturing that sentiment in her reporting this week:
Hawkins, from Students for Life, said there are three camps within the anti-abortion movement: one that seeks to prosecute abortion patients, one that would never want to prosecute patients and one somewhere in between. The in-between group opposes prosecution now but acknowledges that this might change as “culture and laws shift.”
Amidst this, stories of resilience shine. Groups like EducateUS are making the policy case for comprehensive sex education while building the political powerbase to support it. Providers in Illinois are standing strong, providing care to nearly a quarter of patients traveling outside their state, according to the Guttmacher Report. And, this week, Rev. Katey Zeh and Asha Dahya reminded us that clergy have always been fundamental to access and continue to provide support for individuals and the movement. While challenges remain, the ongoing efforts of advocates and communities remind us that progress is possible.
Federal
👎Judge blocks worker protections for abortion and fertility care for Catholic employers [AP]
👎CDC team that updated go-to physician reference on contraceptive science is fired [Science]
The States
Alaska
👍Alaska House leaves long-standing anti-abortion language out of state budget [Alaska Current] In the same meeting, however, legislators approved restrictions on care for transgender patients.
Idaho
👍Idaho judge says it’s not a crime to perform abortion in some medical cases [Idaho Sun] I’d love to see this as a full W, but truth is it’s a pretty narrow one.
Iowa
👎Iowa House passes bill requiring fetal development videos starting in 5th grade [Iowa Public Radio]
Missouri
👎Proposed abortion ban amendment gets initial approval of Missouri House [Missouri Independant] Plus, more info from local advocates. When it passes the senate, this will force advocates to spend tons of (better spent) money and energy fighting a ballot amendment that would enshrine an abortion ban in the state’s constitution.
👎Missouri legislature passes bill to limit court powers. It could affect abortion rights [St. Louis Public Radio]
Nebraska
👎Unicameral advances bill requiring cremation or burial of remains from elective abortions [Nebraska Public Media]
North Dakota
👎North Dakota lawmakers look to add $1 million to state budget for anti-abortion campaign [North Dakota Monitor]
Texas
👎Texas Senate passes SB 33 to ban taxpayer funding for abortion-related travel [KXXV/ABC]
👎Texas House approves $70M boost in funding to anti-abortion pregnancy centers [Houston Chronical]
👎‘Weaponized environmentalism’? A Texas Republican wants to test wastewater for abortion medication [Fast Company]
Wyoming
👀Wyoming Supreme Court hears arguments on abortion rights [AP]