This Week in Abortion: New Studies, Valentine’s Day, and Abortion Funds

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’ve been saving some recent studies and articles for a meaty Good Reads section.  I hope you’ll make some time to dig into the reports. And, Valentine’s Day is coming up. If you aren’t sure what you want to do this year, I’ve got a few ideas!

Good Reads and Media

• Olivia Goldhill writes in STAT news about the meteoric rise of donations to abortion funds after the fall of Roe, how that helped maintain access across the country, and how that access is now threatened as “rage donations” dry up. In a related article, Lillian Hughes, tells the story of the caseworkers who help patients receive funds and navigate interstate access. 

• Tanya Lewis covers a recent paper by Samuel L. Dickman, Kari White, and David U. Himmelstein estimating that rapes in states with near-total abortion bans could have resulted in more than 65,000 pregnancies. These numbers put some context around how many individuals these bans can hurt and why crutches like abortion funds are so important. They are estimates based on data about how many rapes might have occurred (self-reported CDC info) and the chances of pregnancy resulting from those rapes. The study doesn’t speak to actual pregnancies or pregnancy outcomes. 

• A brief from the University of Houston’s Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality concludes that in 2022 teen, “fertility rates (in Texas) rose for first time in 15 years, while national rate fell.” While the rise is relatively small - births rose from 20.32 to 20.4 per 1,000 women 15-19) the reverse in the trend is notable. The paper also points to a rise in birth rates among Hispanic women, confirming predictions that this would be the population most affected by the bans. If you’ve been reading along, you can see the theme emerging.

• In a local Florida paper, Krystal S. highlights that Florida’s pro-access ballot initiative isn’t a Democrats-only club. In addition to a small portion of individual donations, early numbers showed that “15 percent of petition signers in support of the initiative are Republicans.”

• Alice Miranda Ollstein summarizes the anti-access agenda under a second Trump administration.

• The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act is one of the few levers that the federal government has to protect pregnant people in anti-access states. In theory, it should allow doctors to perform abortions on people in a medical crisis. Earlier this month, Caroline Kitchener and Dan Diamond looked at concerns about how the law is being enforced.

Top Abortion Updates

• 👎 More “Baby Olivia” bills are winding their way through Iowa and Missouri legislatures.  Iowa’s bill would require students to watch the video starting in first grade.  Stephen Gruber-Miller explains some of the fundamental problems with the video, including that it tells children every fertilized egg is a baby. In fact, fertilization rarely equals a baby, something some of us know all too well. 

• 👎 Jessica Valenti covers another trend: travel bans that criminalize recruiting, harboring, or transporting minors to get an abortion. Idaho passed this law last year. Now, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Tennessee are considering similar ones.

• 👍 Peter Hall reports that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed that “the right to reproductive autonomy, like other privacy rights, is fundamental,” clearing the way for advocates to challenge the State’s ban on Medicaid funds paying for abortion except in cases of rape or incest.

• 😬 March 26. Get your browser bookmark set for oral arguments in the Supreme Court regarding how patients can access mifepristone.

Valentine’s Day Actions! 

Valentine’s Day is coming up. I usually celebrate by purchasing a card for my husband to give me. Yes, you read that correctly.  The card always makes fun of him, so it’s a win-win. 

This year I’m thinking about what else I can do. If you paid attention to the good reads, you will have noticed a pretty grim theme emerging. Poor people in anti-access states are getting left behind as rage from the Dobbs ruling subsides and the movement’s focus turns to the 2024 elections. 

If you want to do more than tease your partner and eat some chocolate, here are a couple of ways to give and share your love.

• The National Network of Abortion Funds is hosting a fundraiser for more than 95 local abortion funds in the member network. You can also buy swag for your partner from their shop.

• The Network’s website also allows you to look up a local fund and give directly.

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