This Week in Abortion: There is Always a Catch
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 access.
Today we are getting into the second issue with exceptions—they can come with new restrictions. I'll be taking a break next week, but don't let that stop you from staying engaged!
There is Always a Catch
In case it wasn’t obvious from last week’s post, I’m a little skeptical of anti-access exceptions to abortion bans. On the one hand, any policy that helps even a handful of people access medically necessary procedures is something to celebrate. On the other, the exceptions that anti-access states have allowed thus far seem to do very little for very few. What’s more, the anti-access culture within state governments means any attempt to pass pro-access legislation is fraught with minefields and shrouded in distrust. The second part of the Texas exception story illustrates this perfectly.
Not long after the introduction of Texas Senate Bill (SB) 31 “Life of the Mother,” alarm bells went off that it served another - conflicting - purpose. The legislation repeatedly amended a 1925 law that a federal court had found moot (“repealed by implication”). If the legislature starts amending the law, the AG could argue that it is still valid and use it to shut down any abortion funds operating out of Texas. These groups were threatened with prosecution under the law soon after the Dobbs decision. So if the rule were revived, they would likely stop providing critical support for Texans trying to access abortion outside the state.
That’s not all. The 1925 law does not exempt pregnant people from prosecution. Patients could end up in jail. As one lawyer told Texas Monthly “The bill supporters are trying to eliminate uncertainty for doctors, but they are creating it for everybody else in the state.”
In the end, language was added to the bill clarifying that the intention was not to revive the old law. SB31 passed the State Senate and is now making its way through the House. Advocacy worked. Yet the fact remains: SB31 was a bipartisan bill. That it got this far is a stark reminder of how precarious it is to make even small improvements to access in a system designed to prevent as many people as possible from ending a pregnancy.
Another bill sponsored by the same legislator as the “Life of the Mother” bill would, in the words of the Texas Tribune, “target online pill providers and…abortion-related websites, and make it a felony, punishable by up to life in prison, to pay or reimburse the costs of an abortion, a direct hit on abortion funds…It would also expand the ability of private citizens to bring wrongful death lawsuits against pill providers…and empower the attorney general’s office to more easily prosecute abortion offenses.”
Surprise, surprise, the bill explicitly revives the 1925 law. (These aren’t even the only anti-access bills he’s sponsored this year. Remember this gem?)
The desire to save at least a few people from the pain and suffering of bans is understandable—perhaps even courageous. But, as long as those in power remain more committed to preventing abortion than protecting the life of the mother, it’s a hard road to walk.
Good Reads
Despite Historic Indictment, Doctors Will Keep Mailing Abortion Pills Across State Lines [KFF Health News]
‘Rolling Thunder’: Inside conservatives’ strategy to curb abortion pill access [Politico]
Abortion Saved Her. Now It Could Cost Her Freedom [Capital B]
A Missouri teen spent her life in foster care. Now she’s fighting the state to keep her baby [Missouri Independent Part 1, Part 2]
Missouri’s voters restored abortion rights. Their leaders are trying to overrule them [19th]
New Survey Shows Abortion Bans’ Unique and Chilling Impact on LGBTQI+ People [Center for American Progress]
Federal
The Trump administration is defending abortion pill access in court. What? [The Guardian]
The States (and territories)
Alabama
👍Gov. Kay Ivey signs presumptive Medicaid eligibility bill into law [Reflector]
Arizona
👍Hobbs vetoes Republican proposals for unemployment benefits, abortion services [Capitol Times]
Arkansas
👎Ark. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs bill to provide $2M to pro-life pregnancy centers [Christian Post]
Florida
👎👍Florida’s new ballot initiative law faces legal challenge from Medicaid expansion group [WPTV] The law (among other things) will make initiatives much more expensive. [Bolts] I doubt that anyone has the stomach, or the bank account, for another reproductive health initiative in Florida. But, it speaks to a larger trend.
Louisiana
👎Louisiana schools would be required to offer [anti-abortion] resources to pregnant students under new bill [nola]
Pennsylvania
👍‘Abortion is healthcare’ Pa. bill aims to remove waiting period, counseling requirements [WTAJ]
South Carolina
👀Activists’ push for near-total abortion ban leads to split among SC Republicans [Daily Gazette]
Texas
👎Camp County outlaws abortion by becoming ‘Sanctuary County for the Unborn’ [KETK]
Virginia
👎Youngkin vetoes Right to Contraception bill [13News New]