Hartford Courant | As abortion access wanes nationwide, so does sense of urgency, outrage in CT, advocates say

By ALISON CROSS | Originally Published by the Hartford Courant

When the REACH Fund of Connecticut launched its fundraising efforts in June of 2022, co-founder Jess Puk said the new abortion fund received a flood of what she calls “rage” donations.

The U.S. Supreme Court had just overturned Roe v. Wade, erasing 50 years of judicial precedent with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Reproductive rights advocates in Connecticut were angry — and eager to donate to the state’s only abortion fund.

Two years post Dobbs, with attacks on reproductive rights continuing across the country and the prospect of a nationwide abortion ban closer than ever before, Puk expected an upsurge in anniversary-motivated donations. But June came and went, and no wave came.

According to Puk, donations from individuals to the to abortion fund each June have dropped 45% every year since the Dobbs decision.

Puk said the drop does not just bode badly for the hundreds of patients who depend on the fund to access medication abortion and procedures that are financially out of reach, Puk also suggested it could be an indicator of waning enthusiasm for the abortion-rights movement in Connecticut.

“Donation activity from individuals, as opposed to grants or corporate donations, tends to be indicative of engagement and awareness of the issue of abortion access,” Puk said. “There are still a lot of loyal supporters and activists here in CT, but after Dobbs, people were motivated to give by a sense of urgency and outrage. We want folks to know that we are still very much in an urgent and unjust situation regarding abortion access.”

Since its launch, REACH has funded more than 400 abortions which can range from less than $600 to more than $10,000, according to Puk. She said that each month, Connecticut abortion clinics have maxed out their monthly REACH funding for patient aid.

While 20% of REACH fund patients come from other states, including the 21 states where abortion access is banned or heavily restricted, 80% of beneficiaries are Connecticut residents.

“We’re not even close to meeting the need,” Puk said.

“While abortion is legal here, it’s not accessible for everyone,”Puk added. “For individual patients, this isn’t about SCOTUS, it’s not about who is president; it’s about their real lives.”

Abortion attitudes

The last time surveyors probed Connecticut residents on abortion was 2022. The results revealed nuanced support among voters in the state.

The study, conducted by Emerson College for WTNH-News 8, polled residents on May 10 and 11, a week after news media released the leaked Dobbs decision.

At the time, 34% of voters said abortion should be legal in all cases. Another 20% supported the right to abortion up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Approximately 14% favored a ban after 6 weeks and 9% favored a total ban. Another 23% of respondents said abortions should only be legal in situations where a pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, or in cases where the health of the mother was in danger.

The attitudes recorded in the poll suggest that 46% of residents would support Connecticut’s adoption of the abortion bans and restrictions that have swept the nation since the Dobbs decision.

Connecticut law protects the right to an abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy and in cases later in pregnancy when the health or life of the mother is at risk.

In 2022, Connecticut enacted a sweeping expansion of abortion protections, ratifying “safe harbor” shield laws to protect out-of-state patients and their doctors, and extending permissions to provide first-trimester medication and aspiration abortions to advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants and nurse-midwives.

The 2023 legislative session saw another expansion of reproductive rights, with laws that developed new patient data privacy protections, increased contraceptive access and bolstered legal safeguards for abortion providers.

But anti-abortion advocates in Connecticut say they have seen their own string of victories, as legislative proposals to create a safe harbor abortion travel fund, bar religious hospitals from punishing employees who provide information on abortion, and attempts to enshrine the right to abortion in the State Constitution, failed to take form.

In Connecticut the right to an abortion has been codified in state statute since 1990.

Dr. Nancy Stanwood, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England warned that in the post-Roe landscape, such policies may no longer be guaranteed.

“There is a possibility of a federal ban on abortion, and abortion would be outlawed in all states, regardless of the state policy,” Stanwood said. “From a public health and physician point of view, I am deeply concerned that in Connecticut and other states like Connecticut, that people might be complacent in thinking we are a ‘safe’ state.”

National abortion ban

The threat of a federal abortion ban has emerged as a rallying cry for Democrats this election season as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump battle for a second term.

In Connecticut, polls suggest that the issue is not so strictly partisan. In 2014, a study by Pew Research found that 76% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans in the state said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Peter Wolfgang, the executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, said the Democrats “pushing the panic button” over a potential federal abortion ban are simply trying to “scare their base” ahead of the election.

“I wish that their panic was well justified,” Wolfgang, a leading voice for anti-abortion efforts in the state, said.

Wolfgang said “Trump has made it very clear” that when it comes to abortion, the former president sees “his job as over,” after sending the issue “back to the states.”

Although Trump has voiced that he would like to keep abortion legislation at the state-level, Wolfgang said the court’s opinion in the Dobbs decision explicitly returned “the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

“Congress still has a role to play in this, but President Trump seems very reluctant to further any pro-life legislation in Congress should he be reelected,” Wolfgang said.

On the campaign trail, Trump’s stance on federal abortion legislation has waffled. Since April, the former president has said that he would not sign a national ban, but the statement came less than a month after Trump appeared on a radio show, suggesting that he would support a federal ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Even if Trump switches his stance in a potential second term, Wolfgang said the chances of a federal ban would remain “enormously slight.”

“I don’t see 60 votes in the U.S. Senate, which is what it would take to put a national abortion ban of any kind on the president’s desk,” Wolfgang said. “I think people who don’t grapple with that fact are just not being honest.”

But for one of Wolfgang’s allies on anti-abortion front, Christopher Healy, assumptions about what a second Trump presidency may mean for federal abortion law are far less absolute.

Healy, the executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference, said the topic of a federal abortion ban remains “very up in the air,” even for anti-abortion advocates who see the Roe v. Wade as “one of the great tragedies of the last 60 years.”

“There will be some people that want to turn around and say, ‘We need our own version of Roe v. Wade to abolish abortion by federal law,’ (but) it’s hard to have that argument if your argument first was to say, ‘Send it back to the states,’” Healy said.

Despite the sense of uncertainty at the federal level, Healy said that abortion at the state level is “a settled matter” in Connecticut. As such, Healy said the abortion debate is likely far from the forefront of voter concern this election cycle.

“As a political issue, I don’t know if it has the same catch that it does in other states,” Healy said. “It may motivate certain pockets of the electorate … but in terms of a galvanizing priority, I think it’s mostly wishful thinking on the abortion lobby.”

Liz Gustafson, the Connecticut state director for Reproductive Equity Now said she believes the voting booth will tell a different story this November.

“Reproductive equity is on the ballot this election day and we are going to see people turn out in big numbers for candidates who run on abortion access,” Gustafson said.

Gustafson said abortion-rights advocates are emphasizing that even though Connecticut may be protected in state law, “there is more to do to ensure equitable access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care.”

“The battle for reproductive freedom and equity has not slowed down,” Gustafson said, adding that residents in the state feel and recognize the urgency of the moment.

“The Senate just rejected two bills to protect access to IVF and contraceptive care,” Gustafson said. “People know what’s coming next in the movement’s line of attack. … If Donald Trump is elected this November, anti-abortion extremists are coming for a national abortion ban.”

“People in Connecticut understand that this fight is not over and what impacts abortion seekers somewhere impacts abortion care everywhere,” Gustafson added. “Our movement for decades has been strong and we’re ready to do what it takes to win back our rights.”