Repro Roundup 09.06
There are 60 days until Election Day. That is less than 1,446 hours we have before the polls close in New England to defeat Donald Trump and J.D. Vance and elect repro equity champions to all levels of government. The stakes have never been higher, and we’ve never been more fired up.
Yesterday, we joined Senator Elizabeth Warren at her field office in Jamaica Plain to talk about the threats to abortion and democracy that we’re facing this November – and also the amazing opportunity we have to elect a full repro equity ticket. We know that despite the flip-flopping, back-tracking, and history-hiding with which the Trump-Vance campaign has been busy over the last month, that we cannot trust them to protect our access to abortion, gender-affirming care, and the full spectrum of reproductive health care.
This is the same Donald Trump who bragged about installing the Justices of the Court that overturned Roe v. Wade, decimating access to abortion nationwide. This is the same J.D. Vance that has urged the Department of Justice to weaponize the Comstock Act, an antiquated zombie law, to prevent people from accessing abortion and contraception via the mail. This is the presidential ticket that has allied itself with anti-abortion extremists who have written 900-page playbooks detailing their plans for abolishing reproductive freedom and plunging the nation into an alt-right theocracy.
We’re grateful to Senator Warren for helping us make this message crystal clear to voters – now is not the time to stay on the sidelines. Now is the time to get involved and make sure that we can move this country forward, not backward, towards reproductive freedom, equity, and justice.
On to this week’s headlines –
News from New England
→ It’s Time to Vote, New Hampshire!
This upcoming Tuesday is New Hampshire’s State Primary, and that means Granite Staters have the opportunity to vote for repro equity up and down their ballot! With 400 state representatives, 24 state senators, and 5 executive councilors (not to mention all of the local and county offices on your ballot), there is a lot of information voters need to make informed decisions in the voting booth. Luckily, voters in New Hampshire can use Repro Equity Now’s voter guide — Voting for Reproductive Equity, Now! Make sure to check and see how your incumbent candidates voted on critical repro legislation, make a plan to vote, and sign our pledge to be a repro equity voter this Election Day!
→ MA Maternal Health Package Signed by Governor Healey
A major maternal health package we’ve been championing all session was just signed into law by Governor Healey! This legislation contains key priorities from our reproductive equity agenda: a pathway to licensure for Certified Professional Midwives and directions to update the regulations on freestanding birth centers, which will allow for more birth centers to be opened. The provisions in this bill will help us take serious action to address the worsening maternal health crisis in our state and improve birthing justice equity for all Bay Staters. Studies have shown that access to Certified Professional Midwives and the services provided by freestanding birth centers significantly improve maternal health outcomes – especially for pregnant people of color, who are 2.3 times more likely to experience labor and delivery complications. This legislation will save lives, and we’re grateful to see Massachusetts continuing to lead the fight for reproductive equity by passing this law.
→ Anti-Abortion Extremists Spew Disinformation at DPH Hearing in Connecticut
The Connecticut Department of Public Health is taking long-awaited action to remove some burdensome regulations on abortion care that do not follow the science and place unnecessary hurdles to the provision of care. We’re proud that our Connecticut State Director, Liz Gustafson, testified in support of these important policy changes. Unfortunately, the hearing was interrupted by a slew of anti-abortion extremists spewing disinformation about abortion – an important reminder of the work ahead of us in Connecticut to advance reproductive freedom.
→ Vice President Harris Visits the Granite State
The Granite State had an exciting visitor this past week! Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to voters in the Seacoast on Wednesday at Throwback Brewery about what’s at stake this November, and about how the Harris-Walz Administration will fight tooth and nail to restore and expand abortion access, protect birth control and IVF, and work to meaningfully address the maternal health crisis in this nation.
→ REN CT State Director Made Some New Purrfect Champions for Repro Equity
Repro Equity Now’s Connecticut State Director Liz Gustafson had the opportunity to talk to community members in East Haddam at Two Wrasslin’ Cats Coffee House, a cat cafe and neighborhood spot dedicated to bettering the community through supporting progressive causes. Liz talked to cat lovers about the need for repro equity in the Nutmeg State, and how all of the “childless cat ladies” can fight back against J.D. Vance and Donald Trump and vote for repro equity this Election Day.
→ Legal Victory for Trans Student Athletes in NH
After New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed a cruel new law this summer to ban trans athletes from competing on high school sports teams that match their gender identity, a federal judge has extended a stay that blocks the law from taking effect while litigation continues. This stay allowed a couple of trans high school athletes to begin their fall athletic seasons last week—this is a temporary, but big win for trans kids in New Hampshire.
Across the state, local educators are fighting back against the abhorrent and discriminatory anti-trans laws passed this last legislative session. Last week, the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld a Manchester School District policy to protect the privacy of queer and questioning students, and to refer to students as their preferred names and pronouns. We are grateful to see this grassroots resistance and hope to see the courts strike down these cruel and discriminatory anti-trans laws. We also know that we can repeal these laws if we send a majority of repro equity candidates to the State House and Senate in 2025.
→ Sharon Hospital Labor and Delivery Unit Gets Minimum 5-Year Extension
Back in November, Connecticut residents rallied to push for a guarantee that Sharon Hospital would not close its labor and delivery unit — one of the only available forms of birth care for miles in Northwestern Connecticut. Attorney General William Tong announced last week that his office helped successfully negotiate with Northwell Health, a hospital system purchasing Sharon, to keep their labor and delivery unit open for at least five years. This is a huge victory for birthing people in Northwestern Connecticut who need urgent labor and delivery care.
→ PFAS’s Impact on Pregnancy
A report last month from the New Hampshire Bulletin highlights how New Hampshire’s water contaminant crisis is impacting families. Specifically, new mothers who are highly impacted by the presence of PFAS/PFOAs, also known as “forever chemicals,” in their water supply, are more likely to stop breastfeeding earlier, which can lead to developmental delays for children later in life. Breast milk can also expose infants to PFAS directly, which can cause many health complications including cancer. This report is an important reminder that reproductive justice is environmental justice.
National Notice
→ SCOTUS Rejects Oklahoma’s Bid to Collect Federal Dollars Despite Title X Violation
The United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the state of Oklahoma to restore their Title X funding, despite the fact that the state’s law violates Title X regulations. Specifically, a requirement of Title X funding is that patients receive referrals for and information about abortion care, even though the funding cannot help pay for abortion due to the Hyde Amendment. Oklahoma’s abortion ban criminalizes “any person [who] advises or procures an abortion for any woman,” in violation of the Title X requirements. While the order issued from the shadow docket notes that Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch would have sided with Oklahoma, the appeal was rejected.
→ A Perfect Storm…
Abortion providers and patients are staring down a “perfect storm” of crises that will undoubtedly interrupt abortion access unless there is a major intervention. Abortion funds and clinics across the country are facing massive financial deficits after rage donations post-Dobbs have run dry and the need for funding for care, delayed by abortion bans and made more expensive by the need to travel, rises astronomically every day. More and more patients are forced to leave their home states for abortion care, and with delays prompted by travel, lack of access to pregnancy testing, and lack of available appointments. These articles serve as an important reminder to donate to your local abortion fund.
→ Abortion Polls Higher than Ever Before
A supermajority of American women of reproductive age oppose abortion bans and support reproductive freedom, according to a new poll from KFF. 74% of American women think that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, and supermajorities also oppose a 15-week ban and the notion of leaving abortion policy “to the states.”
→ SCOTUS Blocks Protections for LGBTQ+ Students, GOP Pursues Investigations into HHS
The Supreme Court blocked the enforcement of a Biden Administration policy under Title IX protecting LGBTQ+ students from discrimination last month, allowing a challenge from ten states against this policy to go through. We’ve shared in previous Roundups that Attorneys General in many GOP-led states have challenged the Biden Administration on this issue in their effort to single out and punish transgender students. Meanwhile, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee is launching a politically-motivated probe into the Biden Administration’s efforts to protect trans kids’ rights to gender affirming care, continuing their long, cruel campaign against trans kids.
→ Trump’s IVF Claims are a Bunch of Bologna
Last week, Donald Trump (randomly) told supporters at a campaign rally that if elected president, “IVF would be free,” without explaining how that would be enacted (or addressing the fact that his allies are actively working to criminalize IVF, including his vice presidential nominee). We talked to the Boston Globe about how Donald Trump is full of bologna, and we cannot trust a word he says about IVF, abortion, or any form of reproductive health care – care he has spent his political career working to restrict.
Get Involved!
📍KEENE, NH! Come say hello at Keene Pride Fest!
Summer is coming to an end, but we are proud to support LGBTQ+ freedom and reproductive equity all year round! We’ll be tabling at Keene Pride to continue the celebration of the queer community and chat about how abortion access and gender-affirming care are intertwined. Come say hello on September 15th!
📍ANYWHERE! Join the Abortion Access Advocates
Our next Abortion Access Advocates training will recap the primaries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, and talk about what’s next in the fight for reproductive equity at the ballot box! Join us on September 16th at 7pm for this vital briefing. Stay tuned for more info in your inbox soon!
Our Resources
Need to understand your legal rights to provide or access abortion care? Reproductive Equity Now’s Abortion Legal Hotline will help connect Massachusetts-based health care providers and helpers, as well as patients obtaining care in Massachusetts, with free legal advice and resources about abortion access.
Looking for an abortion provider in your area? Our New England Abortion Care Guide allows you to search by zip code for legitimate abortion clinics near you. It even flags dangerous and deceptive anti-abortion centers to avoid at all costs.
Do you want to help advance reproductive equity in your community? Our Win & Deliver Toolkit offers policy proposals and supporting materials to serve as a starting point for municipal leaders looking to move the needle forward on reproductive equity.
Thank you so much for powering this fight. We’re grateful to have you in the movement with us.
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