Repro Roundup 04.05
Were you able to attend our virtual community briefing on mifepristone this past Wednesday? We had a thorough and deeply informative program with an amazing group of guest speakers from across New England who helped us unpack the oral arguments, discuss the state of access to medication abortion, and dive deep into how this case might impact patients and providers in our region. We’re so grateful to our phenomenal panelists and co-hosts for sharing their wealth of knowledge with us, and we hope this event was able to answer some of your questions about the case.
If you weren’t able to attend our briefing, here are some helpful news articles on how this case might impact your state:
And of course, to stay up to date with this case, make sure you follow Repro Equity Now on all social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok) so you can be the first to know when there are updates.
It’s been a packed couple of weeks at Repro Equity Now with the mifepristone oral arguments. In addition to hosting our community briefing, our Connecticut State Director Liz was invited to speak at a press conference with Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont where she shared her abortion story. See a clip of her inspiring remarks by clicking on the image below!
Liz speaking at a press conference
And make sure you check out our statement on the mifepristone oral arguments here.
On to this week's headlines –
News from New England
→ The Preconceived New Hampshire Debut
We were thrilled to host the New Hampshire debut screening of Preconceived, a documentary that exposes the deceptive practices of anti-abortion centers, or so-called “crisis pregnancy centers.” After the film, we were excited to be joined by Jinelle Hobson and Sarah Anderson of Equality Health Center, Zandra Rice Hawkins of Granite State Progress, and Holly Testerman, a local community advocate, for an illuminating talk-back about the toll anti-abortion centers take on patient care in the Granite State. Click HERE to see a list of anti-abortion centers to avoid near you.
→ In a Win for Pregnancy Dignity and Justice, Mass Gen Brigham Will Curb Surveillance of New Mothers
The Mass General Brigham hospital system announced this week a major policy change that will significantly help new mothers and reduce stigma. Hospitals in the health care system will no longer automatically file a neglect report against new mothers if their newborns test positive for drugs in their system. This is a major win for pregnancy justice and will hugely support new mothers who are recovering from addiction. For many patients in recovery, legal prescriptions that they take to manage substance use, like methadone or Suboxone, may show up in their baby’s bloodstream. Fearing that they could run the risk of losing their child to an unnecessary investigation, some mothers are caught between ceasing their medication or risking surveillance from state agencies.
→ New Hampshire advances slew of anti-trans bills
Unfortunately, the Granite State recently advanced multiple pieces of legislation intended to target and exclude LGTBQ+ youth. SB 341, a bill that would force educators to "out" LGBTQ+ students to their parents, regardless of the safety of their home life, was given an ought-to-pass recommendation by the Senate Education committee, and the Senate will vote on it today. SB 375, a bill that bans transgender girls from competing in high school sports, will also receive a vote from the full Senate today. A couple of weeks ago, the House advanced a bill, HB 619, that bans gender affirming surgery for minors. It is now being considered by the Senate. Christina, our New Hampshire State Director, joined advocates and experts at a press conference this past week to speak out against these horrible, dehumanizing bills and stand in solidarity with queer youth in the Granite State. And we need your help to tell your Senators to reject these dangerous and dehumanizing bills.
→ The Nation Covers the Fight to Expand HUSKY for Immigrants
Repro Equity Now is proud to be a member of the HUSKY 4 Immigrants Coalition, fighting to expand HUSKY Health, Connecticut’s Medicaid program, to all immigrants and ensure that everyone in the Nutmeg State has health care coverage. The legislature is currently considering a bill that would raise the age for immigrant youth to enroll in HUSKY, expanding coverage to more people and providing health care coverage to immigrants that is more on par with coverage afforded to citizens under the Affordable Care Act. But there is more work to do! Check out this helpful look inside the fight to expand Medicaid coverage in Connecticut.
→ Kiosks Around Greater Boston Tag Your Cellphone Data, Reminding Us We Need the Location Shield Act
A tech company based in Cambridge has erected electronic kiosks with local information around towns in 18 states, including in the cities of Boston, Revere, Somerville, Chelsea, and other Bay State communities. These kiosks apparently retrieve information from the cellphones of passersby, but the way the data is stored and what it is used for remains unclear. These kiosks present a clear danger to the digital privacy of Bay Staters and anyone in the near vicinity of them, especially with the threat of data brokers buying and selling location data that could be used to criminalize people for seeking abortion care or target disinformation at abortion seekers. The appearance of these kiosks is an important reminder that Massachusetts must protect consumers by banning the sale of cellphone location data and passing the Location Shield Act.
→ New Hampshire Congresswoman Annie Kuster Will Not Run for Re-Election
Longtime Congresswoman Annie Kuster announced last week that she will not be seeking reelection to represent New Hampshire’s second district, opening the door for a competitive primary and even more competitive general election. Rep. Kuster has been a stalwart defender of reproductive rights and health in Congress, helping to ensure our clinics stay open and fighting to pass federal protections for abortion access. We are deeply grateful to her for her many years of service. This announcement also underscores the deep importance of supporting repro champions up and down the ballot – with such a strong defender leaving Congress, it is doubly important that whoever takes her office next is ready to step into her shoes and continue to fight for reproductive equity.
→ Healey-Driscoll Administration Launches New Effort to Increase Access to Maternal and Reproductive Health Care
The Massachusetts’ Governor’s office opened up applications this past week for grants as part of a $10 million investment into reproductive health care access and increasing maternal health care. The grant program will specifically prioritize funding programs that address priority areas outlined by the Special Commission on Racial Inequities in Maternal Health, as well as other reports detailing the state of maternal health care in Massachusetts. State investment in reproductive health care is critical to addressing the maternal health crisis and increasing access to care!
National Notice
→ The Comstock Act, Project 2025, and Other Anti-Abortion Nonsense
You may have seen people mention the Comstock Act a whole lot these past few weeks, but you might not be familiar with this archaic zombie law that conservatives are making moves to resurrect. The Comstock Act is a piece of legislation passed in the 1800s that sought to prevent anything deemed “lewd or obscene” from being sent via the postal service. At the time, the primary target of the Comstock Act was information about birth control, birth control devices, and pornography. The Heritage Foundation, an insidious right-wing think tank (and the minds behind Project 2025, the playbook for dismantling democracy if Trump is re-elected), have been shopping around ideas for reanimating the Comstock Act to ban medication abortion and information about abortion care from being sent via the mail. Because this law was never repealed, but simply stopped being enforced, there is a clear pathway to weaponizing it against abortion access. However, Senator Tina Smith and Congresswoman Cori Bush are working to advance legislation to fully repeal the Comstock Act.
Trump hinted this past week that he intends to give a final word next week on what his abortion platform will be for his re-election efforts. Trump has previously stated that he is likely to support a 15-week national abortion ban. However, polls are showing that Trump’s stance on abortion will likely be out of step with the majority of Americans – support for legal abortion has hit an all-time high amongst American voters according to Fox News, and more than 4 in 5 Americans believe the criminalization of people seeking abortion care is wrong.
→ Florida Supreme Court Devastates Access Across the South, But Empowers Voters to Take Action for Abortion
The Florida Supreme Court failed to protect abortion access this week, allowing a devastating six-week abortion ban to go into effect on May 1st. In the post-Dobbs era, Florida has been the prime destination for patients who need to travel out of state for in-person care, as one of the only states in the south where providers are still able to practice. Without access to care in Florida, patients will have to travel as far as Virginia or North Carolina – which is an average of 600-700 miles for most patients. However, the Supreme Court also allowed a petition to advance to put abortion rights on the ballot in November. While that does not help patients who need care in the present, this decision empowers voters to voice their support for reproductive freedom, and hopefully ensure this ban is short-lived.
→ As the Supreme Court Considers Telehealth Medication Abortion, Report Shows SMA Increased Significantly post-Dobbs
A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that self-managed abortion, via pills ordered online, rose significantly in use following the Dobbs decision. This research expands upon previous studies that noted a dramatic increase in telemedicine/at-home abortion care in the post-Dobbs era. In this study, patients had virtually no clinical intervention, receiving their medication either through non-telemedicine online vendors or through community support networks that are able to provide patients with pills. This study was released just before the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the mifepristone case, highlighting what is at stake if the Supreme Court demands that the FDA reinstate medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion care.
→ Some States Have Moved to Protect Abortion Post-Dobbs – But Not for Incarcerated People
The Marshall Project, a news organization dedicated to reporting on the criminal justice system, released a damning article highlighting the barriers incarcerated patients experience seeking abortion care from inside prisons, even in states where abortion is protected by law. One particularly challenging barrier to abortion care for incarcerated people is the cost barrier. As the report notes, “Even if someone has Medicaid coverage, and they live in a state where Medicaid covers abortion, federal policy requires that coverage be terminated or suspended while a person is incarcerated.” In many instances, incarcerated pregnant people are just flat-out denied the opportunity to seek abortion care due to arbitrary internal decision-making processes. This is a critical reminder that even in states where abortion is protected, there are deep inequities that prevent us from achieving true reproductive justice.
→ The Anti-Abortion Right Wing Turns to the Dobbs Playbook with IVF
In the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court decision that threatened to eliminate IVF in the state by defining embryos as legal children, Republicans in Congress are hurrying to backtrack and deny that they are trying to eliminate fertility treatment, given the obvious unpopularity of that objective. A major hurdle in their way is their anti-abortion allies, who are pressing forward on attempts to ban and curtail IVF, distributing talking points that discuss “ethical concerns” with IVF and dolling out model legislation to redefine fetal personhood and limit the practice of IVF. While it seems the door might close on the anti-abortion right with respect to banning medication abortion, as the Justices of the court expressed skepticism that the plaintiffs had standing in the mifepristone case, that has not slowed down anti-abortion extremists in their efforts to restrict all types of reproductive health care.
Get Involved!
📍ANYWHERE! LAST CHANCE - Purchase Tickets for Reproductive Equity Now’s 2024 Gala!
Reserve your tickets today for Reproductive Equity Now’s Annual Gala that will take place THIS THURSDAY, April 11th! Ticket purchasing will close at the end of the day today! We will be honoring reproductive equity activists across New England, celebrating our wins from this past year, and honing in on our vision for reproductive equity across New England. We’d be honored if you join us for what will surely be an incredible night.
📍ANYWHERE! Sign up to be an Abortion Access Advocate!
The next Abortion Access Advocate training will take place on Monday, May 13th at 7 PM, with a focus on anti-abortion centers (AACs). We’ll dig in on what you need to know—and what we can all do—about these dangerous and deceptive facilities. Plus we’ll debut a new volunteer toolkit all about AACs! RSVP here!
📍MASSACHUSETTS! Sign up for Common Start Lobby Day!
In March, the Senate unanimously passed the EARLY ED Act and brought us one step closer to the full Common Start Vision! We will continue to build on this incredible momentum by joining with our partners for a Common Start lobby day on Tuesday, April 30th. This is our opportunity to advocate directly to (and thank!) legislators in the House and Senate for their past support, and urge them to continue taking steps to pass comprehensive child care legislation in the House and fund early education and care in the FY25 state budget. RSVP to join the Common Start Lobby Day here.
📍NEW HAMPSHIRE! Tell your Senator to protect LGTBQ+ youth!
Today, the New Hampshire Senate will vote on several anti-trans bills. The fight for LGBTQ+ rights is inextricably linked to the fight for reproductive equity. We know that our rights are under assault from the same extremist forces and we must stand up together. Take action now to tell your State Senator that these extremist anti-LGBTQ+ bills have no home in New Hampshire.
📍CONNECTICUT! Sign up to take action in CT this session!
The end of the short session in Connecticut is approaching, but before we wrap up, we will have plenty of opportunities to take action to advance reproductive equity in the Nutmeg State! Sign up here so you are the first to know when there is an opportunity to take action to advance our repro equity agenda.
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. This resource is now available in Spanish.
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. This resource is now available in Spanish.
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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