Repro Roundup 06.14
It has been an absolutely JAM-PACKED week of repro news… and our team at Repro Equity Now is FIRED UP to meet this moment. We’ve got a lot to cover in the Repro Roundup this week, so get comfy and buckle in.
While access to medication abortion narrowly escaped a worst-possible outcome this week (which we cover in depth below under National Notice), we know at Repro Equity Now that there is critically important local organizing work to do to combat anti-abortion extremism. That’s why we were honored and proud to stand with Massachusetts state leaders this past week for the launch of the nation’s first state-funded public education campaign on the dangers of anti-abortion centers. We were proud to be the subject-matter experts on the development of this historic campaign!
Click on the image below to check out the campaign ⬇️
The ads, which began running on Monday across Massachusetts in both English and Spanish, amplify how anti-abortion centers provide misinformation about abortion services to prevent people from making informed choices about their care. The campaign is designed to help people understand their full range of options, directing them to mass.gov/GetTrustedCare with information about how to recognize anti-abortion centers and where to access unbiased, full-spectrum reproductive health care in Massachusetts.
We know that anti-abortion centers are the foot soldiers of the anti-abortion movement – that’s why earlier this month, we published our organizing toolkit on how to spot, avoid, and take action against these deceptive institutions. We will make sure everyone in Massachusetts has the tools and information to get legitimate, comprehensive, honest reproductive health care.
Check out some of the amazing coverage we got of the campaign in MassLive, the Boston Globe, GBH, and more!
On to this week's headlines –
News from New England
→ A Big Honor at the Massachusetts Democrats Roosevelt Dinner
Last night, our president Rebecca was honored with the Chris Condon Activist Award by the Massachusetts Democrats at their annual Roosevelt Dinner. This award honors Rebecca’s tireless work over the years, particularly in the post-Dobbs era, fighting for reproductive equity for all people and the fundamental right to bodily autonomy and dignity across the state of Massachusetts. With the Court’s ruling in the mifepristone case coming out that very morning, the event was the perfect opportunity to discuss how Repro Equity Now is fighting back against attacks on bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom.
→ Connecticut Sun Names Repro Equity Now Beneficiaries of Commissioner’s Cup
The Celtics may be dominating the finals, but we’re tuning into a different court. Every year, the WNBA holds the Commissioner’s Cup, an in-season tournament for a sponsored cash prize. Teams are invited to name a mission-aligned nonprofit to designate a portion of their winnings towards. We are honored to partner with the Connecticut Sun for this year’s Commissioner’s Cup, who are currently rocking this season and have secured $13,000 for Repro Equity Now so far! They’re #BringingTheHeat and we’re bleeding orange.
→ We Had a Blast at Boston Pride for the People!
Pride Month is off to an amazing start! Last weekend, Reproductive Equity Now had more than 50 fellow repro equity advocates marching with us in the Boston Pride for the People Parade. We know that reproductive equity, LGBTQ+ rights, and trans justice are inextricably linked issues. Bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom demand the right to choose to end a pregnancy, to pursue parenthood, to start a family, to love whomever we love, to access health care that supports affirmation of our identities, and to be free from coercion from the state. ➡️Check out our recap video on TikTok and Reels.
Look like fun? Join us at West Hartford Pride or Portsmouth Pride on Saturday, June 22!
→ Centering Fertility Access at the Boston Globe’s Health Equity Day
This past week, our president Rebecca joined the Boston Globe for a critical discussion about access to IVF and fertility care as part of the Globe’s annual Health Equity Day. Rebecca shared her personal experience of growing her family using IVF, and highlighted both the national threats to IVF access and the inequities Bay State families face when choosing to grow their families through assisted reproduction technologies. While private insurers in Massachusetts are required to cover fertility care, MassHealth does not cover IVF treatment, and LGBTQ+ families and single people face larger obstacles to accessing IVF care. While we must continue to defend our right to use IVF amidst anti-abortion attacks, we must also continue to work to make IVF more accessible to families across New England.
→ We had a Blast at Rainbow Recess!
Christina, our NH state director, joined the Concord community last Sunday for Rainbow Recess, a celebration of queer joy and trans youth. She had such a great time chatting with folks in Concord about the intersection of repro equity and trans justice, and the work ahead of us stopping anti-trans bills in New Hampshire and electing repro champions – including champions for LGTBQ+ equity – up and down the ballot in the Granite State.
→ Parentage Equity Passes the Massachusetts House!
Great news for LGBTQ+ justice this Pride Month – the Massachusetts House passed the Parentage Act this week, which ensures all children across our state have equal access to the security of a legal parent-child relationship. Without this critical legislation, LGBTQ+ parents in Massachusetts, or any family who uses assisted reproduction, have to legally adopt their own children, which can be an extremely expensive and stressful process. We hope to see the Senate take up this bill soon!
→ There’s Still Time to Take Action in NH for Trans Kids
The New Hampshire legislature held their final session day yesterday, and soon, Governor Sununu will have to act on the bills on his desk, or allow them to become laws without his signature. We still have time to prevent four awful anti-trans bills from becoming law in New Hampshire. Please join us in calling Governor Sununu at (603) 271-7676 and telling him to veto all anti-LGBTQ legislation that comes across his desk this session.
National Notice
→ Supreme Court Dismisses Mifepristone Case on Standing
We’re relieved to share that yesterday morning the United States Supreme Court rejected an extremist attempt to restrict mifepristone access nationwide. Medication abortion remains available and accessible in New England states, and mifepristone remains a safe and effective medication used to end pregnancy. If you are seeking abortion care, you can find it using our New England Abortion Care Guide.
While we can breathe a temporary sigh of relief today, we know this is not the end of this fight. We fully expect anti-abortion extremists to continue their attacks on mifepristone in the courts and our communities. And anti-abortion extremists will not stop their assault on bodily autonomy until abortion is banned in all fifty states. That is what is at stake in the upcoming election. We cannot lose sight of the work ahead of us, especially now, as we continue to await a decision in the case challenging EMTALA.
Check out what Repro Equity Now had to say in the Connecticut Mirror and on WCVB last night.
Now is the time to get involved in our work to elect repro equity champions up and down the ballot across New England. Sign up today to organize with us in November!
→ GOP Refuses to Protect Contraception and IVF
Last week, the Senate failed to pass legislation authored by Senator Markey guaranteeing the right to contraception nationwide. While the bill gained full support from the Democratic Caucus, only two GOP Senators voted to protect contraception for Americans. The GOP has put forth their own bill to “protect” contraception that inaccurately classifies multiple forms of contraception as “abortifacients,” further pushing for statutes that define life as beginning at fertilization. Yesterday, the Senate also failed to pass Senator Duckworth’s bill protecting access to IVF.
The failure of these bills protecting our reproductive freedoms highlight two major things to watch this election cycle: 1) the urgent need for democracy reform and the elimination of the filibuster, and 2) the inner turmoil within the Republican party regarding the unpopularity of abortion bans and reproductive health care restrictions. The Southern Baptists Convention, one of the largest and most politically powerful Protestant denominations, voted this week to denounce IVF and define life as beginning at conception. The GOP knows that abortion bans and extremist restrictions on reproductive health care are deeply unpopular, but yet Republican politicians continue to fail to stand up for contraception and IVF access.
→ 171,000 People Traveled for Abortion Care Last Year
The New York Times reported this past week that more than 171,000 patients had to travel out of state for abortion care in 2023. The visually stunning map shows how many patients, especially those in the deep South, have to travel nearly halfway across the country to access care. Telehealth medication abortion is a major lifeline for many patients – including here in New England, for whom travel is burdensome – but for some patients, taking time off work to manage their abortion in their own home is equally challenging financially. What this data makes clear is that every patient deserves access to the care they want, when they want it, in a place convenient to them, for low or no cost.
→ Censorship and Surveillance on Repro
We’ve shared before about how Big Tech companies spy on abortion patients – and how anti-abortion centers weaponize data against pregnant people. But what you may be less familiar with is how tech companies censor information from abortion providers and advocates on social media. TikTok, Instagram/Meta, and YouTube have all historically moderated, “shadow-banned,” or outright removed content related to abortion – especially information from providers such as HeyJane and AidAccess on how to get telemedicine abortion care. How come big pharmaceutical companies can advertise on TikTok, but abortion providers cannot?
A report from the States Newsroom last week also highlights how attacks on abortion patient data have significantly mounted in the last couple of years. Louisiana’s ban on mifepristone and misoprostol also creates a state database of anyone who has been legally prescribed these medications. Kansas advanced legislation requiring physicians to report a patient’s reason for seeking abortion care to the state. In New Hampshire this year, we narrowly fought off a piece of legislation that would have collected data on abortion care and provided no legitimate safeguards for how that data would be secured and anonymized. These stories highlight the intersection of privacy, tech justice, and bodily autonomy. When so much of our society exists in the online world, it is critical that the online world is on the side of justice.
→ Trump Proves Once Again He Can’t Be Trusted on Abortion
Trump in the last two weeks has dropped an avalanche of frankly bananas comments about abortion. First, he told Fox News that he thinks it’s a “beautiful thing to watch” states make their own abortion policy – as in, banning abortion. Then Trump said that by creating the conditions that led to the overturn of Roe, he actually made historically conservative states “more liberal,” taking credit for abortion wins in Ohio and Kansas (wins that were only in response to the states attempting to ban abortion). As Jezebel included in the headline of their article about Trump’s comments, “????”
Then, Trump gave pre-recorded remarks to the Danbury Institute, a far-right, religious extremist group that compares abortion to “child sacrifice” and vehemently opposes gay marriage. Trump promised this group and its allies “a big comeback” if he is elected to another term in the Oval Office. We’ve known that Trump’s allies will be in hot pursuit of a nationwide abortion ban if he is elected in November, but every episode like this is a critical reminder that we absolutely must prevent that from happening this election season.
Get Involved!
📍ANYWHERE! Join the Abortion Access Advocates!
This year’s Supreme Court term will conclude in late June, making our July AAA training the perfect time to look back at the year’s most important decisions, and how the national landscape stands two years post-Dobbs. RSVP here!
📍SEACOAST, NH! Purchase tickets for Preconceived!
Please join Reproductive Equity Now in Portsmouth on June 25th for a screening of Preconceived, a documentary that exposes anti-abortion centers’ deceptive and dangerous agendas. We’ve brought Preconceived to Brookline, MA, Concord, NH, and now we’re bringing it to Portsmouth on June 25th! Purchase tickets today.
📍HARTFORD, CT AREA! Join us for West Hartford Pride!
Repro Equity Now will be tabling at West Hartford Pride in Connecticut on June 22nd. We hope to see you there!
📍SEACOAST, NH! Say ‘Hi’ at Portsmouth Pride!
Repro Equity Now will also be tabling at Portsmouth Pride at New Hampshire’s Strawberry Banke on June 22nd. We hope to see you there!
📍NEW HAMPSHIRE! Call Governor Sununu and Tell Him: Protect Trans Kids
Celebrate Pride Month approaching by helping us protect trans kids in New Hampshire. We need all hands on deck to prevent four awful anti-trans bills from being signed into law. Please call Governor Sununu’s office [(603) 271-7676] and tell him to veto HB 1312, HB 1205, HB 619, and HB 396.
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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