Repro Roundup 06.28
It’s been a busy REN summer! We’re only just coming up on the end of June, and earlier this week, we launched our second statewide Massachusetts ad campaign to protect abortion seekers and providers.
As of this past Monday, the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, ads have been running all across the Bay State—on digital platforms, the MBTA Red and Orange Lines, buses originating in Southie and Dorchester, and on five billboards—directing patients, providers, and helpers to our Abortion Legal Hotline. The Hotline offers free and confidential legal advice on the right to provide or obtain abortion care.
If you see one of our ads in the wild, snap a pic and post it to your social media so your personal network can be made aware of this crucial resource! Don’t forget to tag us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
On to this week's headlines –
News from New England
→ Healey-Driscoll Administration Protects Emergency Abortion Care
This week, we were proud to work with the Healey-Driscoll Administration on an Executive Order clarifying physicians, hospitals, and insurers of their obligation to provide emergency abortion care, regardless of what the Supreme Court (or any Court) does to EMTALA. We have more information below on the Court’s decision in the EMTALA case (under National Notice), but as litigation continues, this Executive Order is a crucial, proactive step to protect access to emergency abortion care. Massachusetts has a record of taking bold action to protect abortion care, and this Executive Order is another great example of that kind of offensive, proactive strategy.
→ Preconceived in Portsmouth!
As part of our efforts to educate the public about the dangers of anti-abortion centers, we were thrilled to host a screening of Preconceived and a talkback with local activists in Portsmouth, NH this week! This important film helps illustrate how anti-abortion centers deceive patients and put people seeking abortion care at risk. We’re extremely grateful to Granite State Progress, the Lovering Health Center, and all of the attendees for making this event a huge success. Keep an eye out for future screenings of Preconceived around New England, and don’t forget to check out our new guidebook on how to take action to combat anti-abortion centers.
→ Commemorating Dobbs and Supporting the ACCESS Act in Connecticut
Our Connecticut State Director Liz had a hugely busy week, speaking at two press conferences in the Nutmeg State commemorating the anniversary of the Dobbs decision and standing with Senator Richard Blumenthal to discuss the ACCESS Act, federal legislation that will expand access to reproductive health care and abortion care in states where abortion remains legal. Check out Liz’s remarks on the Dobbs anniversary here, and read more about the ACCESS Act here!
→ Massachusetts Advances Major Maternal Health Package
Last week, the Massachusetts House voted unanimously to advance a sweeping package of legislation to improve maternal health outcomes in the Bay State. The package includes several priorities from our repro equity agenda, including a pathway to licensure for Certified Professional Midwives, and instructions for the Department of Public Health to revise their regulations governing freestanding birth centers. We are so excited to see this legislation advance, which will expand access to out of hospital birthing options and reduce racial disparities in birthing outcomes.
→ More Pride Across New England
Repro Equity Now has been all over New England celebrating Pride Month, and last weekend we had double the fun at two Pride festivals in Portsmouth, NH and West Hartford, CT! We had such a blast chatting with folks in both Connecticut and New Hampshire and building connections with the LGBTQ+ communities across New England. While Pride Month is coming to an end this weekend, the fight for LGBTQ+ justice as a repro equity issue never ends.
National Notice
→ Supreme Court Hands Down Opinion on EMTALA Case Without Ruling on the Merits
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Moyle & Idaho, et al. v. United States, the case concerning whether state abortion bans can supersede requirements to provide emergency medical care under EMTALA. The Court ruled to allow emergency abortion care in Idaho for now while the case continues through the lower courts. While emergency abortion care can commence in Idaho (where this case originated), it remains banned in Texas—even in cases of medical emergency. This is not the end of this fight while pregnant people remain at risk nationwide. Litigation on this case will continue in the coming months, and we would not be surprised to see this question before the Supreme Court again.
We know that anti-abortion extremists want to put politicians in exam rooms, stand in the way of emergency medical care, and ban access to abortion in any and all circumstances. This is what’s at stake this Election Day. That’s why we must elect reproductive equity champions up and down the ballot, from the Oval Office to state legislatures, to protect our access to care and our loved ones’ lives.
→ Trans Health Care is Coming Before SCOTUS Next Term
Even though the two cases we were watching most closely in front of the Supreme Court this term have now been decided (or really, pushed into future terms), the Supreme Court continues to play games with our fundamental rights. Last week, the Court announced that they will consider a case from Tennessee regarding whether or not bans on gender-affirming care for minors are unconstitutional. Twenty-five states have adopted bans or restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors. This case will have massive implications for bodily autonomy and transgender rights, at a time where both are under attack by extremists. We most likely will not hear more about this case until next year, but we will be keeping a close eye.
→ Abortion Bans Are Expensive for the Economy
New analysis from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research reveals that abortion bans are costing the United States economy nearly $68 billion per year. This huge economic downturn can be attributed to workforce reduction from women who have lost job opportunities due to the reproductive coercion that abortion bans cause. Women who are forced to take time off work, either due to pregnancy or having to travel for abortion care, often face huge barriers to workforce reentry. This research drives home that reproductive equity is an economic justice issue.
→ Abortion is Still Not Accessible for Folks Who’ve Faced Incarceration
Incarceration and parole disproportionately impact low-income women of color, and new research has shown that more than half of women currently on parole in the United States have to seek permission from their parole officers to travel out of state for abortion care, as they cannot access care locally due to abortion bans and restrictions. As we know, abortion care is highly time sensitive, especially as care becomes more expensive and harder to access as patients progress further into pregnancy. Many patients won’t even be approved to travel for abortion care, depending on how strict the ban is in their state, and the few who are permitted to travel face burdensome costs and huge logistical challenges accessing care due to delays from correctional facilities. No one should have to seek permission from the police to access abortion care.
Get Involved!
📍ANYWHERE! Join the Abortion Access Advocates!
This year’s Supreme Court term will conclude soon (???), making our July 8th 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!
📍NEW HAMPSHIRE! Call Governor Sununu and Tell Him: Protect Trans Kids
Celebrate the end of Pride Month 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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