Repro Roundup 12.20
Last week, we broke some ground. Reproductive Equity Now brought together repro leaders representing 26 organizations, from every state in New England, for our first regional repro equity convening!
We spent two days connecting on strategy, sharing insights from the work happening across New England states, and building community. By bringing our movement leaders together, we will be able to make sure that our region continues to be a beacon for abortion access and reproductive equity.
Thank you to the incredible advocates who joined us — we look forward to continuing this work together!
It’s a short roundup this week as we round out the year. We’re looking forward to spending some time with loved ones and resting up before the New Year, when we’ll be taking on new fights in state legislatures and our communities.
On to this week’s headlines –
News from New England
→ New Hampshire Republicans Break Promises Before Day 1
Republicans in New Hampshire spent six figures plastering the state with campaign propaganda pledging that they would not support any changes to New Hampshire’s current abortion laws, which criminalize care after 24 weeks gestation. We are now seeing clear as day that that was a false promise – because before the new legislative session even begins, anti-abortion extremists in New Hampshire have filed legislation to restrict access to abortion, criminalize those who help young people access abortion care across state lines, and require schools to present anti-abortion disinformation to Granite State students. As we told the Granite Post, all eyes will be on Governor-elect Kelly Ayotte to see if she will honor her campaign promise to veto new restrictions on abortion care.
→ Connecticut Cancels Medical Debt for Thousands of Residents
Earlier this year, Connecticut announced plans for the state to eliminate $650 million in medical debt for its residents, and began that program this week with a $30 million elimination for 23,000 residents. This builds upon continued efforts in Connecticut to protect Nutmeggers from the burdens of medical debt, such as legislation passed last session to prevent health care providers from reporting medical debt to credit agencies.
→ Senator Warren Moves to Protect Data Privacy of Abortion Patients
In the final days of the Biden Administration, Senator Elizabeth Warren has refiled legislation to protect the location data privacy of abortion patients and crack down on data brokers. The Health and Location Data Protection Act will regulate the sale of private health-related data from data brokers, including sensitive location data, menstrual app data, and even advertiser tracking, which can all be used to surveil abortion patients and criminalize them for seeking care. While the bill is not expected to pass under the current make-up of Congress, a similar piece of legislation in Massachusetts, the Location Shield Act, would seek to enact state-level safeguards on sensitive location data and prevent data brokers from selling the cellphone location data of people in Massachusetts.
National Notice
→ CNN: How Trump’s Lawyer Could Steer the Supreme Court on Abortion and Trans Rights
We spoke with CNN about how John Sauer, the anti-abortion nominee for Solicitor General, will use the power of the courts to do the Trump Administration’s bidding and attempt to criminalize abortion patients and providers. Sauer also poses a direct threat to the surveillance of pregnant people—a key tenet of Project 2025. When Sauer was Attorney General of Missouri, it was revealed that the state of Missouri was keeping a spreadsheet of the menstrual cycles of Planned Parenthood patients. Since his tenure as AG ended, Sauer has donated $770,000 to Missouri Right to Life, an anti-abortion extremist group. We know that we must remain vigilant as Donald Trump stacks his administration with extremists who are trying to take away our health care and bodily autonomy.
→ First Interstate Challenge to Telemedicine Filed
Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the first challenge to a pro-abortion state shield law. This suit is aimed at a telemedicine provider in New York State, the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion pills to a patient in Texas. This lawsuit is anti-abortion politicians' first attempt to test the strength of state shield laws that protect providers offering basic health care, and is all a part of the far-right’s plan to eliminate reproductive health care nationwide. While we see how this lawsuit progresses, it is critical that patients understand how to protect themselves from hostile anti-abortion surveillance and litigation. Check out our blog on how to protect your privacy when accessing abortion care, including telemedicine care.
→ Rewire News Group: How to Prepare for the Trump Presidency
As the countdown to the next presidential administration continues, Rewire News Group has compiled a series of helpful tips for protecting your right to access abortion care, even as abortion restrictions continue to mount. Some tips include:
📍 Familiarize yourself with where to access abortion care near you. You can find providers near you using our New England Abortion Care Guide.
💻 Know your telemedicine options and consider advanced provision. Telemedicine providers include AidAccess, the MAP, Abuzz Health, and Abortion On Demand. Learn more at PlanCPills.com.
💊 Keep emergency contraception on-hand. The reality is, sometimes contraception fails. It is always good to have a spare dose of emergency contraception on hand, for yourself or a friend, just in case.
🏥 Understand your continued contraception options. Consider talking to a provider about finding a contraception option that works best for you.
👀 Protect your digital privacy. Check out our blog post on all the steps you can take to protect your data security in the post-Dobbs era when seeking abortion care.
Get Involved!
📍ANYWHERE! Join the Abortion Access Advocates!
Join us for our next Abortion Access Advocates training on January 13th! We’ll discuss what we’re keeping an eye on in regard to federal attacks on reproductive health care in a Trump 2.0 admin. We’ll give you a few talking points on how to discuss these efforts to take away our health care, and a few ways you can join us to fight back here in New England. Sign up HERE.
📍ANYWHERE! Take Action with Repro Equity Now!
Looking for ways to take action or share with your networks ideas to take action? We’ve developed three one-page guides on how to educate your communities for abortion access, advocate to your legislators for reproductive equity, and invest in the reproductive equity movement. Check them out below and share them with your friends and family!
📍ANYWHERE! Save the Date for Reproductive Equity Now’s 2025 Gala!
Reproductive Equity Now will be hosting our 2025 Gala on May 15th at the InterContinental in Boston, and we would be thrilled to have you join us! Please save the date and keep an eye out for information on tickets and sponsorship opportunities in the coming weeks.
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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