Repro Roundup 11.15
We know the last couple of weeks have been stressful, frightening, chaotic, and challenging in many ways. But we also know that now more than ever, we must continue fighting – for abortion patients, for brave providers, and for all those in our community who have had an abortion or may need an abortion.
So here’s a few small – and big! – ways you can take action this week and onward, to feel engaged, inspired, re-energized, and ready to get back in the fight.
Become a trusted community leader. When my friends and loved ones need support accessing reproductive health care, they know they can count on me to guide them through the process. Be that person for your friends, neighbors, and loved ones. Familiarize yourself with Repro Equity Now’s abortion access resources and help us disseminate them into your communities. Help us get the word out about our New England Abortion Care Guide, Abortion Legal Hotline (now available to patients in Massachusetts AND Connecticut!), and Anti-Abortion Center Organizing Toolkit. You can also share your repro story with your community to break down stigma. Start a conversation locally about why abortion access is important for all of us.
Advocate and agitate for reproductive equity policy. The fight for abortion access and reproductive equity begins in state legislatures, town halls, and in local policy. Make sure you’re signed up for legislative action alerts with Repro Equity Now so you know when to show up at your state house, and push our leaders to prioritize reproductive equity policy. You can also join us for a legislative testimony workshop to help craft your story and get ready to advocate for your community. And you can reach out to your local elected officials, get to know them, and make sure they understand why reproductive equity policy is important to you and your fellow constituents.
Sustain the movement. This movement is powered by YOU. We cannot do it without your help. You can support us by hosting a house party for Repro Equity Now and engaging your neighbors in the work of sustaining the abortion access movement. You can wear your support for REN and help break down stigma by purchasing a Repro Equity Now T-shirt or hoodie. And you can become a monthly donor to Reproductive Equity Now, because we have a long road ahead of us defending abortion access in New England and working to make reproductive equity a reality for all in our region.
We’ll be honest – we’re scared of what’s to come, too. But the only way to move forward is to double down on fighting for reproductive equity for all of us. We cannot – and will not – back down.
On to this week’s headlines –
News from New England
→ We Launched the Connecticut Abortion Legal Hotline!!
Last Friday, the Reproductive Equity Now Foundation, in partnership with the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General and top law firms from across the state, proudly launched the Connecticut Abortion Legal Hotline! The CT Abortion Legal Hotline is a free and confidential resource that connects patients and providers with pro bono legal advice about their rights to access or offer abortion care. This hotline will be a lifeline amidst the chaos and confusion Trump is bound to create.
→ Endorsed Champions We’re Sending to Beacon Hill and Hartford
While Election Day, in many ways, did not go as we hoped, it’s not all doom and gloom – we’re sending two incredible slates of repro equity champions to represent us on Beacon Hill and in Hartford! We’re so proud to say that 140 out of 148 endorsed candidates in Massachusetts successfully won their races, and 71 out of 96 endorsed candidates in Connecticut won theirs. We’re especially proud of a few races we prioritized in Massachusetts, including Senator-elect Dylan Fernandes and State Rep.-elect Michelle Badger. And we’re thrilled to see that a doula, Laurie Sweet, is joining the Connecticut Legislature. We’re grateful to all of our volunteers for helping us write postcards, phone- and text-bank, and knock doors for reproductive equity champions up and down the ballot, and we’re so excited to get to work with these reproductive equity champions.
→ We Have Work to do in New Hampshire
Unfortunately, in New Hampshire, we did not see major wins for reproductive equity champions as we had hoped. Newly-elected Governor Ayotte’s shifting record on abortion does not instill confidence in her commitment to defending access to abortion care. We’ve lost some seats in the House and Senate and are facing a larger majority of anti-abortion legislators. The Executive Council remains in the same balance as it has for the last several years. But regardless, the work of defending abortion access and expanding reproductive equity in New Hampshire continues. It’s crucial to note that abortion remains legal in New Hampshire, and patients who have appointments for abortion care should go to their appointments as scheduled. We must remain vigilant in the fight for bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, and be ready to get back in the fight defending and expanding reproductive equity in the Granite State in 2025.
→ Department of Public Health Data Shows Abortions Increase in MA Post-Dobbs
According to newly released data from the Department of Public Health, abortions rose 37% in Massachusetts in the first full year after the Dobbs decision decimated abortion access nationwide.This increase is largely due to the amount of abortions performed by Massachusetts providers for patients from out-of-state, including both patients who traveled to the Bay State and patients who accessed care from Massachusetts via telehealth. In fact, only a third of out-of-state patients in 2023 accessed care in-person in Massachusetts; the majority of patients were able to access medication abortion care thanks to the Bay State’s telehealth shield law! This new data is proof that reproductive equity policy can save lives and sustain patients, even with continued attacks on abortion care access. It also drives home the opportunity and responsibility Massachusetts has to remain a beacon for abortion access and pursue bold, innovative policy that not only protects Bay Staters’ rights, but expands access to abortion care for patients across the nation.
→ An Anti-Abortion Center is Trying to Silence Us – But We Will Not Back Down
By now, you’ve probably heard the news – Your Options Medical, a group of anti-abortion centers in Massachusetts, is suing the Reproductive Equity Now Foundation. Specifically, they’re targeting us for the work we’ve done to expose the potential dangers anti-abortion centers pose to Bay Staters.
Anti-abortion centers often hide behind the shield of the First Amendment to make medically inaccurate, anti-woman claims about abortion care. When we used the First Amendment to push back, they sued us. But we will not back down. We filed a motion to dismiss this complaint a couple of weeks ago. Now we need you to help us continue to spread the word about anti-abortion centers by sharing our resources, such as the New England Abortion Care Guide and our Anti-Abortion Center Organizing Toolkit.
→ Doulas Change the Game for Birth Care in MA
A new report from GBH News shows that 700 families have used doula services covered by MassHealth since the program reimbursing doulas for birth care launched in December. Doulas certified by MassHealth can have their services reimbursed at a semi-competitive rate, allowing them to provide care to more low-income patients, who tend to have higher rates of birth complications and can benefit more from doula support. Thanks to the maternal health omnibus package passed by the Massachusetts legislature in August, this MassHealth coverage is now codified into law.
National Notice
→ Cabinet Appointment Nonsense
This past week, Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Congressman Matt Gaetz to lead the very branch of government that is currently investigating him as Attorney General. Matt Gaetz has cosponsored national legislation that would ban abortion at six weeks gestation and that would interrupt emergency and palliative care for pregnancy loss, supported arbitrary restrictions on abortion access while serving in the Florida House of Representatives, and referred to abortion rights supporters as “too unattractive to ever need abortion care.” Trump also intends to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy is both a noted conspiracy theorist regarding vaccinations and has publicly supported both a national abortion ban and a ban on gender-affirming care. The DHHS oversees the FDA as well, so anti-abortion extremists would have an ally leading the agency that controls the regulation of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion care.
→ Abortion Ballot Measure Successes
It’s important to celebrate the wins from Election Day, even if they feel a little overshadowed by national news. Abortion won on the ballot in 7 of the 10 states it appeared as a ballot measure. This includes: Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Missouri, Nevada, and New York. We’re also counting a partial win in Florida, where abortion rights earned 57% support, but did not meet the threshold for passing due to Florida’s anti-democratic regulations for ballot initiatives. This once again shows that when abortion is explicitly on the ballot, it wins big.
→ New Study on Anti-Abortion Centers Shows Their Proximity to Legitimate Clinics
New research published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research shows that nearly a quarter of American women live within a 15 mile proximity of an anti-abortion center and no legitimate reproductive health care provider. A majority of women (59%) live within a 15 mile radius of both, illustrating how anti-abortion centers set up shop adjacent to legitimate abortion providers with the intent of misleading patients and intervening in patients’ efforts to access legitimate reproductive health care. We know this is true in New England too, which is why both our anti-abortion center organizing toolkit and our New England Abortion Care Guide identify anti-abortion centers and show people where to access legitimate abortion care across the region.
→ Stocking Up on Contraception and Medication Abortion Pre-Trump Admin
Reporting in the Washington Post this past week revealed that telemedicine abortion care providers such as AidAccess and Just the Pill have been inundated with a significant volume of requests for advance provision medication abortion (i.e., medication abortion for patients to have in case they get pregnant, even if they are not at this moment) since Election Day. Planned Parenthood also reported that appointments for long-acting birth control such as vasectomies and IUDs dramatically increased following Election Day. These statistics show that people are not fooled by Donald Trump’s shifting rhetoric on abortion access and birth control, and understand the clear and present danger he poses to abortion access.
If you are in New England and seeking abortion care, you can always find resources at our New England Abortion Care Guide. If you are interested in long-acting contraception or want to learn more about your options, talk to your local reproductive health care provider.
Get Involved!
📍ANYWHERE! Join the Abortion Access Advocates!
YOU know your community best. That means YOU are the most effective messenger to advocate for your community and ensure that they are empowered to access the abortion and reproductive health care they want and deserve. We’re assembling a regionwide network of abortion access advocates and training them to be community leaders for reproductive equity. Join us by signing up for AAA 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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