Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #SB8
Most recents (24)
Here’s the testimony I didn’t get to give despite waiting 9 hours at the #texascapitol:
I’m Rev. Natalie Webb, pastor of University Baptist Church, Austin. I represent the 6,000+ faith leaders of @pastors4txkids who are AGAINST SB8 (and all other vouched/ESA bills). (1/10)
I’m Rev. Natalie Webb, pastor of University Baptist Church, Austin. I represent the 6,000+ faith leaders of @pastors4txkids who are AGAINST SB8 (and all other vouched/ESA bills). (1/10)
I trust that you all want what is best for TX kids, ALL TX kids. But the reality is that SB8 leaves most of our TX kids high and dry by diverting funds away from their education, to subsidize the education of a small group of privileged students. (2/10)
SB8 promotes “school choice” for only SOME parents, at the expense of MOST Texas children.
Kids in rural school districts (like Denver City ISD, where I grew up) who don’t have access to private options, will pay the price. (3/10)
Kids in rural school districts (like Denver City ISD, where I grew up) who don’t have access to private options, will pay the price. (3/10)
1/8 I have worked in 2 isds and 1 charter for 30 total years, and served on a private school board for 6 years. I support school choice and the rights of parents. Even so, these are the reasons I think #sb8 needs to be changed from its current form.
2/8 The #txlege needs to change #sb8 so that if they want public dollars to be able to go to private schools, then those receiving schools should then agree to be subjected to the same regulations and measurement that is required of public schools.
3/8 If you believe that requiring regulations/measurement for ESA recipient schools will ruin the private schools and make #sb8 less attractive to both parents and the private schools, then isn't that an indictment of the policies that are required of public schools right now?
1/ If I was speaking in Austin or attempting to influence a legislator about #SB8 or any related ESA/Voucher bills, here are the things I would make sure that I knew about #sb8 (in current form on 3/21/23) and a few other points I would make:
2/ I would read the Bill:
3/ I would review what the bill offers to parents in Article 1 of the bill:
1/11 Very contrasting requirements for #txed public schools in Article 1 and the autonomy granted to private schools in Article 2 of the same #SB8. This thread highlights some of those differences:
2/11 The #sb8 bill is broken into 2 parts with ARTICLE 1. PARENTAL RIGHTS, SCHOOL LIBRARIES, AND CURRICULUM and ARTICLE 2. EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT PROGRAM.
3/11 Article 1: Districts have to create an Instructional Materials parent parent portal to allow parents to easily access all curriculum adopted or used. Organized and searchable by grade/subject
Article 2: State not permitted to interfere or regulate private school curriculum
Article 2: State not permitted to interfere or regulate private school curriculum
Next up: Is less more? A critical appraisal of medication abortion follow up with @VitalaGlobal @uoftobgyn @Stanford @Gynuity @UTAustin and Alamo Women's Health Clinic in Albuquerque
#SFP2022
#SFP2022
Mifepristone approval/access has grown in so many ways:
- Globally access improved
- Indications for use expanded
- Methods of delivery expanding (telemedicine, meds by mail)
#SFP2022
- Globally access improved
- Indications for use expanded
- Methods of delivery expanding (telemedicine, meds by mail)
#SFP2022
In Europe, Germany had the lowest uptake of medication abortion. This might be due to low reimbursement for simple and safe care in Germany and medication abortion is so safe!
#SFP2022
#SFP2022
It was yet another heavy news week for post-Roe abortion news.
The 1-year anniversary of #SB8, a new lawsuit in Indiana, a package of bills in California to protect abortion, more confusion in Michigan, & movement in South Carolina's near-total abortion ban.
Let's dig in.
🧵
The 1-year anniversary of #SB8, a new lawsuit in Indiana, a package of bills in California to protect abortion, more confusion in Michigan, & movement in South Carolina's near-total abortion ban.
Let's dig in.
🧵
All eyes should be on South Carolina right now where lawmakers are racing to push through a near-total ban on abortion.
On Tuesday, the SC House advanced HB 5399. It's a near-total ban.
Exceptions:
- To prevent death, "substantial risk of death" or "substantial physical impairment of a major bodily function"
- Rape & incest, but only in the 1st 12 weeks
Bill text:
scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2…
Exceptions:
- To prevent death, "substantial risk of death" or "substantial physical impairment of a major bodily function"
- Rape & incest, but only in the 1st 12 weeks
Bill text:
scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2…
THREAD: I want to take a moment to talk about the Republican led Reproductive Choice Act—& why it’s not a solution to the problems we’re facing with abortion rights. 1/6
Introduced by Sens Collins & Murkowski, this bill *does not* protect the right to abortion across the country should Roe be overturned. And it doesn’t do anything to address the abortion access crisis. 2/6
In fact, their bill would actually weaken current protections for the right to abortion, & it would allow medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion to block care from people who really need it in states across the country. Their bill wouldn’t block bans like #SB8 in TX. 3/6
Three weeks ago, I had a miscarriage. I was six weeks pregnant. I live in Texas, a state that has effectively banned abortions.
A thread about what it is to cease to be pregnant in a state where abortions are banned:
A thread about what it is to cease to be pregnant in a state where abortions are banned:
I went to the doctor because I had a lot of pain in my lower back and pelvis, and had been nauseous for weeks. A blood test confirmed I was pregnant – until that point, I didn’t know.
Getting pregnant is one of my worst fears. I have nightmares about being pregnant, about being forced to have something grow inside me, and having to tear myself apart to bring it into the world.
Supporters of #SB8 have long insisted that it didn't punish the pregnant woman, just those who *facilitated* abortions.
But by barring medically supervised abortions after six weeks, it forces those who can't travel to self-induce, which opens the door to prosecutions like this.
But by barring medically supervised abortions after six weeks, it forces those who can't travel to self-induce, which opens the door to prosecutions like this.
In other words, this is not a prosecution *under* SB8, but it sure as heck is a prosecution *because of* SB8.
And it's an incredibly ominous harbinger of what the world will look like far beyond Texas if #SCOTUS overrules Roe.
And it's an incredibly ominous harbinger of what the world will look like far beyond Texas if #SCOTUS overrules Roe.
As @thewindingchain points out, the Texas murder statute "does not apply to the death of an unborn child if the conduct charged is . . . conduct committed by the mother of the unborn child."
So either the prosecutors are causing trouble, or they're using a different theory here:
So either the prosecutors are causing trouble, or they're using a different theory here:
Make no mistake. The Oklahoma #abortion ban is a Christian fascist bridge between #SB8 in Texas & the expected overturning of Roe v. Wade later this spring. This is not just any abortion ban. A thread.
vox.com/policy-and-pol…
vox.com/policy-and-pol…
Besides its extreme viciousness, this ban closes off one avenue of relief for women in Texas, who have fled the state to seek abortions in neighboring states. Think about how the Fugitive Slave Act attacked the means of enslaved people to reach safety.
These #SB8 copycat laws, each state trying to outdo the other in its violent subjugation of women, are designed to do no less. And these Christian fascists will not stop. They will figure out every workaround & criminalize them even more viciously.
Women’s rights and democracy – America is backsliding on both. A 🧵 for #WomensHistoryMonth @BrennanCenter 1/14
brennancenter.org/our-work/analy…
brennancenter.org/our-work/analy…
In 2021 the U.S. was flagged as a backsliding democracy by @Int_IDEA – w/ noted lapses in effective legislative bodies and freedoms of expression and assembly 2/14
Around the same time, when TX #SB8 went into effect some smart folks looked at the correlation between abortion rollbacks & backsliding democracies @nytimes @Max_Fisher 3/14
nytimes.com/2021/09/09/wor…
nytimes.com/2021/09/09/wor…
In a trio of major rulings, the same Fifth Circuit panel held, 2-1, that plaintiffs can’t sue the Texas Secretary of State to challenge certain voting restrictions; instead, they have to sue each *county* election chief — in a state that has 254 counties:
ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/2…
ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/2…
As Judge Higginbotham points out in each of his three dissents, this is yet another in a line of flatly unpersuasive narrowings of Ex parte Young — to make it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for plaintiffs to obtain injunctions against unconstitutional state laws.
It’s one thing, as with #SB8, for the state to absolve itself of *any* enforcement responsibility as a transparent ploy to defeat judicial review. This is even worse — foreclosing Ex parte Young against the “chief election officer” of the state for challenges to … election laws.
#BREAKING: Texas Supreme Court answers question certified by the Fifth Circuit and unanimously holds that state licensing officials do *not* have the ability to enforce #SB8.
The gist: The providers' suit against state defendants is now effectively over:
txcourts.gov/media/1453763/…
The gist: The providers' suit against state defendants is now effectively over:
txcourts.gov/media/1453763/…
What this drives home, as plainly as anything could, is how critical it was that a 5-4 #SCOTUS majority held that state court clerks could *not* be defendants. As many of us suggested back in December, *that* was the critical moment. Today's ruling just closes the last back door.
There's still (1) suits against individual defendants to prevent *them* from enforcing SB8; and (2) state court litigation. There's also still DOJ's suit vs. TX. But this is yet another ruling that keeps SB8 on the books, denying millions of Texans of their constitutional rights.
📅With #SCOTUS seemingly set to overturn Roe v. Wade, we'll discuss what this means for women and especially women of color.
WHAT: Facing the end of Roe v. Wade
WHEN: Today, 11 am PDT
Follow: @EthnicMediaSvc
FB Live: fb.me/e/4v9buZbPK
@PPActionCA @access_rj @PilarMarrero
WHAT: Facing the end of Roe v. Wade
WHEN: Today, 11 am PDT
Follow: @EthnicMediaSvc
FB Live: fb.me/e/4v9buZbPK
@PPActionCA @access_rj @PilarMarrero
Welcome to today’s briefing, Facing the end of Roe v Wade. Remember you can follow the convo here @EThnicMediaSvc or via FB Live fb.me/e/4v9buZbPK Our speakers today are Lisa Matsubara and Jodi Hicks with @PPActionCA and Jessica Pinckney of @access_rj.
Today's briefing is moderated by our very own @PilarMarrero. You can learn more about our speakers and their work by visiting bit.ly/34ABFMC & accessrj.org
This morning, #IDleg introduced a 6-week abortion ban with a vigilante enforcement mechanism. This is copycat legislation from Texas that would ban nearly all abortion in Idaho. Here’s what to know about the bill ⬇️ #BansOffOurBodies
A 6-week abortion ban is a near-total ban, making abortion illegal before many people even have the opportunity to seek care. This bill would create a chilling effect on providers and directly attack pregnant people’s support systems. #IDleg
Grateful @Jezebel dug into our report on how the increasingly government-funded CPC industry surveils & tracks pregnant people jezebel.com/crisis-pregnan…
The "new research says CPCs have become an even greater threat to the health and safety of pregnant people amid the recent surge in state abortion bans and restrictions — particularly Texas’ #SB8" jezebel.com/crisis-pregnan…
As our #DesignedtoDeceive report lays out, the modern CPC industry is:
👉steered by global anti-abortion orgs
👉funded by your taxes
👉using digital tactics to target & track clients
alliancestateadvocates.org/wp-content/upl…
👉steered by global anti-abortion orgs
👉funded by your taxes
👉using digital tactics to target & track clients
alliancestateadvocates.org/wp-content/upl…
OK, I'm going to be somewhat livetweeting the Fifth Circuit oral argument in the #SB8 remand.
To recap, what is going on? #SB8 is Texas's unusual private enforcement abortion ban. 1/
To recap, what is going on? #SB8 is Texas's unusual private enforcement abortion ban. 1/
The Supreme Court said that the abortion providers could sue, but only certain Texas licensing officials, based on their understanding of Texas State law. The Court remanded to the Fifth Circuit, presumably(?) to send to the district court to adjudicate those claims /2
But Texas jumped in, and told the Fifth Circuit that Texas law doesn't really allow this licensing officials to enforce anything, as Justice Thomas had suggested. So Texas asked the Fifth Circuit to send the case to the Texas Supreme Court to answer that question instead. /3
Watch this space: oral arguments over Biden’s policies to get more Americans vaccinated amid the worst COVID surge we’ve seen begin at 10am eastern. I’ll be covering & commenting here.
A quick preview 👇
A quick preview 👇
First up is the OSHA case, beginning with Scott Keller, former SG of Texas, who will argue against Biden's vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses
Keller begins: the mandate covering 84m Americans will cause widespread labor shortages and is "one size fits all" when some workplaces are higher risk and others are lower risk
Oh, I’m dumb. higginson wrote a dissent.
For someone who reads all of Judge Higginson’s output, this is an extremely furious, albeit respectful, dissent.
Am I being a ding dong, or does this not say who the majority is?
🚨OVER 100 DAYS🚨 That is how long most Texans have been without access to abortion care.
And just last week, #SCOTUS failed to put a stop to the state’s egregious abortion law, #SB8.
Here are the facts ⬇️
And just last week, #SCOTUS failed to put a stop to the state’s egregious abortion law, #SB8.
Here are the facts ⬇️
❗The average one-way driving distance for a Texan seeking an abortion is estimated to have increased by nearly 240 miles, a 14-fold increase.
❗A Denver abortion clinic saw a 520% increase in patients traveling from Texas following the enforcement of #SB8 in September. And just nine days after the law’s implementation the Oklahoma City @TrustWomen clinic had a significant increase in appointments from Texans.
🚨 I'm getting reports from pharmacists across #Texas -they are being directed to not fill prescriptions for misoprostol, mifepristone, or methotrexate until they verify that the meds are not for induced #abortion.
#SB4 is harmful to ALL of us, even w/ #SB8 still in effect 1/
#SB4 is harmful to ALL of us, even w/ #SB8 still in effect 1/
🚨 This is a classic solution in search of a problem. *NO ONE* prescribes meds for #abortion in #Texas. We dispense or administer all meds directly to the patient. THE ONLY people that need these drugs in a pharmacy either have a miscarriage, cancer, or autoimmune disease 2/
🚨 Let that sink in. Anti-abortion laws harm *all of us*. I'm urging local and national journalists to start interrogating pharmacies in #Texas about this practice. It's not only ethically bankrupt and discriminatory - it literally serves no purpose. 3/
🚨 #SCOTUS BREAKING NEWS: The U.S. Supreme Court has endorsed Texas's bounty hunting scheme in a case challenging Texas's abortion ban, #SB8.
While allowing the case to move forward on narrow grounds, the Court has NOT blocked the law, meaning abortion remains mostly inaccessible in TX. #BansOffOurBodies #AbortionIsEssential
In our case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, #SCOTUS once again failed to block Texas’s draconian abortion ban, which has decimated access in the state for the last 100 DAYS.
Powerful words from J. Sotomayor in her opinion in Whole Women's Health today: "The Court should have put an end to this madness months ago, before S. B. 8 first went into effect. It failed to do so then, and it fails again today." supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf… #SB8 #SCOTUS
Also this: "This Court has confronted State attempts to evade federal constitutional commands before . . . . Until today, the Court had proven equal to those challenges."
J. Sotomayor is not pulling punches in her description of her colleagues' analysis: "The Court instead hides behind a wooden reading of Young, stitching out-of-context quotations into a cover for its failure to act decisively."
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has released decisions in #WholeWomansVJackson and #USVTexas. More to come.
NEW: In #WholeWomansVJackson, the Supreme Court has ruled that abortion providers can move forward with their #SB8 challenge against some, but not all of the defendants.
