Thread by @byKateSmith

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.

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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…

Not to be a broken record, but as usual, the rape and incest "exceptions" are bullshit.

The only way a patient can get an abortion under this exception is if the rape/incest is reported. And it's only available in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

But let's break down how the legislation actually moved forward.

Initially, the legislation didn't have the rape/incest exception and lawmakers voted 47-55 to kill the bill.

Yes, for a brief moment South Carolina's abortion ban failed.

But....

...anti-abortion lawmakers literally refused to give it up. They pushed through that limited rape/incest exception and forced another vote.

20 lawmakers flipped their decision, voting 67-38 in a voice vote to move the legislation forward.

Remember SC rep Neil Collins, the lawmaker who got emotional sharing that he regretted voting for SC’s 6-week ban because of the health consequences?

Guess who flipped his vote and helped push SC’s near-total ban forward? 🙃

South Carolina's near-total abortion ban could go into effect AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK.

We're expecting the legislation to pass out of committee on Tuesday and head to a full Senate vote on Wednesday. After that, it heads to the Governor's desk.

It has an immediate effective date.

Here's the deal: South Carolina's near-total abortion ban is NOT a done deal.

Polling shows that South Carolina residents DO NOT want this law. A survey from @ppppolls found nearly two thirds of South Carolinians wanted abortion to be legal and accessible in their state.

This week also marked one year since Texas implemented #SB1, a six-week ban.

New data from PP confirms what we already knew: Abortion bans don’t stop patients from needing abortion services, they only make care harder to access.

From when the Texas ban was implemented in September 2021 through June 2022, Planned Parenthood health centers in surrounding states saw a 550% (!!) spike in patients from Texas compared to the previous year.

Kansas: PP health centers saw 400 abortion patients from TX in that time frame, up from less than 10 patients the year prior.

Colorado:PP reported 10x the number of Texas abortion patients.

New Mexico: Texans accounted for 41% of abortion patients at PPs centers, up from 19%.

All of that data was collected when Roe was still the law of the land.

Today, 16 states have abortion bans in place, and 11 ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, meaning that those out-of-state patient numbers are poised to go even higher.

But states are working to help patients in places where abortion is banned!

California lawmakers passed a suite of laws to help patients access abortion. Read this amazing thread from @BrandonRichards to learn everything you need to know!

https://twitter.com/BrandonRichards/status/1565374683599360001

And the legal fights against abortion bans continue.

@PPFA, @ACLUIndiana, @lawyeringproj & Wilmer Hale filed a lawsuit against Indiana's recently passed SB1, which bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

It's scheduled to go into effect Sept 1.

And somehow, things in Michigan got messier.

I'll get into this later, but I'll leave you with this for now.

But the most important thing? Abortion remains legal and available in Michigan.
nytimes.com/2022/08/31/us/…

I mostly focus on the public health consequences of abortion bans, but these new laws pose major economic and business issues as well.

This week, we delved into those questions with @Tinder's Global CMO @MelissaHobleyNY. Watch our full conversation here:

Like a handful of other progressive companies, @Tinder reimburses its employees for all costs associated with getting an abortion.

And here's what's interesting: @MelissaHobleyNY told me those benefits are run through Tinder insurance provider, ie employees have total privacy.

For everything you need to know in under five minutes, tune in to this week's episode of "State of Abortion." And if you find it helpful, give it a share!