NEW

Voters supported abortion rights in all five states with abortion-related ballot measures.

When abortion was directly on the ballot, voters wanted to protect and save their right to abortion.

More on that… 🧵 MICHIGAN

Voters said YES to Prop 3: Adds the right to abortion and contraceptive use to the state constitution.

More here:
fox2detroit.com/news/michigan-…

NEW

Abortion in Indiana will stay legal and available until at least January.

Today the state’s Supreme Court blocked the near-total ban while it consider if it violates the state constitution.

Oral arguments are set for January.

More from @politico:
politico.com/news/2022/10/1… n.b.

Indiana was the first state to pass a new abortion ban since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

NEW

Student athletes in Florida have to agree to have their period tracked in order to be eligible to play.

The state bans abortion after 15 weeks, no exceptions for rape or incest && parents of a minor have to be notified and give consent.

More here:
jacksonville.com/restricted/?re… The period data is held by the company Aktivate, which isn't a medical company and therefore isn't protected by HIPAA laws. i.e. the data could be turned over if subpoenaed.

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.

🧵 All eyes should be on South Carolina right now where lawmakers are racing to push through a near-total ban on abortion.

NEW and HUGE

South Carolina’s near-total abortion ban is dead.

The South Carolina house just voted 47-55, failing to pass house bill 5399 which would have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy w/o exceptions for rape and incest. power 👏 of 👏 Kansas 👏👏👏

There's no such thing as a slow news week when it comes to abortion rights.

Here's a wrap up of everything on my radar...

🧵 We go over everything you need to know on this week's episode of "State of Abortion."

Updates on Idaho, Tennessee, Texas and an incredible interview with @OregonGovBrown about all the things her state is doing to support patients.

Watch the episode here:

It was another heavy news week for reproductive rights: near-total bans in Indiana and Idaho, a ban off the table in Nebraska and movement on legal cases across the country.

And there's A TON going on this week.

Here's what you need to know

🧵 We break down everything you need to know about the status of reproductive rights across the country this week's "State of Abortion"

Watch it here:
huffpost.com/entry/planned-…

Wow

After the passage of Indiana’s total abortion ban, Eli Lilly, one of the state’s biggest employers, says they’ll be planning their growth outside the state.

Because DUH how are you going to recruit women, aka HALF the population, to a state that outlaws their health care?!? I’ll be very curious about application numbers this fall for colleges and universities in states that ban abortion, like Indiana.

I have a hard time believing gen z is going to be as interested in moving to those states. Let’s see.

It was a heavy news cycle this week for abortion news.

You probably heard all about Kansas, but there were major headlines all over the country. In fact, this week & next are shaping up to be some of the most consequential for abortion rights since the first days post Roe.

🧵 ICYMI -- Last week @PPFA launched a news show with Huffington Post and BuzzFeed News, breaking down all the headlines you need to know about abortion access since the fall of Roe.

Here's this week's episode:
huffpost.com/entry/planned-…

Today’s another Supreme Court opinion issuance day.

We’ve got about a dozen cases to go, nearly all of which are pretty major, including Dobbs v JWHO, the case that could overturn Roe v Wade.

Decision begin getting released at 10a ET. My evergreen opinion day note: Just because today is AN opinion day, not necessarily THE opinion day for JWHO.

Tomorrow is another opinion issuance day, and we’re expecting more next week.

NEW

Louisiana's Gov just signed two big anti-abortion bills into law

1. A beefed-up trigger ban, increasing penalties for doctors to $100k & jail time to 10 years

2. Makes it illegal for anyone to send abortion pills by mail to Louisiana patients

Read:
abcnews.go.com/Health/louisia… Worth noting:
- Louisiana's Governor is a Democrat.
- The state senator who authored the beefed-up trigger ban is a Democrat.

It’s a Supreme Court opinion issuance day.

Starting at 10a ET, SCOTUS begins publishing decisions for the remaining 18 cases left of their term.

At this point, there really aren’t any sleeper cases left, only big ones, including Dobbs v JWHO, the case that could overturn Roe. And my evergreen tweet:

Just because today is A decision day, doesn’t mean it’s THE decision day.

Dobbs could come today, it could come Thursday, it could come next week. And I promise you, anyone on here who says they know when it’s coming is talking out of their butt.

BREAKING

Oklahoma's legislature gave its final approval to a bill that will ban nearly all abortions beginning at fertilization.

Once the Governor signs it, it will take effect immediately and become the nation's strictest abortion ban. The enforcement model is based off of Texas's six-week abortion ban. It's bounty hunting provision that allows private citizens to sue anyone who "aids and abets" in a patient getting an abortion.

A big, hearty “fuck you” to everyone who said I was overreacting by saying this could happen. We weren’t overreacting, we were reacting to what they were telling us they were going to do.

BREAKING

The Supreme Court appears to plan to fully overturn Roe v Wade, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito obtained by @politico.

Read more, including the draft itself, here:
politico.com/news/2022/05/0… SCOTUS experts: Have you ever seen a leak like this? This feels unprecedented.

NEW

A bill in Missouri makes illegal to get an abortion if the patient has an ectopic pregnancy.

Facts about ectopic pregnancies:
- They’re are not viable. Full stop.
- They’re the 1 cause of death for 1st trimester patients.

Here’s the proposed law:
house.mo.gov/billtracking/b… There’s so much going on in the world right now, but the abortion regulation getting thrown around in state legislatures is unprecedented.

NEW

A new Missouri bill would prohibit women leaving the state to get an abortion.

If this style of legislation is somehow found legal, it would have a huge impact in a post-Roe v Wade world. washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/… In Texas, where Roe might as well not exist, half of the state’s abortion patients cross state lines or request abortion pills from Aid Access, an overseas service that sends pills in the mail while sidestepping U.S. abortion laws.

nytimes.com/2022/03/06/ups…

NEW

Rep Schakowsky & Rep Strickland are reintroducing a bill that would repeal the Helms Amendment, a decades-old provision that prohibits U.S. dollars from directly funding abortion services overseas. Pres. Biden repealed the so-called "global gag rule" via executive order in Jan.

Officially the Mexico City Policy, barred any NGO from “perform[ing] or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning” using funds from any source as a condition of receiving US dollars.

NEW

In a written follow up, Judge Barrett declined to answer whether abortion should be punishable by death.

Today, the Senate Judiciary committee is expected to vote on Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Questions from @SenWhitehouse: UPDATE: Republicans have voted to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination despite Democrats boycotting the vote.

A full Senate vote is expected Monday.

NEW

Trump's COVID "cure" - an unapproved Regeneron antibody cocktail - was developed using cells derived from aborted fetal tissue.

That's a practice the White House and anti-abortion rights groups oppose.

On @CBSNews:
cbsnews.com/news/regeneron… Here's how it works:

- HEK 293T cells are a cell line originally derived from the kidney tissue of a fetus aborted in the Netherlands in the 1970s.

- Those cells are used to test potency. They don't end up in the final product, but they're a part of the testing process.

Yes, there were no questions on abortion or Roe v Wade last night.

HOWEVER, we did get a look into what Trump's strategy might be for addressing Amy Coney Barrett's stance on Roe v Wade.

Here's exactly what Biden & Trump said: Biden: The president is opposed to Roe v Wade. This election it's on the ballot.

Trump: You don't know it's on the ballot. There’s nothing happening here. And you don’t know [Amy Coney Barrett's] view on Roe v Wade