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Tag: abortion ban

  • Virginia lawmakers send reproductive rights amendment toward November vote – WTOP News

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    Unlike two other civil rights-related constitutional amendments that passed with bipartisan support over the past year, Virginia’s reproductive rights measure has faced intense debate at every stage, with every Republican in the legislature opposing it. 

    This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury. 

    A proposal allowing mid-decade redistricting of Virginia’s congressional maps that cleared the legislature last week may dominate debate heading into a spring special referendum, but a constitutional amendment on reproductive rights is poised to ignite similar fervor as the November election approaches.

    Unlike two other civil rights-related constitutional amendments that passed with bipartisan support over the past year, Virginia’s reproductive rights measure has faced intense debate at every stage, with every Republican in the legislature opposing it.

    In defending her amendment for the final time, Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, emphasized that advancing the proposal would ultimately leave the decision to voters across the state.

    Ranging from fertility treatments to contraception access to the ability to obtain an abortion, “this amendment protects families’ entire scope of reproductive needs,” she said.

    Boysko and several other Democratic lawmakers have described how women in states with abortion bans have died amid pregnancy complications. Those states have also seen an exodus of OB-GYN physicians amid uncertainty of treating patients who need abortions or miscarriage management.

    Boysko grew tearful as she recounted stories and advocacy shared by constituents and people around the state.

    Relatedly, Sen. Emily Jordan, R-Isle of Wight, struck a somber tone as she noted that “this is a difficult topic for a lot of people.”

    On the opposite side of the chamber’s aisle — and in opposition to the amendment — Jordan unsuccessfully attempted to modify the proposal to explicitly spell out care for babies when born.

    A sticking point for some Republicans has been concern that the amendment could be interpreted to allow abortion up to the “moment of birth,”  though infanticide remains illegal under both state code and federal law.

    Sen. Tara Durant, R-Stafford, also attempted for the second legislative session in a row, to reiterate existing parental consent laws. Democrats and legal experts said it is unnecessary. Under Virginia law, minors are required to have parental or guardian consent for an abortion unless they petition a judge for authorization.

    On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, accused Republicans of employing delay tactics by pressing for their amendments to the amendment.

    “It is a delay tactic,” Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockbridge, said on Friday, as he urged lawmakers to re-draft the amendment. Doing so, however, would restart the two-year process.

    A sense of urgency

    While not entirely a partisan issue at the national level, the issue has increasingly fallen along party lines in states. That dynamic, Virginia Wesleyan University professor Leslie Caughell said, helps explain why Democrats are moving quickly while they hold legislative majorities.

    Though placing language in the Constitution is difficult, it is also harder to undo. With every other Southern state imposing deep restrictions or near-total bans, bolstering Virginia’s protections has become a priority for Democrats. Providers and abortion funds in Virginia have also seen a surge in out-of-state patients seeking care.

    “I think everything that happened in North Carolina made activists on this really uncomfortable,” Caughell said.

    In 2023, a member of the neighboring state’s legislature switched from Democrat to Republican, giving the GOP a veto-proof majority and paving the way for enactment of North Carolina’s current 12-week abortion limit.

    In Virginia, Republicans have also put forward a range of abortion restrictions, from near-total bans to a 15-week cap that lacked exceptions for fetal anomalies — which are often not detected until around or after 15 weeks.

    On other reproductive health issues, a right-to-contraception bill has twice been vetoed by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin — a point Boysko reiterated as the amendment advanced last week.

    ‘Yes’ and “No’ campaigns on the horizon

    Reproductive rights groups in Virginia, along with physicians and volunteers, have coordinated as part the national Reproductive Freedom for All effort. Last year, a $5 million investment supported targeted initiatives ranging from canvassing to digital advertising in states such as Virginia, where Abigail Spanberger was elected governor.

    Spanberger campaigned in part on supporting the amendment, though governors do not formally factor into its success or failure.

    “I look forward to spending ample time in advance of the 2026 elections campaigning to make sure that people understand the importance of this constitutional amendment,” she told The Mercury last summer.

    On the other side, SBA Pro-Life America supported Virginia-based anti-abortion groups last year through door-knocking efforts in key House of Delegates districts that were up for election.

    Democrats ultimately grew their majority by flipping additional seats.

    The abortion-opposing group “doesn’t have anything to share on the Virginia front at this time,” Communications Director Kelsey Pritchard said in an email, but the organization is monitoring Virginia among other states as it prepares to engage voters.

    Virginians for Reproductive Freedom — which includes organizations like Repro Rising and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia — will likely ramp up public engagement events and advertising as the November elections approach.

    Caughell said she is watching closely to see how Virginia’s constitutional amendment campaigns intersect with this year’s congressional midterm elections.

    The measures — which include redistricting, reproductive rights, same-sex marriage rights and voting rights — arrive at a moment when Democrats may have an advantage, she noted.

    Midterm elections are often a referendum on the party that controls the White House, Caughell said.

    With Republican President Donald Trump in the White House, GOP majorities in Congress, and federal funding fallouts affecting states, the amendments championed by Democrats could also help drive down-ballot votes.

    She also noted that abortion, as a distinct health care need, has become a more salient argument in recent years, alongside economic considerations and support for personal choice.

    “We’ve expanded the parameters of our understanding of who this issue directly affects,” Caughell said.

    Speaking with reporters outside the Senate chamber Friday, Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, emphasized that the work is not finished.

    “It’s our responsibility to go out there and tell the voters this is what this means and help everybody understand what they’re voting for,” she said.

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    LaDawn Black

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  • ‘Red, White and Blue’ Director on Why Getting Her Oscar-Nominated Short on YouTube Before Election Day Was So Important

    ‘Red, White and Blue’ Director on Why Getting Her Oscar-Nominated Short on YouTube Before Election Day Was So Important

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    With abortion on the ballot in several states in Tuesday’s election, writer and director Nazrin Choudhury’s Oscar-nominated short film Red, White and Blue about a single mother searching for access to an abortion feels as timely as ever. The British-born multi-hyphenate doesn’t always see it that way.

    “The upcoming election, in which abortion is such a key topic, means that people talk about this being such a timely subject. ‘It was so timely.’ Sadly, it feels like it’s timeless to me,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter.

    “We seem to keep needing to tell this story. I keep trying to say ‘Oh, let’s try and make it so that my story becomes redundant, and we don’t have to make films like this,’” she continues. “But we have to tell stories of ordinary human beings and Americans at that.”

    Red, White and Blue premiered for free on YouTube this week, Majic Ink Productions and Level Forward announced on Monday. “We are getting enormous response and feedback from it,” Choudhury explains.

    The film, starring Brittany Snow and Juliet Donenfold and executive produced by Samantha Bee, follows a young single mother from Arkansas, portrayed by Snow, who is forced to cross state lines to find access to an abortion.

    The film has been screened throughout the country strategically since its 2024 Oscar nomination, according to a release, with the aim of reaching voters of all political leanings. Getting the film out into the world ahead of Election Day took a village of professionals in film, public relations and more coming together to make it happen.

    ‘Red White and Blue’ poster.

    Courtesy of Majic Ink Productions

    On Wednesday, students and faculty from the University of Pennsylvania participated in a national student-led screening and moderated discussion event featuring Choudhury, Black Voters Matter’s LaTosha Brown, Professors Melissa Murray and Kate Shaw of Crooked Media’s Strict Scrutiny podcast and more.

    “This event had been planned for a while and was deeply meaningful because I have teenagers who will inherit this legacy,” the writer and director says, explaining that it meant so much to be “in community” with students at UPenn and NYU through a live stream there.

    “I think it’s really important because this is the generation that is going to inherit all of our mistakes. I think we need to break the cycle because what happens is we always leave it to them. They have to deal with the messes of their elders,” she explains.

    For Choudhury, making this film was both important and deeply personal. She explains that she made the film on her own, asking her children if she could dip into the college savings she had been accumulating. The filmmaker says the team has taken Red, White and Blue to church communities in places like Arizona and Wisconsin. As Choudhury describes it, “Places where you think people would be resistant to having this conversation,” however, she has found people are not unwilling to open up dialogue about abortion.

    “Our primary goal has been just to try and figure out which communities to take it to doing these benefit screenings, and then yes, in this final push where our futures as women will be decided at the ballot box” Choudhury begins.

    “When the VP, Kamala Harris, says women are bleeding out… as someone who myself was bleeding out, but luckily not in a parking lot, I was in a hospital being taken care of,” she continues. “I just really wanted to make sure that when we landed this film, it was with maximum power, potency and urgency.”

    The short film will stream on YouTube through election week. Each view of the film generates a donation to the film’s Purple Parlor Fund, which benefits non-partisan organizations in reproductive rights, justice and the film’s impact campaign.

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    Nicole Fell

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  • Top GOP Candidates for Senate Majority Leader Talk About How They’ll Thwart a Harris Agenda

    Top GOP Candidates for Senate Majority Leader Talk About How They’ll Thwart a Harris Agenda

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  • Playing In Our Faces: Donald Trump Tries To Distance Himself From #Project2025 Backlash — ‘I Know Nothing’

    Playing In Our Faces: Donald Trump Tries To Distance Himself From #Project2025 Backlash — ‘I Know Nothing’

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    Source: The Washington Post / Getty

    Donald Trump questionably claims he’s an expert on everything else, but now he expects us to believe he has “no knowledge” of Project 2025 and its oppressive plans to give him unprecedented power as president. After the plan, directed by Trump’s former chief of staff, exploded online, that would make him the last person in the country to hear about it. 

    In his Philly campaign rally speech, Trump stated, “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying, and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”

    According to AP News, he posted a statement distancing himself from Project 2025 on his social media website. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

    Wish them luck? PLEASE.

    Project 2025: The Drastic Plan Trump “Doesn’t Know About”

    Let’s break down what Trump is desperately trying to distance himself from. Project 2025 is a 922-page plan that proposes a massive expansion of presidential power. The project includes but isn’t limited to: 

    • firing up to 50,000 government workers to replace them with Trump loyalists (JUST SICK)
    • National abortions ban
    • Birth control, IVF, and STD Testing restrictions
    • Patient Data exposure
    • Eliminating the Department of Education and free school lunch programs
    • Enforcing Christian principles
    • Removing Environmental Protection Agency and protections for endangered species
    • Implementing tax policies that benefit the wealthy
    • Weaken unions and workplace safety regulations
    • End FBI efforts to combat disinformation
    • Repeal Acts for Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Fair Housing
    • End gender equality protections
    • Getting rid of DEI workers and training programs
    • Criminalizing LGBTQ+ rights and homelessness
    • Using the U.S. military against the U.S. citizens

    Yet Trump would have us believe he’s completely in the dark about it. It’s hard to swallow, especially given his past authoritarian actions and statements.

    The Social Media Firestorm

    What’s really pushed Trump into this awkward denial is the social media uproar. Project 2025 has been trending online and on television screens. As BOSSIP previously covered, celebrities such as Taraji P. Henson are taking part in the activism against it.

    Taraji didn’t hold back at the BET Awards, calling the oppressive overthrow of the government for what it is. Her bold move has put even more pressure on Trump and spread awareness of the initiative. Now, he’s backtracking and expecting us to fall for it despite his party’s track record of calling for these extremist policies.

    Trump can try to address the elephant in the room, but his response is far from convincing.

    Trump’s Ties to Project 2025 Figures

    The key players behind Project 2025 are all Trump insiders:

    • Paul Dans, the project’s director, was a former chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump.
    • John McEntee, a senior adviser, was the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office.
    • Russ Vought, a significant contributor, is on the Republican National Committee’s platform writing committee.

    With such close ties, Trump’s denial is more than just suspicious; it’s strategic.

    Conservative Leaders’ Radical Agenda

    Conservative leaders are openly declaring their revolutionary intentions to drag the U.S. back to the 1800s.

    AP News states that Kevin Roberts, Heritage Foundation President, declared on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

    With over 110 conservative groups involved, they’re pushing policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president. This isn’t just about Trump; it’s a full-blown attempt to reshape America.

    Trump’s Extreme Agenda

    Even if he’s trying to sidestep Project 2025, Trump’s own plans are still alarming. Research shows that he’s gearing up for a massive deportation operation and wants to potentially tariff all imports if he gets a second term.

    These proposals, when combined with Project 2025, paint a chilling picture of the future. It’s devastating enough that his SCOTUS picks have lifetime control over our laws and seemingly use it to dismantle more civil rights by the day.

    Trump’s campaign has previously warned outside allies not to speak for him, yet Karoline Leavitt, a campaign spokeswoman, has been featured in Project 2025’s videos. The hypocrisy is staggering.

    It’s as if they want to distance themselves while simultaneously keeping the radical base riled up. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too. 

    Democrats Sound the Alarm

    The Democratic response has been fierce. The Biden campaign has slammed Project 2025 as a “violent revolution to destroy the very idea of America.”

    AP found that Ammar Moussa from the Biden campaign described it as an “extreme policy and personnel playbook for Trump’s second term that should scare the hell out of the American people.”

    On Independence Day, the Biden campaign posted a dystopian image from “The Handmaid’s Tale” on X, captioned, “Fourth of July under Trump’s Project 2025.”

    It’s a clear warning about the dangerous path ahead. 

    What’s Next?

    Trump’s comments come as the Republican Party prepares to draft its party platform, and Project 2025 is gearing up to share a 180-day agenda for the next administration privately.

    As these developments unfold, the American public must stay alert and informed. Trump’s denial might be a tactical move, but the implications of Project 2025 are too significant and dangerous to ignore. 

    This isn’t just about political maneuvering; it’s about the future of our democracy and lives.

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    Lauryn Bass

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  • Texas Supreme Court Strikes Down Abortion Ban Challenge With ‘Deeply Offensive’ Ruling

    Texas Supreme Court Strikes Down Abortion Ban Challenge With ‘Deeply Offensive’ Ruling

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    The Texas Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge to the state’s restrictive abortion ban on Friday, ruling against 20 women, including some from North Texas, who allege state laws prevented them from receiving medical care after experiencing severe complications with their pregnancies. The lead plaintiff in the case, Zurawski v. Texas, was Amanda Zurawski who, while pregnant, “was forced to wait until she was septic to receive abortion care, causing one of her fallopian tubes to become permanently closed,” according to a complaint filed over a year ago…

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    Emma Ruby

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  • Florida issues emergency rules for medical treatment amid new abortion ban

    Florida issues emergency rules for medical treatment amid new abortion ban

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    With a law now in effect preventing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, Florida health-care regulators Thursday released emergency rules related to treating medical conditions that pose dangers to the lives of pregnant women or unborn children.

    The state Agency for Health Care Administration published two rules that apply to hospitals and abortion clinics. The rules came a day after the six-week law took effect, significantly restricting abortion access in the state.

    Regulators focused on certain medical conditions that might occur after six weeks of pregnancy and “can present an immediate danger to the health, safety and welfare of women and unborn children in hospitals and abortion clinics,” according to the rules.

    Those conditions are “premature rupture of membranes,” commonly known as a pregnant woman’s water breaking prematurely; situations when prematurely ruptured membranes cause doctors to induce births and babies die; ectopic pregnancies; and treatment of what are known as trophoblastic tumors.

    The rules involve record-keeping and reporting about the treatments. One of the rules requires hospitals to have written policies and procedures about maintaining records related to treating the conditions. It also includes directives about what must be included in policies.

    As an example, the rule said that, under the hospital policies, when a woman is diagnosed with premature rupture of membranes, “the patient shall be admitted for observation unless the treating physician determines that another course of action is more medically appropriate under the circumstances to ensure the health of the mother and the unborn baby.” If doctors choose another course of action, they would have to document the reasons.

    Also, both rules say that it “does not constitute an abortion” if doctors try to induce live births and babies die because of prematurely ruptured membranes. Similarly, treatment of ectopic pregnancies and trophoblastic tumors will not be considered abortions. The hospital rule would require doctors to document such treatments in patients’ medical records.

    An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg grows outside the main cavity of a woman’s uterus. “The fertilized egg can’t survive, and the growing tissue may cause life-threatening bleeding, if left untreated,” information on the Mayo Clinic’s website said.

    Trophoblastic tumors “form during abnormal pregnancies,” with some tumors malignant but the majority benign, according to information on the Cleveland Clinic website. What is known as gestational trophoblastic disease is rare, the website said.

    Florida lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 approved the six-week abortion limit. But it did not take effect until Wednesday, a month after the Florida Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a 15-week limit passed in 2022. The Supreme Court ruling also allowed the six-week law to move forward.

    The law includes limited exceptions for when abortions can be performed after six weeks. For instance, it would allow abortions if two physicians “certify in writing that, in reasonable medical judgment, the termination of the pregnancy is necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman other than a psychological condition.”

    But the law’s opponents have contended that the exceptions are impractical and that the six-week limit will threaten the health of women who might have a variety of medical conditions but are unable to obtain abortions.

    The rules published Thursday in the Florida Administrative Register pushed back against opponents, citing “disinformation.”

    “The Agency (for Health Care Administration) finds there is an immediate danger to the health, safety, and welfare of pregnant women and babies due to a deeply dishonest scare campaign and disinformation being perpetuated by the media, the Biden Administration, and advocacy groups to misrepresent the Heartbeat Protection Act (the six-week law) and the state’s efforts to protect life, moms, and families,” the rules said.

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    Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

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  • Newsom calls out Republican abortion policies in new ad running in Alabama

    Newsom calls out Republican abortion policies in new ad running in Alabama

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    In Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new political advertisement, two anxious young women in an SUV drive toward the Alabama state line.

    The passenger says she thinks they’re going to make it, before a siren blares and the flashing lights of a police car appear in the rearview mirror.

    “Miss,” a police officer who approaches the window says to the panicked driver, “I’m gonna need you to step out of the vehicle and take a pregnancy test.”

    The fictional video is the latest in a series of visceral advertisements the California governor has aired in other states to call out a conservative campaign to walk back reproductive rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion two years ago.

    Newsom’s “Campaign for Democracy” will air the ad on broadcast networks and digital channels in Montgomery, Ala., for two weeks beginning on Monday, according to Lindsey Cobia, a senior advisor to Newsom. The governor is seeking to draw attention to attempts by Republican leaders to make it more difficult for residents of states with abortion bans to travel to other states for reproductive care.

    Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Newsom, said the governor also is working with state lawmakers on a bill that would temporarily allow Arizona providers to provide abortion care to Arizona patients in California.

    Newsom’s office is coordinating the legislation with Arizona’s Gov. Katie Hobbs and Atty. Gen. Kris Mayes, Democrats who denounced a recent Arizona Supreme Court ruling that upheld an 1864 abortion ban. The ban, which has yet to take effect, allows only abortions that are medically necessary to save the life of a pregnant patient.

    “Arizona Atty. Gen. Kris Mayes identified a need to expedite the ability for Arizona abortion providers to continue to provide care to Arizonans as a way to support patients in their state seeking abortion care in California,” Richards said in a statement. “We are responding to this call and will have more details to share in the coming days.”

    California voters approved an amendment to the state constitution in 2022 that protects access to abortion up until the point that a doctor believes the fetus can survive on its own. Doctors are allowed to perform abortions at any stage if a pregnancy poses a risk to the health of the pregnant person.

    Since Roe vs. Wade was overturned, Newsom and state lawmakers have increased funding for people from out of state who seek abortions, and have cast the state as a safe haven for abortion services. The proposed legislation to make it easier for Arizona doctors to see patients in California is in response to an anticipated influx of patients from that state in light of the abortion ban.

    Democrats are seizing on the issue of abortion, which could offer a political advantage in a crucial election year.

    President Biden is campaigning for reelection in part on restoring the protections in Roe vs. Wade, and is blaming his presumptive GOP rival, former President Trump, for a wave of antiabortion policies.

    Trump recently said that abortion rights should be up to the states and that he would not sign a national ban, while at the same time taking credit for nominating conservative justices who helped overturn abortion rights in 2022.

    “He’s a liar. He’s not telling you the truth,” Newsom said in an interview with Jen Psaki on MSNBC. “He’s not level-setting. He’ll say whatever he needs to say on any day of the week.”

    Democrats nationally used Alabama as a lightning rod for the dangers of a Trump presidency earlier this spring after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in a lawsuit that embryos may be considered children — a move that temporarily halted in vitro fertilization services in the state. Republican leaders quickly reversed course and passed a bill to protect IVF, a process that usually involves the destruction of some embryos.

    Alabama bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with no exception for pregnancies arising from rape. State Atty. Gen. Steve Marshall said last year that he could criminally prosecute people in Alabama who help women obtain abortions elsewhere — a claim the U.S. Justice Department has refuted.

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    Taryn Luna

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  • ‘If you really want to stop abortions, get a vasectomy’: Critics oppose Florida’s ‘unborn child’ bill

    ‘If you really want to stop abortions, get a vasectomy’: Critics oppose Florida’s ‘unborn child’ bill

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    A House committee on Wednesday approved a controversial measure that would allow parents to file civil lawsuits seeking damages for the wrongful death of an “unborn child,” with critics of the bill saying it is too broad and could shrink the number of doctors who deliver babies in Florida.

    The proposal, now ready to go to the full House, would add “unborn child” to a law that allows family members to seek damages when a person’s death is caused by such things as wrongful acts or negligence.

    The bill (HB 651) has drawn intense pushback from abortion-rights advocates, who argue the proposed changes could put abortion providers and people who help women obtain abortions at risk of being sued.

    The House and Senate bill sponsors also led efforts last year to pass a law that seeks to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. But the sponsors maintain that this year’s bill is not abortion-related.

    “We are talking about human beings. We are talking about the human experience, the experience of the parents who have suffered a real loss. We are saying they have the right to seek recovery in our court system,” House sponsor Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, said before the House Judiciary Committee approved the bill Wednesday.

    But Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-Gainesville, said the proposal would have a chilling effect on doctors and women who might want abortions.

    “The most dangerous 60 days in the state of Florida is the legislative session. We are creating fear in the hearts and minds of the people in Florida. I am so tired of it. If you really want to stop abortions, get a vasectomy,” she said.

    Mark Delegal, a lobbyist who represents The Doctors Company, said his client is the largest insurer of physicians in the state and the nation. Florida already has the highest medical-malpractice insurance rates for obstetricians and gynecologists in the country, according to Delegal. Obstetricians in Miami pay about $226,000 a year in premiums, compared to $49,000 in Los Angeles, he said.

    Also, Delegal argued that the proposed changes would worsen a shortage of OB/GYNs in the state.

    “We have concerns and oppose this bill because it expands liability for health care providers, and that’s why we object to it,” he said.

    The proposal has come as the Florida Supreme Court weighs whether a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at protecting abortion rights meets legal requirements to go before voters in November. The court has until April 1 to decide on the issue.

    Supporters launched the ballot initiative after the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the six-week abortion bill. The six-week ban would go into effect if the Florida Supreme Court upholds a 2022 law that restricts abortions after 15 weeks.

    The Judiciary Committee voted 15-4 along party lines Wednesday to approve the bill about wrongful-death lawsuits. Under the bill, mothers could not be sued. But opponents contended the measure would open the door for rapists or men who have one-night-stands with women to seek damages against health care providers.

    “The latest Republican bill attacking abortion in Florida is extremely dangerous and would have major legal consequences,” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said in a statement. “The potential misuses are staggering — purposefully broad language could help abusers weaponize the judicial system to harass and punish their pregnant partners with costly civil lawsuits.”

    Florida is one of a handful of states that do not allow civil damages for the loss of an unborn child, Persons-Mulicka argued. Under a change adopted by the committee Wednesday, the bill would define an unborn child as “a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.”

    The majority of other states with wrongful-death laws that cover pregnancy loss, however, only allow recovery after the fetus has reached viability, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

    The change was added to the House bill after the Alabama Supreme Court on Friday ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are considered children.

    Rep. Dotie Joseph, a North Miami Democrat who is a lawyer, said the Florida bill could have a “chilling effect” for people seeking in vitro fertilization. Joseph also pointed to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision and left abortion rights up to states.

    “What is the impact on actual human beings? We are seeing so many negative impacts on real-life women and the consequences of these foolhardy, partisan-driven policies,” Joseph said. “There is a disconnect between the intention and the impact, and the impact is overall negative.”

    Some Republicans also expressed concerns about the bill.

    Rep. Paula Stark, R-St. Cloud, called the measure “way too broad.” While Stark supported the bill Wednesday, she said she would vote against it on the House floor unless it was more restrictive.

    But Persons-Mulicka pushed back.

    “You know that I’m not afraid to shy away from a discussion about abortion or the value of life or the overarching theme of personhood,” she said. “But none of that is what this bill is about. It’s very narrow in nature. It’s about the mother. It’s about the father. It’s about the value of the life of an unborn child to them, and it’s about a real loss … that was caused by the wrongdoing of another person.”

    Florida criminal law includes penalties for illegal killing of an unborn child, but the law includes exceptions for abortion. Democrats have urged Persons-Mulicka to amend her bill to mirror the criminal law.

    Committee Chairman Tommy Gregory, R-Lakewood Ranch, said people who commit abortion-related wrongdoing should be held responsible.

    “If you commit a negligent act or you commit a wrongful act, you should be liable. We are protecting the very most vulnerable and those that should be able to recover, under those situations,” he said.

    But Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Florida, argued that the bill “is not about helping grieving families” for pregnancy loss.

    “This deceptive bill is about making it even harder for Floridians to access the abortion care that they need,” she said.

    Persons-Mulicka, however, accused opponents of “misplaced fear.”

    “I agree there’s been a lot of talk of fear, but that’s fear-mongering,” she said. “What liability are they trying to escape? … We’re talking about wrongdoing and harm and we’re talking about human beings.”

    A similar Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, needs to clear one more committee before it could go to the full Senate.

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    Dara Kam, News Service of Florida

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  • The Pitch for a Unity Ticket in 2024 Keeps Getting Weaker

    The Pitch for a Unity Ticket in 2024 Keeps Getting Weaker

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    As questions endure about the electability and the competency of the two leading candidates for president, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, No Labels—a group that has pitched itself as a bipartisan band intent upon propping up a third-party candidacy with a “unity ticket” in 2024—seems to be adopting—if quietly—the latest Republican position du jour on abortion. The group’s position, tacitly endorsing a 15-week ban, has furthered the criticisms that they are a Republican stalking horse pitching unity but actually resolved to prove a spoiler to a Biden ticket.

    Since its inception, No Labels’ stance has been that Americans are sick of bitter partisanship and should have more options. In 2010, according to Slate, the group’s website posited that social issues like gay marriage and abortion “keep Americans from working together” and that it wanted “to help call a cease-fire in the culture wars by focusing on common ground goals rather than absolutist positions on the left or right.”

    But, today, No Labels doesn’t seem to be ignoring those so-called wedge issues at all. David Brooks listed some of them in a column for The New York Times last year, including “no guns for anyone under 21 and universal background checks” and “moderate abortion policies with abortion legal until about 15 weeks.”

    In July, the group published a policy booklet describing their approach to addressing the country’s most contentious issues. The phrasing is purposefully fuzzy. At first, they note that most abortions happen before 15 weeks, helping the argument that many Republican members have propped up as a “consensus” position on abortion. Then, they remark that Americans will not find a compromise on this issue until there’s a leader in office who navigates the issue with empathy and respect: “Abortion is too important and complicated an issue to say it’s common sense to pass a law—nationally or in the states—that draws a clear line at a certain stage of pregnancy.” 

    Republicans, including Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, former vice president Mike Pence, head of the Republican National Committee Ronna McDaniel, and failed presidential hopeful Tim Scott, among others, have taken up the 15-week stance. However, some antiabortion advocates have said that particular rhetoric has not helped the cause. “Talking about 15 weeks was incorrect,” Olivia Gans Turner, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life, an antiabortion group, said, according to a Politico report. “It became about the weeks, not about the ability of the unborn child to feel pain.”

    “It’s kind of no shock that No Labels is pushing an antiabortion agenda considering they are being run by a lot of Republicans with a vested interest in pushing an antiabortion agenda,” Alexandra De Luca, the vice president of strategic communications at American Bridge 21st Century, a progressive and Democratic research group, told Vanity Fair. Indeed, the group’s leadership includes Republicans Larry Hogan and Pat McCory, plus former Democrat turned independent Joe Lieberman. Notably, the politicians No Labels has propped up include Jon Huntsman and Joe Manchin. When Huntsman served as the Republican governor of Utah, he signed multiple pieces of antiabortion legislation. Manchin, meanwhile, has had a mixed record on abortion. He was the sole Democrat to vote alongside the entire Senate Republican caucus against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have enshrined the right to abortion nationwide as well as providing other reproductive rights protections. However, Manchin did say he would vote on a narrower codification of *Roe—*a position seemingly at odds with No Labels’ “compromise” ban, emphasizing the clumsiness of the group’s goals.

    Democratic wins in Ohio and, ostensibly, Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania this November have proved that abortion access is a motivating issue for voters. Reproductive rights advocates are also quick to argue that a 15-week ban is medically arbitrary, and it would just serve as a starting point for Republicans intent on banning abortion outright. No Labels has argued that a third-party ticket could siphon off enough votes from both parties to be a viable alternative. But polling only partially bears this premise out. Instead, a No Labels candidate would likely hurt Biden and help clear Trump’s path to the White House.

    While the White House has remained largely mum on No Labels’ mission, behind closed doors, it appears the effort is causing much angst within some Democratic circles. “What we hear universally from Democrats is deep concern about this,” said Matt Bennett, the executive vice president of public affairs at Third Way, a moderate Democratic think tank that has come out in opposition of a third-party candidacy.

    Bennett added in the July interview with Vanity Fair, “We have not encountered a single Democrat who doesn’t think this is bad, other than, you know, Senator Manchin himself, basically,”—a reference to the moderate West Virginia senator who earlier this year headlined a No Labels event and whose recent decision not to seek reelection amplified existing speculation that he might run third party for president. Even Representative Dean Phillips, a vocal advocate of widening the Democratic presidential primary field before he announced his own bid, told VF this summer that anyone running third party—such as Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—“Those people are absolutely helping Trump.”

    Former Michigan congressman Fred Upton, a Republican working with No Labels, seemingly said the quiet part out loud earlier this month. “I’d like to think that we’d have a Republican presidential candidate and a Democratic vice presidential candidate.”

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  • Newsom releases attack ad on DeSantis and Florida’s abortion ban

    Newsom releases attack ad on DeSantis and Florida’s abortion ban

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom released an ad Sunday attacking Florida’s six-week abortion ban as he and Gov. Ron DeSantis get set for a televised debate at the end of the month.

    The ad, called “Wanted,” lays the abortion restriction on DeSantis, who in April signed into law the “Heartbeat Protection Act” prohibiting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. DeSantis is also a Republican candidate for president.

    The ad was set to run in Florida and Washington, D.C., television markets on NFL Sunday Night Football, as well as on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on days leading up to the governors’ debate on Nov. 30. Hannity will moderate the 90-minute debate in Georgia, which will be broadcast on Fox News.

    In the ad, which looks like a wanted poster, Newsom intones: “By order of Gov. Ron DeSantis, any woman who has an abortion after six weeks and any doctor who gives her care will be guilty of a felony. Abortion after six weeks will be punishable by up to five years in prison. Even though many women don’t even know they’re pregnant at six weeks. That’s not freedom. That’s Ron DeSantis’ Florida.”

    The debate will come in the midst of a contentious Republican presidential contest, offering an odd sideshow in an already unusual political season dominated by former President Trump’s campaign to return to the White House while fighting criminal charges in Florida, New York, Washington, D.C., and Georgia.

    Newsom posted his ad on X, formerly known as Twitter, where DeSantis has posted a video criticizing California and promoting Florida.

    “Decline is a choice and success is attainable,” DeSantis said in a tweet accompanying the video. “As President, I will lead America’s revival. I look forward to the opportunity to debate Gavin Newsom over our very different visions for the future of our country.”

    DeSantis will also appear at the next Republican presidential primary debate on Dec. 6.

    Times staff writer Taryn Luna contributed to this report.

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  • Yes, Abortion Access Is a Motivating Issue for Voters

    Yes, Abortion Access Is a Motivating Issue for Voters

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    In Virginia, Democrats maintained control of the state Senate and flipped the House of Delegates. While one race remains uncalled, as of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats held a three-seat margin in both the Virginia House of Delegates and state Senate. The fear, ahead of Tuesday night, was that Republicans would win both chambers of the Virginia state legislature—gaining complete control of the state government and paving the way for Republican governor Glenn Youngkin’s agenda. As I previously reported, Democrats in the state called on the national Democratic Party and the White House over the summer to pay greater attention to the Virginia elections, arguing that Youngkin, who has been propped up as a potential alternative to Trump in 2024, posed a real threat given his influence within the commonwealth and his fundraising chops. “I’m a little bit amazed that this isn’t a higher priority…at the White House,” Virginia senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, told VF in August.

    Warner warned that Youngkin was not one to underestimate. Had Republicans won a trifecta on Tuesday night, the fear was that abortion access would be restricted, if not fully banned, as Youngkin has shifted his position on abortion from seeking a 15- to 20-week ban to saying he will sign “any bill…to protect life.” As Senator Tim Kaine put it to VF, “Make no mistake: If Republicans are successful in 2023, they will continue pushing their extreme agenda in 2024 and beyond.”

    Democrats’ success on Tuesday night comes amid escalating fears surrounding Joe Biden’s reelection odds prompted by troubling polls in which Biden is shown trailing Donald Trump in key battleground states. But in the wake of the results, the Biden camp was zealous in their defense of the president’s agenda—specifically on reproductive rights.

    “Tonight, Americans once again voted to protect their fundamental freedoms—and democracy won,” Biden said in a statement from the White House. “Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that put the health and lives of women in jeopardy, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors and nurses for providing the health care that their patients need and that they are trained to provide.”

    The statement continued, “This extreme and dangerous agenda is out-of-step with the vast majority of Americans. My administration will continue to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law once and for all.” 

    The elections across the country on Tuesday have been cast as a harbinger of whether or not Biden will win back the White House and which party will win the US House and Senate. For instance, in Ohio, the vote on Issue 1 has been tied tightly to Democratic senator Sherrod Brown’s reelection bid next year. Seen as one of the most vulnerable Democratic senators up for reelection, Brown’s success or failure in 2024 could determine if Democrats hold on to their majority in the Senate—a majority that, albeit slim, could serve as a bulwark against a national abortion ban if Republicans win the House and Trump beats Biden.

    Reproductive rights advocates are adamant that Republicans’ attacks on access will prove to be the party’s downfall in 2024. And according to public opinion polls, abortion continues to be a motivating issue for voters. A survey conducted by Impact Research of likely general election voters in 61 battleground congressional districts found that 64% of voters think abortion should be legal in all or some circumstances, according to data provided to VF. In contrast, just 6% think it should be completely illegal. Meanwhile, a majority of voters opposed overturning Roe v. Wade, and nearly 60% support a law that would protect abortion nationwide—including 47% who would strongly support such a law.

    “We’ve said it before, and we will say it again: When abortion is on the ballot, reproductive freedom wins,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. “Despite every effort and every dollar spent to mislead the public, voters made it clear that when given the choice, the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, lives, and futures will always prevail.”

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    Abigail Tracy

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  • “The National Model for How to Lose Elections”: North Carolina Republicans Pass 12-Week Abortion Ban, Overriding Governor’s Veto

    “The National Model for How to Lose Elections”: North Carolina Republicans Pass 12-Week Abortion Ban, Overriding Governor’s Veto

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    North Carolina’s Republican-led legislature has officially passed a 12-week abortion ban, after overturning Governor Roy Cooper’s veto. The Tuesday night vote served as a stunning final act to what has been a closely watched clash between Cooper, a Democrat, and North Carolina Republicans over the bill—including a recent Democrat-to-Republican convert, who, despite a long pro-abortion-rights record, voted for the ban. The conclusion—a cut to abortion access for not only North Carolinians, but also for the many women in neighboring states with even harsher restrictions—has re-emboldened Democrats nationally to bring a blue wave to the state. 

    “The dangerous antics by the North Carolina Republican Party are the national model for how to lose elections in 2023 and 2024,” Philip Shulman, a spokesperson for liberal super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, said. “As Republican legislators and the party’s top choice for governor, Mark Robinson, attack and take away people’s basic freedoms, voters have that much more reason to vote for Democrats up and down the ticket.”

    “North Carolina is a battleground state for 2024,” Jesse Ferguson, a veteran Democratic strategist tweeted after the vote. “GOP candidate is gonna own this.”

    Going into Tuesday’s vote, it was unclear whether Republicans could garner enough votes to trump Cooper’s opposition to the bill. “This is a very purple state, every battle is won or lost on a very tiny, tiny number of votes,” Jenny Black, the CEO and president of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, told Vanity Fair Monday evening. This played out the same way. The Senate voted 30 to 20 along party lines to override Cooper’s veto and the House also voted to override the veto in a final vote of 72 to 48; four Republicans who had previously said they did not favor tighter abortion restrictions supported the ban. 

    “North Carolinians now understand that Republicans are unified in their assault on women’s reproductive freedom and we are energized to fight back on this and other critical issues facing our state,” Cooper said in a statement following the vote Tuesday night. 

    The political calculus around abortion rights in North Carolina changed last month when House member Tricia Cotham defected from the Democratic ranks, providing Republicans with a slim supermajority. Previously an ardent supporter of abortion rights, Cotham voted for the 12-week ban. Her hypocrisy on the issue has been glaring. “My womb and my uterus is not up for your political grab,” she declared in a 2015 speech. Among the three other Republicans—House representatives Ted Davis and John Bradford, and state senator Michael Lee—who also staked out positions on the campaign trail against extreme abortion bans, two voted (Lee and Bradford) for the initial measure, and one (Davis) was absent. As Rolling Stone reported, just last year Bradford said he had “no intentions” of making North Carolina’s current 20-week abortion ban more restrictive. Similarly, in an op-ed, Lee staked out, “I am against bans in the first trimester.” And Davis said, “I believe in the [existing] law…. If a woman desires to have an abortion up to 20 weeks, which is the second trimester of pregnancy, she can have an abortion.” 

    Cooper has served as a bulwark against North Carolina Republicans’ conservative agenda for years now; the Democratic governor has vetoed more than 75 pieces of legislation since he took office in 2017. His veto, which he issued Saturday in Raleigh to a crowd of hundreds, was expected. “Standing in the way of progress right now is this Republican supermajority legislature that only took 48 hours to turn the clock back 50 years,” Cooper said. The governor spent the last week campaigning in Republican districts to urge constituents to sway their elected leaders.

    Black was hoping the political pressures would work. “November wasn’t that long ago,” she said ahead of Tuesday. Instead, this episode once again thrust North Carolina into Democrats’ purview nationally. A Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t won the state since Barack Obama in 2008 (Mitt Romney won the state in 2012). And despite Cooper’s victory in 2016 and hopes that Donald Trump’s drag on the GOP would help Democrats claim a Senate seat—or two—Republicans have held a mostly firm grasp on the state federally. Still, abortion has proven to be a salient issue for voters, even in much redder states than North Carolina. With that and Joe Biden’s wider appeal in southern states, Democrats appear to be more hopeful about their prospects. 

    Republicans pitched the 12-week ban as something of a compromise on the abortion issue. For instance, Republican senator Phil Berger characterized the bill as “a mainstream approach to limiting elective abortions.” But Democrats and abortion rights activists have dismissed this line of argument. “Make no mistake: Your actions today will harm women,” Representative Julie von Haefen, a Democrat, said on the House floor. And a Meredith poll in February showed that 57% of respondents supported the state’s current 20-week ban or expanding access further. 

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    Abigail Tracy

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  • Top Democrats Arrested Outside Florida Legislature For Protesting 6-Week Abortion Ban

    Top Democrats Arrested Outside Florida Legislature For Protesting 6-Week Abortion Ban

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    Eleven people, including some high-profile Democrats, were arrested in Tallahassee on Monday night during a peaceful protest against the proposed six-week abortion ban that is quickly moving through the Florida legislature.

    Among those arrested were state Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book (D) and Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried.

    Protesters were sitting in a circle, singing “Lean On Me” around 8 p.m. Eastern in front of the Tallahassee City Hall building when around 18 police officers descended from City Hall to handcuff and arrest them, according to several activists and lawmakers at the scene.

    The six-week abortion ban passed the Florida Senate on Monday afternoon along party lines, except for two Republicans who voted against the restriction. The Florida House will likely vote on the bill in the next week or two, and the ban would then be on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) desk sometime this month.

    The legislation not only bans abortion at six weeks — a point at which most people don’t realize they’re pregnant — but also bans telehealth for abortion care and allots $25 million annually for deceptive anti-abortion pregnancy centers.

    Officers told protesters they were arrested and detained because the group was trespassing after 8 p.m., Book and several other arrested activists told HuffPost.

    Two police officers told the activists around 5 p.m. that the director of City Hall had closed the building and that the group needed to vacate the area, the advocates said, adding that there was a sign in the park that stated people could be there until sundown. The activists elected to stay, despite the confusion.

    “The Republican legislature seems to be blinded by the power of Gov. DeSantis and his ambitions to run for president,” Fried told HuffPost. “They’re passing one of the most restrictive bans in the entire country on the backs of the women of our state so he can run for president. And we just weren’t going to take it.”

    “What’s happening here in Florida isn’t going to stay in Florida.”

    – Kate Danehy-Samitz, founder of Women’s Voices for Southwest Florida

    Book has loudly supported abortion care in Florida, giving an impassioned speech against the state’s 15-week abortion ban before it passed last session and again on Monday before the six-week ban passed the state Senate.

    “I feel a deep sense of responsibility to stand up as the Democratic leader in the Florida Senate who was responsible, quite frankly, for the Senate races that we lost,” she told HuffPost. “Coming back in a superminority … I feel like I had a job to do and it didn’t get done, and so I have to do everything — give up everything that I have — to make sure that women and girls are kept safe.”

    The group was booked and detained until around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Fried and Book told HuffPost they were released together around midnight.

    State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D) was at the jail to help the activists get released. Democratic state Sens. Lori Berman, Jason Pizzo and Linda Stewart were also at the jail working to get all 11 people released.

    “Those who are expressing a First Amendment right in opposition to [the six-week abortion ban] have every right to do so. It was unacceptable that they were arrested for peacefully protesting,” Eskamani, who worked at Planned Parenthood for six years before joining the Florida House, told HuffPost.

    “This is just another indication that Florida is where freedom goes to die,” she added.

    The six-week ban is expected to pass, but will not go into effect until the Florida Supreme Court rules on a challenge to the state’s current 15-week ban on abortion.

    Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried is arrested by Tallahassee police outside of City Hall on April 3, 2023.

    Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat via AP

    Sarah Parker, president of Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida, was another one of the activists arrested Monday night.

    “If you are considering arresting us, know that these are mothers. We have children to go home to, including myself,” Parker recalled telling one of the police officers earlier in the day. Six of the 11 arrested were from Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida, one of the main groups behind demonstrations on Monday.

    Pro-choice activists from a coalition of groups showed up at the state Capitol building early Monday morning to protest ahead of the full Senate vote on the legislation. Several activists interrupted the floor vote from the galley, shouting pro-choice statements while anti-choice lawmakers spoke.

    “Maternal mortality rates are three times higher in states that banned abortion post-Dobbs,” Kat Duesterhaus, the communications director at Florida National Organization for Women, yelled from the gallery before being escorted out.

    “Don’t like abortion? Just ignore them, like you do with the 400,000 children in foster care,” another protester shouted. The interruptions caused state Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R) to clear the public from the gallery before the full vote took place.

    The day of demonstrations was organized by Occupy Tallahassee, a coalition of groups that included Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida, Florida NOW, the League of Women Voters, Indivisible Pro-Choice Pinellas and Planned Parenthood’s Bans Off Our Bodies.

    Kate Danehy-Samitz, founder of Women’s Voices for Southwest Florida and one of the protesters detained, issued a warning to the rest of the country.

    “What’s happening here in Florida isn’t going to stay in Florida,” they told HuffPost. “What Ron DeSantis is doing is using Florida as a stepping stool, as a playbook, for his plans for America. And that’s not an America we can live in. That’s not a free country.”

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  • Republicans Are Only Getting Sneakier With Their Antiabortion Proposals

    Republicans Are Only Getting Sneakier With Their Antiabortion Proposals

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    Kansans may have resoundingly rejected an antiabortion referendum last year, by a striking double-digit margin, to ensure reproductive rights remain enshrined in the state constitution, but that wasn’t deterrence enough for the state’s Republican legislators. Nor was, apparently, the Republican Party’s relatively poor performance this past midterm cycle—one largely defined by the fall of Roe v. Wade. “I’m hearing a lot from my constituents who believe we should continue to do more to help the unborn,” Wichita state senator Chase Blasi told reporters earlier this month, proposing a law that would allow cities and counties to regulate abortions, in spite of state protections.

    These first few weeks of 2023 suggest it’s not that Republican lawmakers missed the abortion memo—they simply don’t seem to care. In Washington, a newly empowered Republican House passed an antiabortion bill during its first full week in the majority. And across the country, Republican state lawmakers continue the crusade against reproductive rights, attempting to find ways to circumvent popular opinion, and even statutory protections. 

    “We knew all along that they weren’t going to be satisfied with overturning Roe v. Wade,” Abby Ledoux, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Action Fund, says of antiabortion lawmakers and activists in an interview with Vanity Fair. Reflecting on the slew of legislation that has been introduced in state houses across the country so far this year, Ledoux adds, “They’re not done and they’re coming for more rights.” 

    Since the start of the year, across 27 states, more than 105 bills that would restrict abortion have been filed or prefiled—(meaning, not all of them have been formally introduced), according to Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Many of these bills would ban abortion—some at fertilization; six bills—filed in Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Texas, Wyoming, and West Virginia—would specifically target medication abortions, according to the fund; others would impose harsh criminal penalties for doctors and abortion-seekers. Of course, not all of these bills are expected to pass, but they do lay bare the ever changing legal and political landscape in post-Roe America. 

    It isn’t just the overt attempts at restricting abortion access that concern reproductive rights activists. But also what Ledoux refers to as “underhanded attempts” and “work-arounds” that have the potential to “subvert democracy, to thwart the will of the people, and to really rig the game” in pursuit of unpopular political agendas. For instance, in Ohio, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would require a supermajority threshold of 60%, as opposed to a simple majority of voters, to pass ballot measures to amend the state constitution. Similar legislation was also introduced in Arizona. 

    “We continue to see a wide gulf between how voters are expressing their desires and how many extremist legislatures are acting,” Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, an advocacy group that backs progressive ballot measures, says. 

    “Ballot measures are never anyone’s first path. They are always a response to a dysfunctional legislative system,” Hall says. But, she adds, “Ballot measures remain a really key strategy for circumventing legislatures that are not listening to us. And because of that, those same legislatures are also trying to tighten their grip on their own power and make it harder for voters to participate in direct democracy and use ballot measures.” During the midterms, reproductive rights activists claimed victory on five of the five abortion-related referendums on the ballot. 

    But it is not just ballot measures that Republicans are targeting. House Republicans in North Carolina seek to change the rules to make it easier to override a governor’s veto. In West Virginia, lawmakers got rid of the process altogether; bills can speed through the process without going through committee, hearings, or debates. The Utah state legislature is currently voting on a bill that would change the threshold for parties to obtain a judicial injunction—like the one that blocked the initial abortion ban in the state. Lawmakers in Kansas, similarly, want to make it easier to impeach judges. 

    These attempts don’t only have really grave implications for abortion rights, but, as Ledoux points out, “a whole range of other rights that we know are also threatened and under attack in many of these states.” 

    Republican lawmakers continue to signal that they aren’t walking away with having just unraveled federal protections. “As many of us suspected, this issue will keep coming back and keep coming back,” state Senator Cindy Holscher, a Kansas Democrat, said after her Republican colleague proposed moving abortion regulations to the local level. “General citizens feel like, Okay, that issue’s been settled.” But even though the dust has barely settled from the 2022 midterms, Democrats are already bracing for another election cycle about abortion rights.

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    Abigail Tracy

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  • Judge Dismisses First Attempt To Sue Over Texas’ Citizen-Enforced Abortion Ban

    Judge Dismisses First Attempt To Sue Over Texas’ Citizen-Enforced Abortion Ban

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    A Texas judge on Thursday dismissed the first and only attempt by someone to sue a health care provider for violating the state’s citizen-enforced abortion ban, saying he wouldn’t consider it because the person who filed the lawsuit had no connection to the alleged crime.

    The ruling marks the first test of Senate Bill 8, last year’s Texas law banning anyone from aiding or abetting an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The law was able to survive court challenges because of its unique enforcement mechanism deploying citizens ― not the government ― to sue over any alleged violations. The ban went into effect before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, clearing the way for Texas and other red states to then pass even stricter abortion bans.

    But Thursday’s decision by Bexar County Judge Aaron Haas shows that everyday citizens hoping to collect a $10,000 bounty from the state for reporting abortions may need to clear more hurdles.

    A person holds a sign at a pro-choice protest in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.

    SUZANNE CORDEIRO via Getty Images

    “This is a significant win against S.B. 8’s bounty-hunting scheme because the court rejected the notion that Texas can allow a person with no connection to an abortion to sue,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.

    The group was part of the legal team representing the physician named in the lawsuit, Dr. Alan Braid, who wrote in a 2021 opinion piece for The Washington Post that he knowingly violated S.B. 8 weeks after it went into effect by performing an abortion on a patient in her first trimester. Shortly after the article’s publication, Braid was sued by Felipe Gomez, a former Chicago lawyer whose license is suspended and who has no connection to Braid or the patient he served.

    “When I provided my patient with the care she needed last year, I was doing my duty as a physician,” Braid said in a statement Thursday. “It is heartbreaking that Texans still can’t get essential health care in their home state and that providers are left afraid to do their jobs.”

    Judge Haas determined Thursday that there’s a constitutional standard requiring a plaintiff to prove they were directly impacted by the abortion in order to sue. Though his decision doesn’t strike down S.B. 8, the Center for Reproductive Rights says it’s hopeful the ruling sets an important precedent discouraging more bystanders from following in Gomez’s footsteps.

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