Dear John,
It’s been quite a week on the frontlines of the abortion wars.
With less than two months to go until the midterm elections, Senate Republicans led by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) this week introduced a bill to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The bill, which long has been anticipated since even before June’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade, does not have the votes to pass as the Senate currently stands. But if this fall’s elections shift the balance of power in the Senate and House, that could change. Don't believe us—Graham said so: "If we take back the House and Senate, I can assure you we'll have a vote."
“This bill shows the true Republican position: They want to ban abortion—for everyone. In every single state. And they want to punish doctors. They want to put them in prison for doing their jobs,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on the floor of the House Wednesday. “To anyone who lives in a blue state, like mine—anyone who thinks they are safe from these attacks here is the painful reality: Republicans are coming for your rights.”
This week too, there were significant victories for abortion advocates and their allies in the courts and statehouses. In a forceful, 39-page order, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher ruled that the state’s 1931 law banning abortion violates the state’s constitution, because it would “deprive pregnant women of their right to bodily integrity and autonomy, and the equal protection of the law.” Gleicher concluded, “a law denying safe, routine medical care not only denies women of their ability to control their bodies and their lives—it denies them their dignity. Michigan’s Constitution forbids this violation of due process.”
And California's legislature recently passed a law that would increase digital privacy protections for abortion-related communications sent via California-based tech companies. The bill is meant to address situations like the recent case of a Nevada 17-year-old, who is being prosecuted along with her mom after law enforcement officials subpoenaed Facebook messages in which she discussed obtaining and using abortion pills.
As we report in our forthcoming fall issue, abortion is on the ballot in this fall’s midterms. And those on the front lines—abortion providers and doctors and nurses who provide reproductive health services—are feeling the heat of the abortion wars more than ever. One provider told Ms. that it has become “devastating to practice medicine” in the wake of the ruling. “You come to work every day and hope that the decisions you make are the best decisions for your patients, and that those decisions don’t land you in jail,” she added.
Let that sink in. Doctors who are trained to deliver medical care in the best interest of their patients’ health, are now risking prosecution for providing lifesaving procedures. Tragically, decreased access to abortion care nationwide will have devastating effects when it comes to America’s maternal mortality crisis. A nationwide abortion ban would only worsen this public health emergency.
Ms. is following and reporting on all the developments from the front lines of the abortion wars and the upcoming elections. We thank you for reading!
