On abortion access in a Post-Roe America
I have two pieces published today that are (unfortunately) well-timed with each other.
1. The first is a Q&A in The American Prospect with Robin Marty, a reproductive rights journalist. She wrote a new book on abortion access in a Post-Roe America, and is so sure we’re headed to that point, that she’s even willing to predict what year it will happen (2021) and what lawsuit the Supreme Court will hear (a ban on D&E abortions, currently being considered by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals).
The conversation was challenging, surprising, and at times provocative. She thinks that at this point, overturning Roe would ultimately be a good thing, given the present reality. She also thinks we need to be talking more about civil disobedience, preparing for ramped up surveillance measures, and thinking more seriously about building an infrastructure of housing and transportation to most efficiently help women travel across the country to access care when they’ll need it. She also thinks we should push more seriously for laws that permit abortion outside of formal medical institutions, and redistributing power away from national reproductive rights groups. I don’t know if I agreed with everything, but I think her ideas are important, timely, and absolutely worth talking about.
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The second story, in The Intercept, is about something happening right now in Georgia. Many people don’t realize this but the Atlanta metro region serves as an important hub for women across the south to access abortion services. There are reproductive restrictions in Georgia (a 20-week ban, for example) but comparatively speaking, it can be much easier for women to travel to Atlanta than to terminate their pregnancies in their home southern states that have even more prohibitive laws, like 72-hour waiting periods.
A new bill introduced late last month in Georgia would jail abortion providers up to ten years in prison, and fine them up to $100,000, if Roe were overturned. The law explicitly names doctors, nurses, physician assistants and pharmacists. This so-called “trigger law” would require the governor’s signature to take effect if Roe were overturned, and Republican Governor Brian Kemp has already declared he would sign it. If Robin Marty is correct, this could become a reality in two years.
And what about Georgia women who self-induce their own abortions? Accidentally or intentionally? Could they be punished, too? The legislation is notably vague on those questions. But as we’ve seen over the last few years, states have begun to ramp up their prosecution of women who end their pregnancies. While many anti-choice activists say they oppose punishing women for abortions, and argue only the “abortionists” — or doctors — should face criminal sanctions, reproductive rights advocates note that prosecuting women who seek the procedure is the next step in the “abortion is murder” framework. A woman who self-induces an abortion becomes “the abortionist” and could conceivably be charged with a crime.
I wrote about this new bill in Georgia, and spoke with activists and abortion providers in the state. The Georgia House also passed a six-week abortion bill late Thursday night, so the political situation does not look great, but at the same time, Stacey Abrams came very close to being elected governor in the last election, and Democrats also picked up 13 new seats in the state’s legislature in 2018. The remaining suburban GOP electeds are likely not thrilled about having to vote on a bill like this headed into 2020. Neither bills are guaranteed to pass, but they very well could, and are worth all the protestation and attention they can get. You can read more about it here.