Repro Round Up 11.3.23
While the readers of Repro Roundup are some of the most active repro champs in New England, they are certainly not the only folks who support abortion patients! New polling from Commonwealth Beacon shows that 72% of Bay Staters support physicians in Massachusetts providing care to out-of-state patients. The polling data also showed that a majority of Massachusetts’ residents think that our bold abortion access laws give our state a competitive advantage.
Not only does this affirm what we know to be true – that Massachusetts residents support reproductive equity for all, including those who don’t live in the Commonwealth – but in the words of our president, Rebecca Hart Holder, “today’s polling serves as a public mandate for our commonwealth to go even further in expanding access to abortion and protecting patients traveling to our state.”
Read the Commonwealth Beacon story.
Onto this week’s headlines—
New England Round Up
→ Executive Director of Equality Health Center in NH Pens Op-Ed on Importance of Municipal Repro Leadership
Jinelle Hobson, the Executive Director of Equality Health Center, one of New Hampshire’s two independent abortion clinics, penned an op-ed about why next week’s Concord municipal elections are critical to the future of reproductive health care access in the city and beyond. We know that the fight for reproductive equity is right here in our backyard—in our cities and towns. We were thrilled to help Jinelle and the team place this piece!
→ CT Mirror: CT Expanded Abortion Access, What Does That Mean?
In the wake of the Dobbs decision, Connecticut took major steps to expand access to abortion, from expanding who can perform abortion to extending access to HUSKY for undocumented people seeking abortion and enacting a legal shield to protect doctors who provide abortions. The Connecticut Mirror took a look at where those provisions stand today—and chatted with Connecticut State Director Liz Gustafson! Read the piece.
→New Hampshire Legislature Holds Hearing on Bill to Ban Gender Affirming Surgery for Minors
Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire are attempting to restrict access to gender affirming surgery for minors. This week, lawmakers held a hearing on a legislative amendment to a bill that would prohibit doctors from performing transition-related genital surgeries on minors, or even referring patients to another provider for such services. While we know that gender affirming surgeries are extremely rare for minors, a blanket ban on health care decisions that should be left to a person and their doctor is flagrant government overreach. These simultaneous attacks on abortion and gender-affirming care do not come as a surprise—we know that far-right politicians are using the same playbook to attack bodily autonomy and continue on their campaign of control. Every person should have the freedom to make personal decisions about their body and health care, free from political interference. Read the Globe’s coverage.
→ Menstrual Equity & Pharmacist Prescribing of PrEP Bills Pass MA Senate
Last week, the Massachusetts Senate passed two bills to advance health equity in the state. The I AM Bill (S.1381, H.534) would take steps to end period poverty in Massachusetts by providing access to free menstrual products to all menstruating individuals in schools, shelters, and incarcerated facilities. The second bill (S. 2480, H.2225) would expand access to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) by permitting pharmacists to dispense a 60-day supply without a prescription. Now, advocates are calling on the House to take up these bills and pass them into law!
→ Maine Law Expanding Access to Abortion Throughout Pregnancy Takes Effect
Maine’s new law expanding access to abortion throughout pregnancy went into effect last week. The new law allows abortion to be performed at any time throughout pregnancy with the approval of a physician, making Maine one of the least restrictive states for abortion access in the country. Previously, Maine banned abortion after fetal viability with exceptions for the life and the health of the mother. However, due to vagueness in the statute, people still had to leave the state for care later in pregnancy. Bottom line: we should not be legislating health care. Every person should have access to the care they need, when they need it. Read more.
→ Reproductive Equity Now Endorsed Jon Zlotnik for State Senate
Abortion is on the ballot this Election Day—even here in Massachusetts. Reproductive Equity Now has endorsed Rep. Jon Zlotnik in a tight race for the State Senate in the Worcester & Hampshire District. During his time in the State House, Jon has consistently worked to advance reproductive equity in Massachusetts. He’s supported bills to increase access to midwives, improve our state’s sex education framework, and has voted to expand access to abortion post-Dobbs. We need to back Jon against his staunch anti-abortion opponent. Rep. Peter Durant has voted against codifying abortion rights into Massachusetts law, voted against protections for Massachusetts abortion and gender-affirming care providers post-Dobbs, and sponsored a bill to restrict medication abortion access in the state. Take a look at GBH’s breakdown of the race.
National Notice
→ New House Speaker Mike Johnson is Halloween’s Scariest Surprise
Spooky season may be over, but the GOP keeps pumping out new anti-abortion, far-right extremist ghouls to haunt reproductive freedom seekers everywhere. Allow us to introduce you to new House Speaker Mike Johnson. Not only is Speaker Johnson an election-denying, bank-account hiding, Trump-loving extremist, but his views on abortion and LGBTQ+ rights are especially beyond the pale. Johnson is on the record comparing legal abortion to the Holocaust, blaming abortion for school shootings, advocating against transgender health care and legal recognition, and claiming that homosexuality led to the fall of the Roman Empire (among other unsavory things about the LGBTQ+ community). Mike Johnson has also led a crusade to ban birth control and frequently spewed disinformation about emergency contraception, calling it an abortifacient (it’s not), and supported efforts to prevent nurses from having to inform patients about the option for emergency contraception.
If Mike Johnson is going to attempt to undercut our abortion access, birth control access, LGBTQ+ rights, and democracy at the federal level, we will have to work twice as hard to defend our rights at the state level. That’s what Repro Equity Now is here to do.
→ Repro Movement Mourns the Loss of the Great Andrea Miller
Our week began with incredibly sad news for the movement – Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health and NIRH’s Action Fund, passed away suddenly. Andrea was a giant in the movement for over two decades. She served as the Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts (what is now Reproductive Equity Now), and under her leadership, Massachusetts advanced access to birth control by eliminating co-pays for contraception, laying the groundwork for the Affordable Care Act. Early on in her career, Andrea helped found the Center for Reproductive Rights, a critical legal resource in the reproductive rights, health, and justice movement. Andrea is an irreplaceable member of the repro movement, and her legacy will live on for many years to come as a guiding light for all of us. You can read a statement from our President, Rebecca Hart Holder, here.
→ Ohio Secretary of State Purges Voter Rolls Before Tuesday’s Election on Abortion Rights
Clearly fearing the “Yes on Issue One” momentum, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose purged over 26,000 voters from the Ohio voter rolls without making any announcement. Importantly, this voter roll purge was supposed to occur in late August in advance of the special election for a ballot measure that would have ended legal abortion access in Ohio, but LaRose ordered his office to delay it until after the election. However, when his team lost round 1, he clearly felt the need to cheat in advance of round 2. Voters affected by the purge can re-register, but will be unable to vote in the upcoming election, as the registration deadline has already passed. These anti-abortion extremists know that the only way for them to win is to cheat. Read more.
→ New Data Shows Number of Abortions Nationwide Did Not Decrease Post-Dobbs
A new report by the Society for Family Planning, a nonprofit specializing in abortion and sexual health science, found that despite abortion being fully banned in 14 states, the number of abortions did not significantly change post-Dobbs. While the decimation of abortion rights is devastating and should not be minimized, these findings highlight the steps many protected states have taken to meet the need for abortion care and expand access so that patients with the means or support to travel can receive care. We know that New England states will remain critical points of access for patients across the nation. Read more.
→Washington Post: Faced With Abortion Bans, Doctors Beg Hospitals for Help With Key Decisions
An article in the Washington Post last weekend detailed the chaos the health care systems in abortion-ban states are experiencing amidst new abortion restrictions post-Dobbs. One particularly damning observation from the article highlights how hospital administrators have hung physicians out to dry – “Of the 37 hospitals that responded to The Post’s requests, documents provided by 28 institutions revealed they offered guidance that was virtually identical to the language of the abortion ban, or no guidance at all.” We know that these laws, with their thin exceptions that are meant to make deeply inhumane laws look compassionate, have the express goal of preventing abortion in any circumstance. And due to the confusion and fear of hospital administrators, they are succeeding. Read the story.
→Abortion Coverage is Limited or Unavailable at a Quarter of Large US Workplaces
According to the Albany Herald-Democrat, abortion coverage on company insurance policies is either not available or severely restricted at nearly 25% of American workplaces. Ten percent of America’s largest employers, in companies with more than 200 employees, do not provide abortion coverage at all. Some employers cannot provide abortion coverage by state law, and in certain instances – especially for companies of over 5,000 employees – employers provide a travel stipend for workers who may have to leave the state to access abortion care. 18% of surveyed companies only cover abortion care in cases of rape, incest, or fetal inviability. Read more.
Get Involved With Reproductive Equity Now
- Massachusetts -
📍VIRTUAL! Election Phonebanking
This Tuesday, abortion is on the ballot — from Ohio to Worcester. Every conversation matters in the lead up to Tuesday’s election, so sign up to make calls for these critical elections with Team Repro Equity Now!
Phonebank for Jon Zlotnik for State Senate
(Learn more about Jon Zlotnik’s record of protecting repro freedom!)
Monday, November 6th from 5-8 PM
SIGN UP HERE
Phonebank for Ohio’s Yes on 1 Ballot Initiative
(Learn more about Yes on 1 & the fight to protect abortion rights in OH!)
Tuesday, Election Day, November 7th from 3-6 PM
SIGN UP HERE
📍NORTH SHORE! Organizing for Equity: Salem Roe’d Show
Join Reproductive Equity Now for the next stop of our Roe’d Show in Salem, MA on Monday, November 13th from 6-7:30 PM. We’ll dig in together on the state of abortion access in Massachusetts and nationwide, how to talk about abortion like an advocate, ways to identify (& avoid) those dangerous and deceptive anti-abortion centers, and how we can build an unstoppable movement for repro equity together. RSVP here for the Roe’d Show!
📍BROOKLINE! Private Screening of Preconceived
Join Repro Equity Now on December 5th for a private screening of Preconceived, a new documentary by Sabrine Keane and Kate Dumke that sheds light on the ways in which anti-abortion centers, or “crisis pregnancy centers,” deceive and manipulate pregnant people while they are trying to make deeply personal decisions about their reproductive lives and futures. The film exposes the coordinated national anti-abortion network and shares the stories of two women, Maleeha and Maria, who have been impacted by these facilities. Purchase your tickets today!
- New Hampshire -
📍ANYWHERE! Follow Repro Equity Now on Social Media
Stay up to date on the latest in the reproductive equity movement by following Reproductive Equity Now on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Tik Tok.
📍CONCORD! Share Jinelle Hobson’s Op-Ed
Help us spread the word about how important Tuesday’s Concord elections are. Share Equality Health Center’s Jinelle Hobson’s op-ed on the importance of voting for repro candidates at the municipal level on social media and with your networks!
📍VIRTUAL! Phonebank for Ohio’s Yes on 1 Ballot Initiative
Sign up to make calls to protect abortion rights in Ohio. Join Team Repro Equity Now on Tuesday, November 7th from 3-6 PM. Learn more about the Yes on 1 campaign and sign up for the phonebank HERE.
- Connecticut -
📍ANYWHERE! Follow Repro Equity Now on Social Media
Stay up to date on the latest in the reproductive equity movement by following Reproductive Equity Now on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Tik Tok.
📍VIRTUAL! Phonebank for Ohio’s Yes on 1 Ballot Initiative
Sign up to make calls to protect abortion rights in Ohio. Join Team Repro Equity Now on Tuesday, November 7th from 3-6 PM. Learn more about the Yes on 1 campaign and sign up for the phonebank HERE.
Our Resources
Need to understand your legal rights to provide or access abortion care? Reproductive Equity Now’s Abortion Legal Hotline will help connect Massachusetts-based health care providers and helpers, as well as patients obtaining care in Massachusetts, with free legal advice and resources about abortion access.
Looking for an abortion provider in your area? Our New England Abortion Care Guide [http://reproequitynow.org/abortioncareguide] allows you to search by zip code for legitimate abortion clinics near you. It even flags dangerous and deceptive anti-abortion centers to avoid at all costs.
Do you want to help advance reproductive equity in your community? Our Win & Deliver Toolkit offers policy proposals and supporting materials to serve as a starting point for municipal leaders looking to move the needle forward on reproductive equity.
Thank you so much for powering this fight.
We’re grateful to have you in the movement with us.