Reproductive Rights News Roundup

FL Senate panel approves 15-week abortion ban; no exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking
By Isaac Morgan and Imani Thomas
Florida Phoenix
In the Legislature’s first Senate hearing on a proposed 15-week abortion ban, GOP lawmakers and anti-abortion activists supported the measure, even after Democrats tried to amend the legislation to allow for rape, incest and human trafficking exceptions.

Doctors Speak Out Against FL Fast-Tracking 15-Week Abortion Ban
By Trimmel Gomes
Public News Service Florida
Republicans in the Florida Legislature are fast-tracking a 15-week abortion ban over the objections of activists and medical professionals.

Lori Berman, Anna Eskamani join 450 doctors and health care workers in speaking against 15-week abortion ban
By Daniel Figueroa IV
Florida Politics
Sen. Lori Berman and Rep. Anna V. Eskamani joined a group of doctors Wednesday for a news conference speaking against a proposed 15-week abortion ban in Florida.

Senate Republicans push abortion bill through first committee stop
By Jason Delgado
Florida Politics
Excerpt: In an unusual move, Book and Senate Democrats opted to forgo debate and allow doctors in attendance to speak and take questions on the possible harms of a 15-week abortion ban. Lawmakers throughout the meeting — none of whom are doctors — debated often over medical terms and conflicting abortion research. “It was really important to us that we actually be led by doctors and providers to give us that information,” Book explained.

Abortion isn’t usually an election-year issue. It is in Florida with 15-week ban proposed
By Kirby Wilson and Romy Ellenbogen
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Voters don’t want to hear elected officials talk about abortion. So says Democratic pollster Molly Murphy. As the calendar inches closer to the 2022 elections, she said in an interview, the electorate has more pressing concerns, such as inflation, the coronavirus and local schools.

In the abortion debate, Florida Republicans tell rape and incest victims ‘tough luck’
Editorial
Miami Herald
There was a time when men who were anti-abortion didn’t bother to hide their lack of empathy for women who end up pregnant as the result of rape or incest.

Republican lawmakers look to undercut Florida’s abortion laws
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The right to an abortion is under threat, and Republicans in the Florida Legislature are riding that momentum right through long-established law.

Democrats expect Republicans to give no ground in abortion fight
By Jason Delgado
Florida Politics
House Minority Leader Evan Jenne on Monday said Democratic opposition would remain firm against a proposal that would ban abortion after 15 weeks, even if Republicans offer to include exceptions for rape or incest.

Now is the time to speak up on abortion legislation
By Juanita Powell-Williams, et al
Florida Times-Union
Would it surprise you to know that just 50 years ago, it was illegal to have an abortion?

Access to Safe and Legal Abortion is an Established Right
By N. Alice Newlon
Bradenton Times
Access to safe and legal abortion isn’t just a constitutional right; it is a human right.

Minority women most affected if abortion is banned, limited
By Emily Wagster Pettus and Leah Willingham
Associated Press
If you are Black or Hispanic in a conservative state that already limits access to abortions, you are far more likely than a white woman to have one.

Experts Say Crisis Pregnancy Centers Could Spy On And Report Women Seeking An Abortion
By Nicole Fallert
BuzzFeed News
Victoria Torres Garcia listened as two women spoke to her in a private room about the risks of seeking an abortion.

Florida judge grants 17-year-old’s appeal to seek abortion without parental consent
By Asha C. Gilbert
USA Today
A Florida teen won her appeal to seek an abortion without parental consent after a judge had denied the request.

Online forum draws hundreds of faith leaders to counter religious opposition to abortion
By Alejandra Molina
Religion News Service
A Presbyterian pastor, the Rev. Angela Williams, sees it as her calling to do ministry supporting reproductive justice — helping houses of worship break the stigma around “our sexualities and reproductive lives.”

Jex Blackmore Swallows Abortion Pill on Fox News: “It’s Literally This Easy”
By Ramona Flores and Carrie N. Baker
Ms. Magazine
Activist and artist Jex Blackmore has never shied away from controversy in her work. In the past, she attended an alt-right march dressed as a clown, dragged a large cross dressed as a pregnant, female Jesus figure through anti-choice protesters, and was pelted by 100 pounds of rotten fruit while waiting for her second abortion.

I Safely Self-Managed My Abortion. More People Deserve That Option.
By Aryn
Truthout
In January, Ohio health care providers launched a challenge to block a new abortion restriction enacted in December 2021, which threatens to shutter clinics across the state.

Abortion and the Politicization of Black Women’s Bodies
By Jilisa R. Milton
Bloomberg
Civil rights attorney Jilisa R. Milton discusses the roots of the anti-abortion movement and the legacy of reproductive injustices for Black women specifically.

How Congress Can Respond to the Supreme Court’s Attack on Abortion Rights
By Jessica Mason Pieklo
Rewire
Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA), a member of Congress since 2013, has built a career on centering families and caregivers and working to protect and expand reproductive health care, both in the United States and across the globe.

New study exposes flaws in GOP demands for medically unnecessary ultrasounds
By Lisa Needham
The American Independent
While anti-abortion politicians continue to pass laws requiring ultrasounds before people can get abortions, another study has revealed how problematic and largely unnecessary this is, in line with what doctors and abortion rights advocates have been saying for years.

A Guide to Caring for Yourself (Or Others) After an Abortion
By Caroline Reilly
Rewire
Abortion is life-affirming health care that should be accessible for all, on demand and without restrictions.

The Midterm Implications of Breyer’s Retirement, Supreme Court’s Abortion Ruling
By Lisa Hagen
U.S. News & World Report
November’s midterm elections were already set to feature a prominent political clash over the Supreme Court’s impending decision on abortion rights that’ll energize voters in both parties.