Nationally, there has been a lot of talk about “shield laws”; laws that exist to protect those who support others accessing abortions. For example, in Massachusetts, providers, patients, and pharmacists are shielded from out-of-state investigations and legal actions around abortion. This is one way that patients are still getting abortion care in states where abortion is banned or inaccessible.
Resources like The MAP and others found on PlanCPills.org, have information on how patients connect with telehealth providers and others who mail abortion pills on a sliding scale down to $0, which research shows is just as safe as visiting a clinic.
This has been critical especially for those in rural areas, states with abortion bans, and others who face unique barriers to abortion care or travel. Unfortunately, that’s also why shield laws are under attack. This week, sixteen Republican attorneys general, including Florida AG James Uthmeier, sent a letter to Congress urging them to ban shield laws, essentially to prosecute providers and patients. This is just one of many ways that extremists are interfering with abortion access, including across state lines.
Our work exists across all levels of government, in our neighborhoods, places of worship, and school campuses. With anti-abortion forces focused on their long-term goals of banning not just abortion but also contraception and IVF, one of the most important things we can do is share resources, so that our loved ones have as much information as possible to make the decisions that are right for them.
Illustration by Liberal Jane.
This weekend, we challenge you to tell at least 3 friends about PlanCPills.org or YouAlwaysHaveOptions.com; both are resources that talk about how people, including those who live where abortion is banned, are still accessing the care they need. No matter what, we’re going to take care of us.
Events & Volunteer Opportunities
Rage Against the Regime Day of Action w/50501 and Pinellas NOW
Saturday, August 2nd 10:30am-12:00pm EST
St. Pete
Click here to register.
To find a Day of Action hosted near you, click here.
Tampa Period Pantry Party
Saturday, August 2nd 12:00pm-3:00pm EST
Tampa
Click here to register.
Repro Kit Party 101 Virtual Training w/Florida Access Network
Monday, August 4th 5:00pm-6:00pm EST
Click here to register.
Orlando Legislative Update and Phone Bank w/Planned Parenthood
Tuesday, August 5th 6:00pm-8:00pm EST
Orlando
Click here to register.
Let’s Talk about Abortion Virtual Training w/AVOW
Tuesday, August 5th at 7:00pm EST
Click here to register.
Know Your Rights Immigration Training w/ACLU Florida
Thursday, August 7th 5:30pm-6:30pm EST
Click here to register for the Zoom.
Policy Power Hour (Virtual) w/Prism
Thursday, August 7th 6:00pm-7:00pm EST
Click here to register.
Birth Justice 101 Training w/Southern Birth Justice Network
Saturday, August 9th
Breakfast, lunch, and snack provided
Miami
Apply here.
Medicaid Expansion Day of Action Canvass w/Florida Decides Healthcare and People Power for Florida
Wednesday, August 13th 5:00pm-7:00pm EST
Orlando
Click here to register.
Real People, Real Stories Virtual Event w/ACLU FL
Wednesday, August 13th at 6:30pm EST
Register here.
AAPI Hob Nob and Community Resource Fair w/Act Florida
Saturday, August 23rd 2:30pm-4:30pm EST
Orlando
Follow this page for more information.
Author Rebecca Grant in Conversation with Diane Roberts w/RBG Fund
Monday, September 29th at 7:00pm
Start reading Rebecca’s book, Access: Inside the Abortion Underground and the Sixty-Year Battle for Reproductive Freedom, now to be ready for this virtual discussion.
Click here to register.
News Roundup
Florida
Republican AGs Want to Arrest Blue State Doctors
By Jessica Valenti and Kylie Cheung
A group of sixteen Republican attorneys general have gone on offense over shield laws and abortion pills—sending a letter to Congress, urging them to allow for the prosecution of providers who ship pills across state lines.
Note: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier signed onto the letter.
Orlando nonprofit clinic opens Venus Center to address women’s health care needs
By Joe Mario Pedersen, WUSF NPR
It offers a variety of women’s services, including breast exams, pap smears, fertility checking, contraception, testing for sexually transmitted infections, as well as treatments for chronic conditions like menopause and polycystic ovarian disease.
National
Federal judge issues new order protecting all Planned Parenthood clinics from Medicaid ‘defunding’
The clinics rely heavily on Medicaid funding to provide standard reproductive health care at little to no cost, including treatment for sexually transmitted infections, cancer screenings and contraception.
By Lauren Kent, CNN
A study published earlier this month by a leading medical journal, The Lancet, estimated that the USAID funding cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030.
By Jessica Washington, The Intercept
They’re weaponizing control over veterans’ health care, instead of doing what’s actually best for our country’s veterans, which is giving them the health care that they need.
The future of abortion, as we see it, is one where everyone has the abortion that they want and need. They have the resources that they need. They have access to this safe and effective medication that might even be tucked away, in their cabinet, in case of future use, and that they are not at risk of being criminally prosecuted for self-managing their care.
State abortion laws linked to higher maternal morbidity in high-risk pregnancies
By Celeste Krewson, Contemporary OBGYN
Maternal morbidity is significantly increased by legislation changes leading to universal expectant management of life-limiting fetal conditions, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network.
The U.N. Should Condemn the U.S.’ Human Rights Record on Abortion
By Jaime M. Gher and Elise Keppler, Ms.
As a U.N. expert group on discrimination against women and girls put it, “Restrictions on women’s sexual and reproductive health rights not only limit their agency but also hinder their full participation in society.”
Support for legal abortion remains strong
AP – NORC Center
The latest AP-NORC poll indicates continued support for legal access to abortion in all or most cases. Support hasn’t shifted much since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion.
She’s trying to open a birth center near a maternity desert. It’s not easy
By Katia Riddle, WUSF
With no similar center available in Augusta, Viens decided to give birth at home. When things started to go badly, she did go to the hospital, but it was too late. Her baby was born in the car.
The anti-abortion movement is still relentlessly coming for what is left of Americans’ reproductive freedoms. And if we don’t confront it head-on, we’ll soon see that Dobbs was just the beginning.
Opinion, NY Times
In May, a large study was published showing that self-reported mental health had become significantly worse for American mothers from 2016 to 2023.
By Cynthia Ehrenkrantz, Huffington Post
I will always be grateful to my obstetrician who was willing to risk imprisonment and the loss of his career to perform my illegal abortion.