The Quickie: PPAF Endorses Sexual And Reproductive Champions In Key House Races

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorses a new slate of candidates, Missouri Supreme Court rules the state cannot block funding, and an uptick in patients seeking early prenatal testing.

PPAF ENDORSES SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CHAMPIONS IN KEY HOUSE RACES: Today, Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced its endorsement of 19 sexual and reproductive health champions running for the House of Representatives. These candidates are the Action Fund’s first non-incumbent House endorsements this election cycle and part of the pathway to flipping the House in 2024: 

• Arizona: Kirsten Engel, AZ-01, and Raquel Teran, AZ-03
• California: Lateefah Simon, CA-12, Adam Gray, CA-13, George Whitesides, CA-27, and Will Rollins, CA-41
• Colorado: Adam Frisch, CO-03
• Delaware: Sarah McBride, DE-AL
• Iowa: Christina Bohannan, IA-01
• Michigan: Curtis Hertel, MI-07
• Montana: Monica Tranel, MT-01
• Nebraska: Tony Vargas, NE-02
• New York: Mondaire Jones, NY-17, and Josh Riley, NY-19
• Pennsylvania: Ashley Ehasz, PA-01
• Texas: Michelle Vallejo, TX-15, and Julie Johnson, TX-32
• Virginia: Missy Cotter Smasal, VA-02
• Washington: Emily Randall, WA-06

Many of these candidates are running against anti-abortion rights politicians in districts that can be flipped in November. The candidates in the Action Fund’s first slate of non-incumbent House endorsements include several women of color, LGBTQ+ candidates, former Planned Parenthood staff and board members, and former Planned Parenthood health center patients.

“The majority in the House seems to think — despite voters constantly telling them otherwise — that they have a right to control our bodies, lives, and futures,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “Their dangerous views do not reflect the overwhelming majority of people who believe that abortion should be legal and accessible, and that politicians have no place in our personal health care decisions. There is so much at stake in this election: We have an opportunity to reclaim the reproductive rights majority in the House, and we can do that by electing these champions. Planned Parenthood Action Fund is committed to fighting to protect our rights alongside these champions, and all leaders dedicated to reproductive health, rights, and justice.” 

Read the full release here.

 

MISSOURI SUPREME COURT SAYS STATE CANNOT BAN BANNING PLANNED PARENTHOOD FROM MEDICAID: Yesterday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the state cannot block the state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates and other organizations providing abortion — in Missouri or elsewhere — from receiving funding in the state budget process. It is the second time in four years that the court has blocked such an effort. 

Yamelsie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, and Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, in a joint statement called the ongoing efforts to defund Planned Parenthood “cruel and irresponsible.”

“Over and over again, the courts have rejected politicians’ ongoing attempts to deprive patients of their health care by unconstitutionally kicking Planned Parenthood out of the Medicaid program,” they wrote Wednesday. ” … The fight for patient access is far from over. At Planned Parenthood, we will continue to do all we can in order to ensure our patients keep their access to health care — our doors stay open.” 

 

In 2022, lawmakers approved a budget “defunding” Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri and Planned Parenthood Great Plains. While this court ruling blocks that attempt, the latest effort to stop Planned Parenthood from serving low-income Missourians through Medicaid is already working its way through the legislature. 

Read more at the Missouri Independent. 

 

RACING AGAINST SEVERE ABORTION RESTRICTIONS MORE PATIENTS ARE DECIDING THE FUTURES OF THEIR PREGNANCIES BASED ON LIMITED RESULTS FROM EARLY PRENATAL TESTING: In the wake of an increase in abortion bans and extreme restrictions on abortion access, providers have noticed an uptick in patients seeking early prenatal testing in hopes of making important decisions about their pregnancies before the gestational cutoffs of abortion laws. 

The problem, according to Dr. Clayton Alfonso, an OB/GYN at Duke University, is that there is no medical basis for this. These non-invasive prenatal tests — usually done around 10 to 13 weeks into pregnancy — are not considered diagnostic. They only yield results of “high risk” or “low risk” with varying degrees of accuracy depending on the disorder being tested for. More follow-up testing is typically required to be sure of a diagnosis, and by then, it’s often too late for patients to receive abortion care should they need it. Many fetal abnormalities are not possible to detect at all so early on in pregnancy because the fetus is too small. 

Still, patients are increasingly seeking ultrasounds around 10 to 13 weeks looking to make important decisions about their pregnancies with what little information they have. In states with 12-week abortion bans, for example, pregnant people may feel compelled to act on the results of their early prenatal testing despite the significant limitations. 

The bottom line is patients are being forced to adapt their private health decisions to comply with restrictive abortion laws even when it doesn’t align with standard medical practice. Once again, abortion bans continue to make pregnancy a more confusing and risky journey for pregnant people, while tying the hands of expert providers who are there to help them. 

Read more from AP.