The Quickie: Another Day, Another Extreme Speaker Candidate
For Immediate Release: Oct. 25, 2023
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: Another extreme speaker candidate, expanded abortion access in Maine, and New Jersey governor signs reproductive health bill into law.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER EXTREME SPEAKER CANDIDATE: The House GOP (a.k.a. the Chaos Caucus) has landed on its fourth nominee for speaker: Mike Johnson (LA-04). And yes, he’s another 2020 election denier. And as the Washington Post notes, Johnson “has led efforts to protect people who discriminate against LGBTQ people and backs strict restrictions on abortion.” He’s anti-abortion, anti-gender affirming care, and a January 6th sympathizer. But according to the Republican party, Johnson is who the majority of their House caucus want to elect as speaker. Surprising? No. Appalling? Absolutely.
One must ask the question: If the House GOP is having this much trouble governing themselves, what makes them think they have a right to make decisions about our bodies and futures?
NEW LAWS IN MAINE EXPAND ABORTION ACCESS: Today, a package of new measures updating Maine’s existing reproductive rights laws went into effect, including fewer barriers for abortions after 24 weeks. Maine is one of the states that has chosen to ease restrictions to care in the wake of Dobbs, and is the first state to explicitly expand access to abortion later in pregnancy.
While abortion has long been fairly accessible in Maine, there were some aspects of the laws that were unclear, making it difficult for providers and patients to know what to do in certain circumstances, particularly for abortions later in pregnancy. Nicole Clegg, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, cited this ambiguity as a reason to update the laws. “The law wasn’t clear, and you didn’t know what you could and couldn’t do, so in that case providers are always going to be more conservative and more careful,” Clegg told the Portland Press Herald.
“I've seen patients with really devastating pregnancy diagnoses where this has been a very desired pregnancy that they have prepared for, and they have a room ready for the baby, and they've received devastating news about the pregnancy, and they've needed to travel out of state to get the abortion care that they needed,” Dr. Andrea Pelletier, medical director for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England told WMTW. “This now allows those patients to receive care at home with their support system and with their doctors that they trust.”
Read more in Portland Press Herald and WMTW.
NEW JERSEY GOV. MURPHY SIGNS BILL SUPPORTING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH INTO LAW: A new website helping people get information about reproductive rights and how to access abortion is required by law, thanks to a bill signed into law by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. The website provides a variety of information, including about what rights a person has in New Jersey related to abortion, contraception, and beyond — and where to access that care, in addition to information and support for providers. Planned Parenthood representatives joined the governor and other supporters for the signing ceremony.
Read more from the New Jersey Monitor here