The Quickie: It's Election Day

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: it’s finally election day, PP Votes fires up voters with a new GOTV video, and AZ abortion providers struggle with chaotic legal landscape alongside their patients. 

IT’S ELECTION DAY: Abortion is on the ballot. Freedom is on the ballot. Our futures are on the ballot. 

Here’s what we know:

• This election is the first chance many will have had to demonstrate the rage they felt when Roe was overturned. Over the last four months, we’ve witnessed millions of people pour out into the streets for freedom — organizing, mobilizing, and donating funds for patients trying to access care. 
• The undeniable truth is that people overwhelmingly support protecting abortion access. 
• The effect of abortion bans is not just felt in the state where they originate — each individual state is an important piece of the larger national puzzle, and none exist in a vacuum.
• Elections happening now at all levels of government will have widespread consequences that will have a disproportionate impact on Black, Latino, AAPI, and Indigenous communities. These communities must be included and centered in election coverage.

ICYMI: An interested parties memo from Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL, EMILY’s List, and All* Above All Action Fund on how abortion redefined the 2022 midterm elections. 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD VOTES’ FINAL GOTV VIDEO: ‘ABORTION RIGHTS ARE ON THE BALLOT. AND WE CAN WIN.’: Planned Parenthood Votes released a new video to motivate voters to head to the polls today and take control of their futures in the first opportunity for many since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The video highlights the ways in which the the fight for abortion rights has galvanized voters across the country, from the overwhelming defeat of Kansas’ ballot referendum to the expansion of access in Connecticut, Colorado, California, Delaware, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Oregon. That fight continues today at ballot boxes across the country. 

Alexis McGill Johnson, President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, echoed these sentiments in her latest statement, reminding voters what the opposition is trying to take away from all of us: 

“This fight has always been about freedom. Politicians hostile to reproductive rights want to control what we can and cannot do with our bodies. And they won’t stop until abortion is completely banned in every state in the country, or until many of the rights we’ve fought to secure no longer exist. They used their positions to take away our freedom and it’s up to us to send them packing.” 

Watch the GOTV video here and read Alexis’ full statement here.

ARIZONA ABORTION PROVIDERS RIDE EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER WITH THEIR PATIENTS: Yesterday, CNN featured abortion providers and support staff at Planned Parenthood of Arizona (PPAZ)’s Tempe clinic and their difficulties providing care to patients amidst Arizona’s constantly shifting legal landscape and the uncertain future of abortion rights in the state. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion laws have been shifting in the state on a near day-by-day basis, at times completely halting abortion care. The attorney general’s office announced it would not enforce a total ban on abortion until 2023, allowing PPAZ to provide abortion care until 15 weeks of pregnancy — but with significant uncertainty going into the new year due to the results of the midterm elections. 

“I’ve watched our staff ride this roller coaster and they’ve done it with such grace and flexibility,” Dr. Jill Gibson, PPAZ Medical Director, said. “But we are tired. You can see it wearing on our faces. You can see it – you can see it in the drooped shoulders.” 

Abortion providers undergo enormous stress, trying to meet patient demand for abortion care as well as navigating a chaotic legal landscape. 

“It was almost like waiting for the ball to drop, and you knew it was going to drop, but the anticipation and the stress, leading up to it was almost just as bad or worse than after it actually happened,” Kischea Talbert, a registered nurse at PPAZ, said of waiting for the fall of Roe. “I didn’t realize that that was only the beginning, not the end. And it just has progressively gotten worse."

Credit: Rachel Wilson for CNN 

Despite the challenges of providing abortion care in Arizona, all of the featured providers affirmed their commitment to providing life-saving health care to their community. 

“I look at my girls, and I am re-incentivized to continue to do the work for them,” Dr. Gibson told CNN. “It really stiffened my resolve and my determination to stay in this community, and to fight this fight until we secure equitable access to abortion to the members of this state.”

Read the full feature at CNN in English and Spanish.

Credit: Rachel Wilson for CNN