The Quickie: The Fight Ahead: Abortion Rights Leaders Focus on Access and Medication Abortion
For Immediate Release: Jan. 24, 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: PPFA and NARAL presidents discuss the future of the repro movement, FL Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to 15-week ban, new report finds abortion bans have outsized impact on Latinas, and PP at Sundance Film Festival!
THE FIGHT AHEAD: ABORTION RIGHTS LEADERS FOCUS ON ACCESS AND MEDICATION ABORTION: Yesterday, the 19th* featured Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) President Alexis McGill Johnson and President of NARAL Pro-Choice America Mini Timmaraju discussing the future of the reproductive rights movement as we enter the first full year since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer. The leaders identified state fights to block abortion restrictions and codify protections, medication abortion, and addressing abortion care deserts as key priorities for the movement going forward.
“This is not a two-year fight; this is a 20-year fight,” McGill Johnson said. “It’s important for us to be strategizing together around the kinds of bills that we need to bring not only to demonstrate the contrast with people who are going to deny us freedom at every turn, but also to start to build up what will be the statutory framework that will underpin our equality in the future.”
McGill Johnson and Timmaraju both sounded the alarm on a federal case filed by anti-abortion activists, which is attempting to ban mifepristone nationwide as soon as February 10.
“We should be very concerned about the impact that could have on the system, because it will affect not just Texas and Florida – it’s gonna affect the entire country,” McGill Johnson said. “And that will have a very chilling effect, and I think it is going to be an overreach if that in fact happens.”
Read the full article at The 19th*.
FL SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR CHALLENGE TO 15 WEEK BAN, BUT BAN REMAINS IN EFFECT: Yesterday, the Florida Supreme Court accepted a request by abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood affiliates in Florida and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, to hear arguments in their case against House Bill 5 (HB 5), which bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The move comes after several court rulings closed off all other meaningful legal avenues to block the law. The court, however, denied providers’ request to block HB 5’s implementation while the case is being litigated. This means abortion remains banned in Florida after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court will set a date for the hearings in a separate order.
“While we are relieved that the Florida Supreme Court will hear our challenge to the state’s cruel 15-week abortion ban, we are disappointed that it has allowed the ban to remain in effect,” Alexandra Mandado, President of Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida, and Stephanie Fraim, President of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, said in a statement. “Because of this decision, Floridians and their families continue to be denied their right to determine what is best for their own bodies and lives. We are hopeful that relief will come swiftly and that Florida’s abortion providers — including the state’s two Planned Parenthood affiliates — will be able to resume offering the compassionate care our patients need. Until then, we will do everything in our power to ensure that patients have the resources to access care.”
Read more at POLITICO and CBS. Read PPFA’s full release here.
NEW REPORT FINDS ABORTION BANS HAVE OUTSIZED IMPACT ON LATINAS: Last week, UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute released a new study analyzing the impact of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade on Latinas. The study found that 46% of Latinas of reproductive age live in states that had banned or restricted abortion and the percentage of Latinas of reproductive age outnumbers their white counterparts in each of those 29 states.
“Abortion bans have an outsized impact on our community, threatening the health and well-being of Latinas,” Sonja Diaz, founding director of the Institute. “Our data makes clear that Latinas must be at the forefront of policy discussions on reproductive justice and health care reform. Our leaders cannot stand idly by and wait for the impacts of Dobbs to ravage America’s youthful and diverse communities of color.”
“Our findings suggest Latinas will be most impacted by threats to their reproductive rights at a pivotal time in their lives, which can create lasting economic setbacks,” Josefina Flores Morales, one of the report’s authors, said. “To minimize harm, policymakers must take urgent action to implement policy solutions.”
Read the full report here.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, TAKE ACTION: PP TAKES OVER SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: Over the weekend, at the Sundance Film Festival, Planned Parenthood hosted its ninth annual Sex, Politics, Film & TV event on what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Caren Spruch, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s National Director of Arts and Entertainment Engagement, hosted the event with director Nisha Ganatra.
“The Supreme Court took away our federal constitutional right to abortion,” Spruch said. “Even though 85% of Americans say it should be legal, 18 states have already enacted bans or restrictions on abortion. One in three women now must leave their own state if they’re pregnant and don’t want to be.”
“No one knows the power of stories or has the unique ability to tell them like you do,” Spruch said of why Planned Parenthood attended Sundance every year. “Stories that help make sense of the world. That build values. That shift the culture to make it more compassionate.”
Spruch and Ganatra were joined by Karrie Galloway, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Utah, who declared: “Good sex, safe sex, responsible sex — it’s possible in Utah!”
Read more at Variety.