The Quickie: Wisconsin Abortion Providers Resume Care
For Immediate Release: Sept. 14, 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: Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin resumes services, a ballot initiative launches in Nevada, Republicans attempt to add abortion restrictions to funding bill, and worsening maternal care discourages many from pregnancy.
WISCONSIN ABORTION PROVIDERS RESUME CARE: Today, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced it will resume its abortion care services this Monday, September 18. These services had been paused since June 2022 following the Dobbs decision due to a threat of prosecution under the state’s abortion ban from 1849. In a lawsuit challenging the enforceability of this statue, the court ruled that it does not prevent “consensual abortion care”.
“With patients and community as our central priority and driving force, we are eager to resume abortion services and provide this essential care to people in our State,” Tanya Atkinson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said in a press release. “With the recent confirmation from the Court that there is not an enforceable abortion ban in Wisconsin, our staff can now provide the full scope of sexual and reproductive health care to anyone in Wisconsin who needs it, no matter what.
Read more from the AP and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
NEVADANS FOR REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM LAUNCH BALLOT INITIATIVE CAMPAIGN: Today, a coalition of reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations announced the launch of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, a campaign to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2024. The amendment would codify reproductive freedom in the state’s constitution, protecting people from prosecution for their pregnancy outcomes, for helping a person in seeking abortion, or for providing reproductive health services under Nevada law.
“The fallout of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade has shown us that we have already suffered one year too long without the guaranteed right to reproductive freedom, and we simply cannot afford to stand by and allow any further encroachment on the fundamental right of Nevadans to determine their own reproductive lives and care,” Lindsey Harmon, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada, told NBC News.
Read more here.
THEY DON’T HAVE THE VOTES: Yesterday, Politico reported on the House of Representatives no longer voting on a government funding bill because some members of the Republican caucus are scared to vote for a bill with additional abortion restrictions. Anti-abortion rights House members included language in the bill that would reapply the burdensome, medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone that the FDA lifted earlier this year after extensive, evidence-based review.
“Once again, anti-abortion politicians are scared to add another vote to their long records of voting to take away our sexual and reproductive rights,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “Poll after poll shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans don’t want politicians interfering with their personal medical decisions or making it harder for people to get access to care. They know that voters are paying attention.”
Read more from Politico here.
ABORTION BANS ARE DISCOURAGING MANY FROM PREGNANCY: Access to adequate maternal health care — for which challenges predate the overturn of Roe v. Wade — has gotten worse in the post-Dobbs landscape, leaving many people fearful of getting pregnant.
According to new data from polling conducted in August 2023, 34 percent of women ages 18 through 39 said they or someone they know has “decided not to get pregnant due to concerns about managing pregnancy-related medical emergencies.”
“Abortion bans make pregnancy less safe,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, “and women are acutely aware of the consequence of restricting access to reproductive health care in their own lives.”
As predicted, the human toll of abortion bans continues to reach far beyond access to abortion.
Read more from Politico here.