#reproductive access

[illusionremember]

oh. oh no. ohhh my god. no but you guys, if you read the full article. this is so beyond insidious. I went digging around for more info from other websites because they literally sound like cartoon villains here. This is real. Here's another article about it over at AP and one at CNN, another at NYTimes.

Here is the documented complaint itself.

What's going on is the State Attorney Generals for Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas have formally filed complaints with the Federal Court about access to the abortion medication mifepristone. As of last year, this abortion pill is available at pharmacies, dispensed online, and can be sent by mail. This means it's not just accessible, but also discreet for the user.

The state AGs are seeking to make it more difficult in the usual ways they try to fight abortion rights — trying to ban access past 7 weeks of pregnancy, requiring 3 doctor visits, etc. But tucked inside the more general complaints is this little nugget of horror:

“Remote dispensing of abortion drugs by mail, common carrier, and interactive computer service is depressing expected birth rates for teenaged mothers in Plaintiff States”

That sounds fake, right? It sounds like gross conservative bullshit, easily dismissed. Cartoon villains.

You guys. Please don't dismiss this. Read on:

"The complaint also says that each of the states is “the legal parent or guardian of many minor girls of reproductive age”—a reference to girls in state custody, like foster care or juvenile detention. For those girls, they argue, the state is a stand-in for parents. And as parents, they claim, they have a right to consent to their children’s medical care, which is apparently nullified if teen girls in foster care can “obtain abortion drugs online by mail all on their own.” (from the OG article)

If you look at the full document of the complaint, this section is outlined on page 150, under "Injury to Plaintiffs’ sovereign interests in exercising state-law parental rights of notice and consent for abortions for teen girls in foster care."

So their claim as to why access to this medication is damaging to the state itself, is that the state itself is legally the parental guardian and therefore in charge of all medical care of minors who are wards of the state.

They don't care about the rights of these minors. They feel the state's rights are being infringed upon.

But carry the logic further. Carry it out more fully.

If the state is permitted to separate children from their birth parents, if the state can declare itself the legal guardian of those children, and if the state then gets to control the medical & reproductive care decisions of these children...

I don't know about you guys, but I'm not just thinking about all the girls who would be forced to carry pregnancies against their will. I'm also thinking about all the imprisoned, BIPOC, and disabled people who historically were medically sterilized at the whim of their "guardians". I'm also thinking about all the insurance companies that decide whether or not we are allowed to receive treatment based on cost efficiency rather than medical recommendation.

This isn't just some cartoon villain bull about making more teens be pregnant. This is about eugenics. This is about the state worming its way in to gain complete control and eliminate medical autonomy as a human right.

Please. Please. I'm begging you. Go vote. Vote at every level. Vote for your local elections and your state elections. Vote for the measures and propositions. The presidency is not the only thing we are worried about here.

:/

[macmanx]

[reasonsforhope]

THANK FUCKING GOD

"The Supreme Court on Thursday [June 13, 2024] unanimously preserved access to a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year, in the court’s first abortion decision since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.

The nine justices ruled that abortion opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the medication, mifepristone, and the FDA’s subsequent actions to ease access to it. The case had threatened to restrict access to mifepristone across the country, including in states where abortion remains legal.

Abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states, and after about six weeks of pregnancy in three others, often before women realize they’re pregnant.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was part of the majority to overturn Roe, wrote for the court on Thursday that “federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions.”

The opinion underscored the stakes of the 2024 election and the possibility that an FDA commissioner appointed by Republican Donald Trump, if he wins the White House, could consider tightening access to mifepristone, including prohibiting sending it through the mail...

Kavanaugh’s opinion managed to unite a court deeply divided over abortion and many other divisive social issues by employing a minimalist approach that focused solely on the technical legal issue of standing and reached no judgment about the FDA’s actions...

While praising the decision, President Joe Biden signaled Democrats will continue to campaign heavily on abortion ahead of the November elections. “It does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states,” Biden said in a statement...

About two-thirds of U.S. adults oppose banning the use of mifepristone, or medication abortion, nationwide, according to a KFF poll conducted in February. About one-third would support a nationwide ban...

More than 6 million people [in the U.S.] have used mifepristone since 2000. Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone and primes the uterus to respond to the contraction-causing effect of a second drug, misoprostol. The two-drug regimen has been used to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks gestation...

Biden’s administration and drug manufacturers had warned that siding with abortion opponents in this case could [have] undermined the FDA’s drug approval process beyond the abortion context by inviting judges to second-guess the agency’s scientific judgments. The Democratic administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, which makes mifepristone, argued that the drug is among the safest the FDA has ever approved."

-via AP, June 13, 2024

--

Note: A massive relief and a genuine victory - this will preserve access to the medication used in 2/3rds of abortions last year, for at least another 2 years. (Probably minimum time it will take Republicans to get their next attempt before the Supreme Court.)

Still, with this, a sword that has been hanging over our heads for the last two years is gone. There will be a new one soon, but we just bought ourselves probably at least 2 years. The fight isn't over, but this is absolutely worth celebrating.

[liberaljane]

It was hard to have an abortion in the United States before Roe fell, and now it is even harder.

I teamed up with Sex Ed with DB to explore the various barriers to abortion access. Beyond the legal landscape, there are many things that can prevent someone from getting care.

(alt-text included on all pieces)

[ivygorgon]

That goes to a spreadsheet list of doctors who will perform tubal ligation on anyone 21+, regardless of how many kids they've had or if they have their husband's permission.

And another thing: if you have vagina, and ESPECIALLY if you tend to fuck dicks, please PLEASE consider getting an IUD if you don’t want kids. We all know they want to ban abortion, but some people don’t know they’re also going after contraceptives. Rn access to contraceptives is protected by only a Supreme Court case (you know like what protected abortion), so that can go away. Contraceptives can be regulated to be in accessible or prohibitively expensive, but they can’t take an IUD out of your body (at least not in the foreseeable future). It’s good for sometimes 5 years.

I want to say this now because I was on the phone with a gyno for like 20 minutes on hold and only got a consultation today (which you sometimes need before they can schedule an appointment) because someone cancelled last minute.

I know people have had bad experiences with the IUD I know people have had excellent experiences. I’m going to document mine step by step so you know some things you can expect, if you’re thinking about it.

For context: i’m 25, have insurance through my job and live in a blue state, so my experience might be different/faster/easier etc. than yours.

[bearfoottruck]

Not as closely related to the election, but here's a story about how actress Sally Field had an illegal abortion in 1964. Let's do our part to make these a thing of the past!

[benjaminallhope-fulltimemind]

This is far from surprising, Republicans love to talk a lot about how they care about life but they really don't. True care would be establishing a national childcare system, true care would be preventing school shootings, true care would be eradicating student lunch debt! But it was never about care but rather control, they seek to control women's bodies and use children as a cudgel like they do with other groups. Do not be deluded, Republicans will gladly strip women of their rights if we do not put up a united fight, they will strip us of all our rights if we do not vote them out of office. Vote blue and vote Democrat, it's the only feasible way short of violent tactics to prevent the loss of the rights we hold dear.

[whenweallvote]

Make sure your voter registration is updated now at https://weall.vote/feminist — because this November, reproductive healthcare is on the ballot in as many as 11 states. From the local level all the way up to the Supreme Court, elections have consequences. Your VOTE is your VOICE.

[izzylimon]

YOU NEED TO SEE THIS, PLEASE SHARE!! Ben Shapiro confronted on abortion bans as they negatively affect the black and LGBTQIA+ communities

trigger warning: SA is mentioned

[reluctantjoe]

Now, not only is it critical that men speak up about reproductive freedom, it's actually quite easy. Attacks on reproductive freedom are an attack on all of us, not just women. And every American's fundamental freedoms are on the line in this election. The freedom to vote, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, to love who you love openly and with pride. And yes, a right of every American to make their own healthcare decisions without government interference.

ADAM SCOTT | Fighting for Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour — 23.09.2024

[nightmarish-fallen-angel]

I just watched a news video about new guidelines regarding pain with IUD insertions.

The entire video framed this as a "women's rights" or "women's healthcare" video.

I am a trans nonbinary guy who had an IUD insertion. Using gendered language regarding reproductive rights and healthcare is so frustrating because I need these health guidelines and laws to apply to me too. And the more people stay in the habit of framing it as a "women's issue" the more likely I am to get denied the care I need.

Trans, nonbinary, and intersex people deserve to have a voice in these things as well. We deserve to have gender neutral language surrounding the procedures we might undergo at the very least.

I want the health codes and guidelines that may be written to protect me and my trans siblings if they pursue this kind of birth control or any other reproductive healthcare.

[reasonsforhope]

"France became the first country in the world to make abortion a constitutional right Monday [March 4, 2024], with French lawmakers adopting the bill in a 780-72 vote in a move inspired by the U.S. reversal of Roe vs. Wade.

The law gives women a "guaranteed freedom" to choose for themselves if an abortion is the right choice to make.

The amendment won the support of the three-fifths of the 925 National Assembly and Senate members required to pass in an extraordinary afternoon session at the Palace of Versailles just outside Paris in a move that was overwhelmingly supported by the public.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said to those assembled in Congress Hall that "we owe a moral debt" to the women who had to suffer through illegal abortions in the past.

After the vote to approve the constitutional change, Paris' Eiffel Tower was lit with the words in French "my body my choice" in the country where abortion was first legalized in 1975, two years after the United States' first ruling on Roe vs. Wade...

While limiting abortion ranked very low on France's political agenda, lawmakers were prompted to take action to protect abortion rights in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the 1973 Roe ruling that legalized abortion. Subsequently, several American states have passed laws to restrict or outlaw the procedure.

"I say to all women within our borders and beyond, that today, the era of a world of hope begins," said Attal, who at 34 became the country's youngest prime minister.

This was the first time since 2008 that France took steps to change its constitution. There will be a ceremony to finalize the amendment on Friday [March 8, 2024], which is also International Women's Day."

-via UPI (United Press International), March 4, 2024

--

Note: It may be the first, but I am confident that it will not be the last!

[liberaljane]

📣 ATTN: Our reproductive rights are LITERALLY on the ballot this year!

10 states have abortion-access related ballot measures, and there are local, state and federal races that will have a direct impact on our access.

🧡 I am so proud to partner with @nurxapp for Nurx Ed: Class in Session, a campaign to spread factual information on social media about reproductive health and rights.

✊ There could not be more at stake. It’s on us to continue the fight, not only for us – but for the next generation.

💜 Comprehensive sex education is key for reproductive freedom. Follow @nurxapp for more sex ed content, birth control memes, and repro health myth-busting.

Alt-text included on all pieces.

[profeminist]

"The Biden administration on Monday announced new rules designed to safeguard the privacy of abortion providers and patients seeking the procedure, a move which comes in response to threats from conservative prosecutors putting abortion in their crosshairs.

"The rules announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will bar doctors, insurers and other health-care groups from making health information available to state officials investigating, prosecuting, or filing a lawsuit against a patient or provider. 

They shield both people crossing state lines to seek a legal abortion and those who are not covered under a given state’s abortion ban due to being a rape survivor, for example.

The new regulations update the healthy privacy law known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, which dates to 1996 and did not anticipate today’s uncertain reproductive rights landscape. 

Prior to the new rules taking effect — which won’t happen for at least two months — it will remain legal for organizations to share private health information with law enforcement investigating crimes." 

Read the full piece here: https://therecord.media/hhs-privacy-protections-reproductive-healthcare

[alicentflorent]

People really hating on Alicent over her getting an abortion (or more likely using the equivalent to plan b) and some going as far to say that the use of moontea is “against her faith” like girlie what happened to a woman’s right to choose?

[whitehairedanimeboyfriend]

Conversations on here will basically be like

"Hey these new reproductive rights issues are affecting trans men too so let's make sure we include them in the conversation, instead of calling it women's health issues."

"Would you stop complaining? Trans women have it worse than trans men. TERFs want to kill us but only detransition you."

"If living as the gender you are not is so easy why would you transition in the first place? Obviously trans people transition because they can't live with existing as a gender they are not. Obviously "just going back" isn't an option because we often fail to behave the way we're expected to anyway. Forcing any trans person to detransition is a death sentence in and of itself."

"Why are you always speaking over transfems when we talk about transmisogynistic violence???"