With Donald Trump in office and a Supreme Court in flux, Republicans may be closer than they have been in decades to undermining, and potentially even destroying, Roe vs. Wade. It's easy to become desensitized by the chronic attacks on choice and other horror stories that litter social media feeds and news websites every day.
That desensitized feeling of hopelessness is the goal. When choice advocates find themselves drowning in a sea of hopelessness-inspiring information, it’s easy to miss vital information. That empowers anti-choicers to whittle abortion rights into nothing.
Here are the four most critical abortion news stories you might have missed last month.
More Research Than Ever Supports the Role of Safe, Legal Abortion in Women’s Health
A veritable avalanche of research supports the benefits of safe, legal abortion. Researchers have consistently demonstrated that post-abortion syndrome is not real, and that women denied abortions can suffer long-lasting trauma.
New research exploring abortion across the globe supports previous findings about the health benefits of abortion. According to a doctoral analysis of global maternal mortality rates, greater access to abortion, a reduction in abortion stigma, and a reduction in abortion regulations could lower the maternal death rate—a figure that’s at 300,000 and rising.
Republicans Are Still Trying to Kill Women’s Access to Maternity Care
The Affordable Care Act moved insurers closer to gender parity in health care by requiring them to cover maternity care. Republicans have long opposed this mandate. Because apparently they’re pro-life enough to want to control women’s bodies, but not sufficiently pro-life to want to preserve the health of women and their babies.
In January, the Senate shot down a proposed rule that would preserve access to maternity care if the Affordable Care Act is overturned. Republicans lawmakers have also steadfastly opposed any maneuvers designed to increase contraceptive access. That’s in spite of research showing that contraceptive access is one of the best ways to reduce abortion rates.
‘Abortion Reversal’ is the Next Disturbing Anti-Abortion Trend
Never a group to be daunted by science, Republican lawmakers have begun touting a new anti-abortion measure: so-called abortion reversal. The procedure involves high doses of progesterone, a hormone that helps support early pregnancies. There's no scientific evidence showing the procedure is safe. Even the handful of supposedly “successful” abortion reversals appear to be anomalies—not directly attributable to any particular drug cocktail.
But lawmakers in states such as Indiana have floated measures requiring doctors to tell women their abortions can be reversed. These bills are widely opposed by medical and scientific authorities who worry about the risk abortion reversal poses to women’s mental and physical health. But then, anti-choice zealots have never cared about women.
Republicans Want to Turn Choice Over to Men
An Arkansas law will allow men to sue women to stop their abortions. A woman’s husband or parents can sue her provider to stop an abortion, and the law contains no exceptions for spousal rape or incest. Disturbingly,the person suing to stop the abortion is under no obligation to take custody of the baby once it is born, or to pay for the woman’s health care.
Taken together, new Republican moves suggest they believe women should be forced not to have abortions,denied maternity care, and then forced to raise their babies without any help—even if that child is a product of rape. And there’s nothing pro-life about that.