The Quickie: New Data: Tens of Thousands Denied Abortion Care in Home States Post-Dobbs

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: 66,000+ couldn’t get abortion care in their home states post-Dobbs, WSJ editorial slams mifepristone decision, NE legislature to begin debate on 6-week abortion ban today, and IA AG suspends funding for emergency contraception for sexual assault survivors. 

OVER 66,000 PEOPLE COULD NOT GET ABORTIONS IN THEIR HOME STATE POST-DOBBS: According to new data from WeCount, around 66,150 people were unable to receive a legal abortion in their home state after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade between July and December 2022. Of those people, 43,830 were in states with total abortion bans and 22,680 people’s home states had restricted abortion access, such as Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, Ohio, and Indiana. 

While the number of abortions increased in many access states, the overall number of abortions still fell due to the windfall of state-level abortion restrictions. 

“This latest report from #WeCount provides a quantitative snapshot of what abortion providers have been seeing on the ground in real-time,” Hannah Simons, DrPH, National Director of Research & Evaluation at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said. “More and more people are being forced to make impossible decisions because of politically-motivated attacks on health care, bodily autonomy, and freedom. These findings reinforce what we know to be true: for tens of thousands of people, abortion care is out of reach.”

GMA interview on the new WeCount data with Planned Parenthood Southwest Central Florida abortion provider Dr. Sujatha Prabhakaran.

Read more at FiveThirtyEight and the New York Times.

WHEN YOU’VE EVEN LOST THE WSJ EDITORIAL BOARD: On Monday, even the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board criticized the logic of the district court decision in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA. As the board points out, the judge’s core mistake is “overstepping his authority as a judge to conduct his own review of the abortion drug’s risks and benefits. Congress has delegated such technical questions to regulatory agencies. It’s not the role of judges to redo an agency analysis.” 

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.  

TODAY, NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE TO BEGIN DEBATE ON 6-WEEK ABORTION BAN: Later today, the Nebraska legislature is slated to begin debate on Legislative Bill 626, which would ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy —before many people even know they are pregnant. The vote is expected to come down to a “razor thin margin,” according to Andi Curry Grubb, Director of Public Affairs of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska. Abortion is currently legal in the state up until 20 weeks of pregnancy. 

Yesterday, advocates held a press call, laying out what’s at stake for Nebraskans if this bill passes and urging legislators to vote no today. 

“Across the country, anti-abortion proponents have enjoyed a major structural advantage in the courts and in state legislatures,” Alexis McGill Johnson, President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said. “Yet, in Nebraska, there is an opportunity to fight back and block the six-week ban… Nearby states like South Dakota and Missouri rely on Nebraska as an access point in the Midwest for this essential health care. Make no mistake: Nebraskans, like the majority of Americans, support abortion access and do not want their lawmakers controlling their personal medical decisions. That's why they are mobilizing this week once again to defeat this harmful bill by protesting, calling their senators, and urging them to vote NO on this six-week ban.” 

“Planned Parenthood’s position is that any attempt to ban abortion is a ban on abortion,” Curry Grubb said. “Stop focusing on these divisive, unnecessary laws, and focus on the things that Nebraskans need and want the Legislature to be working on.” 

Watch the full press call here. Read more at Omaha World-Herald and AP. 

IOWA AG SUSPENDS FUNDING FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS’ EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION AND ABORTIONS: Last week, Iowa’s Attorney General suspended funding for emergency contraception and abortions for sexual assault survivors. Under the state’s Sexual Abuse Examination Payment Program, survivors of sexual assault are “never responsible for a sexual abuse forensic examination or for medications required due to the assault.” This has long been interpreted to mean that the state would cover the cost of emergency contraception and in some rare cases abortions. 

“The Iowa attorney general’s decision to pause health care funding for sexual assault survivors is abhorrent and further demonstrates politicians’ crusade against Iowans’ health and rights,” said Ruth Richardson, CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. “Sexual assault survivors shouldn’t have to worry about how they are going to cover the cost of health care after being assaulted. Survivors should be able to get the health care they need, and which survivors have relied on for years. It’s deplorable and reprehensible for the state government to take away health care from victims, and it is critical for the attorney general to resume the health care funding immediately.”  

This cruel move is just another proof point that  anti-abortion politicians’ want to make basic health care inaccessible. 

Read more at Iowa Public Radio and CNN.