The Quickie: Abortion Bans Back from the Dead in South Carolina and Nebraska
For Immediate Release: May 9, 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: lawmakers in SC and NE rush to revive abortion bans before end of session, anti-abortion politicians in OR boycott votes on abortion and trans rights, and strong majorities of Americans support abortion rights and access.
BACK FROM THE DEAD: SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE SCRAMBLES TO PASS SIX-WEEK ABORTION BAN: Today, a subcommittee of the South Carolina House revived the Senate-approved six-week abortion ban, hoping to quickly advance and approve the bill before the state’s legislative session ends on Thursday at 5 PM ET. The subcommittee amended the ban, meaning it must pass the House and then go back to the Senate for final approval. This comes less than two weeks after a total ban was narrowly defeated in the legislature. However, many of the lawmakers who rejected the total ban have previously supported a six-week ban, meaning this bill could pass and be sent to the governor’s desk in the next few days.
Follow Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic’s thread where they are live-tweeting updates on this rapidly developing activity.
NEBRASKA LEGISLATORS REVIVE ABORTION BAN AS AMENDMENT TO GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE BAN BILL: Less than two weeks after legislators failed to pass a highly restrictive six-week abortion ban, Nebraska state senators have introduced a last-minute amendment to add a 12-week abortion ban to an existing bill banning gender-affirming care for trans youth. In order to push their own unpopular agenda, state senators behind this latest abortion ban have ignored the legislative process, with the 12-week ban not even having a committee hearing.
Andi Curry Grubb, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, said: “Nebraskans just beat an abortion ban two weeks ago, and we’re already back at it again. We’ve beaten five abortion bans in the last year, and Nebraskans are ready to defeat another one. Whether it be a ban on gender affirming care, or a ban on abortion, the goal is to take away people’s power over their lives and their futures. And we won’t let it happen.”
Read more at AP.
SENATORS IN OREGON BOYCOTT TO PREVENT PASSAGE OF ABORTION, TRANS RIGHTS BILLS: Since last week, anti-abortion and anti-trans state senators in Oregon have been staging walkouts to block votes on crucial legislation protecting abortion and trans rights that have already been approved by the state House. To reach the necessary quorum to vote on any legislation, Oregon’s Senate requires two-thirds, or at least 20 Senators to be present, but the 12-person Republican minority has been manipulating the rules to prevent these bills from passing.
As of yesterday, these Senators have delayed voting six times. Under new Oregon law approved by voters overwhelmingly in November, state legislators may only have 10 unexcused absences before they are barred from running for reelection, so these senators are trying to run down the clock on the legislative session. Once again, anti-abortion and anti-trans politicians are subverting democracy and defying the will of the people to push their own unpopular agenda.
Read more at Jefferson Public Radio and AP.
AMERICANS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT ABORTION ACCESS: Another day, another poll showing abortion access is popular. New polling data from the Washington Post and ABC News released today underscores just how popular abortion rights are: two-thirds of Americans say that mifepristone should remain on the market, more than 40 points higher than those who say it should be taken off the shelves.
The polling also reaffirmed Americans' strong distaste for government interference in personal health care decisions: a whopping 78% of respondents say that the decision to have an abortion should be left to the pregnant person and their doctor (including 58% of Republicans). There's basically nothing that 78% of Americans agree on: 78% of the PPFA media team can't even agree on the proper way to eat an Oreo.
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Almost a year after the Dobbs decision, two-thirds of Americans remain opposed to the decision, including 54% of Americans who strongly oppose the decision. We’ve said it a thousand times before: abortion rights are popular and Americans definitely do not want politicians meddling in their personal health care decisions, full stop.
Read the full results at the Washington Post.