The Quickie: Explosion of Anti-Trans Bills in 2023
For Immediate Release: April 18, 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: staggering increase in anti-trans bills in 2023, PP provides last-minute care for trans* people in MO, “abortion pills rulings could break the FDA,” and PPFA president reacts to chaos and confusion in mifepristone case.
RSVP TO PRESS CALL ON IMPACT OF MIFEPRISTONE RESTRICTIONS – TODAY AT 3 PM ET
PPFA, experts in FDA law, public health to discuss legal, health, and patient safety implications if the lower courts’ decisions stand.
EXPLOSION OF ANTI-TRANS BILLS IN 2023: Yesterday, the Washington Post highlighted the explosion of anti-trans bills being introduced during the 2023 state legislative session. As of last Friday, state legislators this year have introduced more than 400 anti-trans bills compared to 156 in 2022 — an over 150% increase. Even though it’s only April, more anti-trans bills have been introduced this year than all of the last four years combined, according to data compiled by the ACLU and analyzed by the Washington Post.
While many have yet to be voted on, at least 29 anti-trans bills have taken effect so far — including bans on gender-affirming care, limitations on drag performances, attacks on trans people participating in sports, forced outing of trans youth, restrictions on altering birth certificates, and more. This data does not include the numerous anti-trans executive orders signed by governors.
Read more at the Washington Post.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE ST. LOUIS REGION WORKS TO PROVIDE GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE BEFORE NEAR TOTAL BAN TAKES EFFECT: In less than 10 days, Missouri is set to impose extreme restrictions on gender-affirming care for adults. When the ban takes effect on April 27, it will become nearly impossible for people of all ages to access life-saving care in the state. AG Bailey filed emergency regulations on April 13 that create medically unnecessary barriers so burdensome that they will functionally ban gender-affirming care in Missouri. Advocates in the state, including ACLU of Missouri and Lambda Legal, have pledged to challenge the emergency regulation in an attempt to stop the ban.
But providers of gender-affirming care like Planned Parenthood St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri (PPSLRSWMO) know that gender-affirming care is lifesaving, essential, and time-tested. PPSLRSWMO is working around the clock to provide last-minute care to trans Missourians. On Monday, PPSLRSWMO launched a pop-up clinic and added over 200 appointment slots at its five Missouri locations for gender-affirming care. Dr. Colleen McNicholas, Chief Medical Officer at PPSLRSWMO, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
“So many patients today have said this therapy for them has been life-saving. It is important to do what we can to make sure they get that care… Just like we did with abortion care, we are going to continue to fight and continue showing up for the trans community. We'll be prepared also in Illinois. We know how to adapt and be nimble and meet the needs of patients.”
Read more at St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KSDK, and Springfield News-Leader.
“ABORTION PILL RULINGS COULD BREAK THE FDA” SAYS PHARMA: Today, the Washington Post highlighted the deep concern pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry leaders have over lower court decisions in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, which threatens FDA approval of mifepristone and the agency’s independence. In various briefs filed with the Supreme Court, pharmaceutical companies and industry experts explain just how alarming it would be to have courts deciding the approvals of future medicines:
“While we may be talking about mifepristone today, we must understand that political motives could similarly attack many innovative and lifesaving biotherapeutics such as genetic medicines, cell therapies and even today’s major advancements in mRNA vaccine technology,” Reid Huber, a partner at Third Rock Ventures, said.
PhRMA explains in their amicus brief that “[b]iopharmaceutical companies make enormous investments in drug development based on the reasonable expectation that once a drug product is approved finally by FDA under the statutory standards, barring emerging scientific data, it will be lawful and profitable to sell that product for an extended period in the United States.”
Read more in the Washington Post.
“CHAOS AND CONFUSION” IN MIFEPRISTONE LEGAL BATTLE: Over the weekend, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson joined CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield to discuss the Supreme Court’s administrative stay in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Alexis spoke to the unnecessary disruption that this case has caused for patients who are forced to make plans to travel out of state for care due to abortion bans:
“The reality is we were waiting for a decision on [Friday]. The court had until midnight and I had colleagues across the country who were worried about their early morning appointments. They did not know whether or not they would be able to reach their patients in time if a decision came in at 1 a.m. That’s the kind of chaos and confusion that we’re putting into place here right now.
“We are being very clear that for now mifepristone is available. … But just consider the wear and tear for a provider to have to make a phone call to say that perhaps they might not be able to make it. These are people who are going to have to take off from work to travel in, and they’re making plans to do so because there are already [bans and] restrictions in 18 states and one out of three women can no longer get access to care in their own state."