THE QUICKIE: NORTH CAROLINA IS A CRITICAL ABORTION ACCESS STATE — CAN IT REMAIN THAT WAY?

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: NC is a critical state for abortion but access there is tenuous, our weekly state fights lookahead, and what is adultification bias and why is it important? 

NORTH CAROLINA IS A CRITICAL ABORTION ACCESS STATE — CAN IT REMAIN THAT WAY?: This weekend, the New York Times featured Planned Parenthood South Atlantic’s (PPSAT) work to provide abortion care to thousands of patients in a region decimated by abortion bans and restrictions. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, North Carolina has experienced a 37 percent increase in abortions — more than any other state in the country, according to WeCount.

Abortion is legal in North Carolina up to 20 weeks of pregnancy, making it a critical access state for a region in which the majority of states have strict abortion bans, including Tennessee and Georgia. Getting an abortion out-of-state is incredibly difficult: Even when patients can get timely appointments, the burden of traveling is often insurmountable. As PPSAT’s Dr. Jonas Swartz told the Times: 

“It’s just hard to get here. It’s a lot. You’ve got to arrange child care. If someone gets sick, if you lose transportation, you may just not be able to get here on the day you thought you were going to.”

A patient journal entry in PPSAT’s Chapel Hill health center

Image Credit: Desiree Rios/New York Times

North Carolina’s current status as an access state for safe and legal abortion is precarious, as anti-abortion majorities control both chambers of the legislature and have promised to introduce a new ban this session. While reproductive rights champion Gov. Roy Cooper has promised to veto any additional restrictions on abortion, the North Carolina House just recently amended its rules to make it easier to override a veto. According to recent polling, 57% of North Carolinians favor keeping the state’s current abortion laws or making them more permissive; still, anti-abortion lawmakers are pushing for a more restrictive  ban against the will of the people. 

“We’re preparing for the hardest fight of our life,” said PPSAT CEO Jenny Black. “And we’re sober about the realities of how difficult that is going to be.”

Read more at the New York Times. 

HOW ADULTIFICATION BIAS SHAPES BLACK YOUTH: An article published in Word In Black explained the effects of adultification bias, a stereotype that often leads to the hyper-sexualization and criminalization of Black youth. Adultificiation bias is the false perception that Black children are more mature or independent than other children their age, which can force Black youth into growing up faster and often leads to them receiving less support and protection from adults. Studies have shown that this puts Black children at higher risk of harsh discipline from teachers and law enforcement, as well as sexual abuse from adults close to them. 

Adultification bias takes a mental and physical toll on Black children, and the article stresses the importance of providing them with a safe space to discuss their experiences. Parents are also encouraged to talk to Black children about appropriate and inappropriate comments they may receive from others. 

For more information, read the story here.

STATE FIGHTS LOOK AHEAD: As more legislative sessions begin (Florida, Alabama) and end (West Virginia) this week, both defensive and proactive sexual and reproductive health bills continue to move across the country.

• Legislative sessions begin tomorrow in Alabama and Florida, where lawmakers have already set their sights on further restricting sexual and reproductive health care. And last week in Florida, legislators filed three anti-LGBTQ+ bills, including a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth with additional restrictions for adult patients.
• Harmful anti-LGBTQ+ legislation continues to move in Tennessee after Gov. Lee signed two bans — one on gender-affirming care for youth and another on drag performances — last week. This week, more anti-trans bills are set for committee hearings, including TennCare restrictions for trans care and an anti-trans student athlete bill.
• In West Virginia’s final week of legislative session, bills to watch include H.B. 2007, which bans gender-affirming care for trans youth, and S.B. 552, which requires the Department of Health and Human Resources to peddle misinformation about so-called medication abortion “reversal.” And last week, lawmakers suspended the Senate rules to ram through a vote on an anti-LGBTQ+ bill that allows for discrimination, sending it to the governor’s desk for signature.
• On Tuesday, the Illinois House will hear HB2463, which seeks to curtail deceptive practices of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. 
• On Wednesday, abortion advocates in Nebraska will host their lobby day to speak out against the six-week ban that would effectively end abortion access in the state. The bill has already been voted out of committee and needs to pass three votes in the unicameral legislative body before moving to the governor’s desk. 
• A so-called “born alive” bill (HB 2313) will be heard in the Kansas House Committee on Health and Human Services on Wednesday. On Monday, advocates are holding a lobby day in Topeka to voice their support for abortion rights and speak out against the continued attacks on essential health care.
• Last Friday was the transmittal deadline for the Montana Legislature. While bills regarding LGBTQ+ youth and Montanans with Medicaid coverage failed to progress, several dangerous bills are still alive, including a gender-affirming care ban, abortion attacks, drag show bans, and a right to moral refusal bill. 
• Champion legislators in the Texas House and Senate have introduced the C.A.R.E. (Comprehensive Access to Reproductive-health Entities) No Matter What Act to restore pathways to state and local funding for trusted community health providers like Planned Parenthood. For the past decade, Texas has systematically removed Planned Parenthood providers from all aspects of federal and state funding to disastrous results, worsening the health care crisis in the state.
• On Tuesday, the Minnesota Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on the Protect Access to Contraception (PAC) Act. The bill would require insurance plans to cover FDA-approved contraceptive methods with no cost sharing and allow patients to get up to a 12-month supply of birth control at once, covered by insurance.
• Bills to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months in Alaska will be heard in Senate and House committees on Tuesday. Also in Alaska, a bill requiring insurers to cover 12 months of contraception at a time passed out of its House committee last week, and a committee vote on another bill to establish sex ed standards in the state is expected this week.