The Quickie: Tennessee House Expels Two Black Representatives for Peaceful Protest

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: TN House expels two Black members for protesting with gun safety activists, why everyone should care about the future of mifepristone, young men of color view abortion rights as a top issue, and our weekly state fights recap.

TENNESSEE HOUSE VOTES TO EXPEL TWO BLACK REPRESENTATIVES FOR PROTESTING GUN VIOLENCE: Yesterday, in an unprecedented move, the Tennessee House of Representatives voted to expel two representatives — Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) — from its ranks after they protested with gun safety activists in the wake of the Covenant School shooting in Nashville. An attempt to expel a third representative, Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), failed by just one vote. The move to expel two of the youngest Black representatives in the General Assembly is a total affront to democratic norms and an example of the growing extremism from politicians hostile to our health and rights.

“This is not what democracy looks like,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Alexis McGill Johnson said. “Anti-democracy politicians are using every trick in their book to strip away people’s rights and silence their voices, from reproductive rights to gun control to voting rights. Last night’s move to expel Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two Black members of the legislative body, for peacefully protesting is a new and disgraceful low. All eyes are on Tennessee. Planned Parenthood Action Fund stands with Reps. Jones and Pearson."

Read more at the Washington Post and AP. 

WHY EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MIFEPRISTONE: On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, ACLU, and NARAL Pro-Choice America hosted a joint press call, sounding the alarm on the looming impact of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA ruling, a baseless, politically-motivated attempt to undermine abortion access nationwide. Some highlights include: 

“What happens in Texas doesn’t stay in Texas,” Dr. Bhavik Kumar, Medical Director for Primary and Transgender Care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, said. “Mifepristone is a medication now used in over half of the reported abortions in this country. Attacks like this on a critical and safe medication make my job and that of other compassionate healthcare providers much more difficult.”

“In a normal world, this case would be thrown out of court, but the case is being heard by an extreme judge who was hand-picked by abortion opponents for this case,” said Jennifer Dalven, Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “The judge's decision could disrupt the ability of people to get abortion and miscarriage care in all 50 states, even where abortion is legal and protected… If they can do this with mifepristone, it doesn’t take much creativity to imagine the types of drugs, including vaccines, that might be next on the chopping block.”

ICYMI.

YOUNG MEN OF COLOR SAY ABORTION RIGHTS ARE TOP OF MIND: Yesterday, Navigator released new insights from a recent focus group that showed men of color are deeply concerned with protecting abortion rights. While most of the surveyed men did not think abortion rights directly affected them, they viewed abortion rights as a top issue for them as voters. Some participants noted:

“I feel like for me, it is important. I have sisters, I have cousins, I have friends who are women. So I feel like for me, it is important. Even though I'm not a woman, I think it's something that I don't think the government should dictate… And I feel like for me, that is an issue that I really consider when voting for candidates and something that I think is definitely important.” – AAPI participant, GA

“… Abortion rights are incredibly important. This is probably the singular most important example of bodily autonomy, and if we don't have abortion rights, then at any point [the] government or Congress can start making laws affecting our bodily autonomy, the choices that we can make medically with our doctors.” – Hispanic participant, AZ

“I have a daughter. I believe that it's her right to make those decisions. That's her body. So as far as I'm concerned, this should be at the top of the list of certain issues that need be resolved.” – Black participant, WI

View the full Navigator findings here.

STATE FIGHTS ROUND UP: Michigan’s 1931 criminal abortion ban has officially been repealed. 

Proactive efforts:

• On Wednesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill officially repealing Michigan’s 1931 criminal abortion ban. Although the ban was already nullified by voters’ resounding approval of Proposition 3 in November, which enshrined reproductive rights in the state constitution, the legislative repeal is an important step to permanently protect abortion rights in Michigan.
• HB1468, a bill that seeks to mitigate the threat to doctors who provide reproductive health care in Washington, passed out of the Ways and Means committee this week. 
• Legislation to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care in Hawaii by requiring individual policies to cover abortion care, STI testing, and preventative care without cost-sharing passed the House Finance committee this week.  

Defensive efforts:

• On Wednesday, Idaho Gov. Little signed into law HB 242, a bill banning people from helping minors travel out of state for abortions without parental consent. Even with parental consent, however, helpers could still face prosecution if this bill becomes law. The law will take effect 30 days after it was signed.
• On Monday, the Florida Senate passed SB300, a proposed six-week abortion ban. The House is expected to vote on its version of the bill next week. 
• The Kansas Legislature has advanced several anti-abortion measures sending them to the desk of Gov. Kelly, including a so-called “born alive” measure and legislation requiring abortion providers to post medically inaccurate propaganda about so-called abortion “reversal” — an unproven protocol based on faulty science and advanced by anti-abortion activists.

Elections matter: 

• Arizona Gov. Hobbs vetoed HB2427, legislation to increase sentencing for knowingly assaulting a pregnant person, and SB1600, a so-called “born alive” bill. These efforts are part of anti-abortion politicians’ larger strategy of advancing the dangerous narrative of fetal personhood. 

Several states advanced and enacted gender-affirming care bans this week: 

• Idaho Gov. Little and Indiana Gov. Holcomb both signed into law bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth in their respective states. The North Dakota Legislature also passed a similar measure, sending it to the desk of Gov. Burgum this week. 
• The Kansas legislature overrode Gov. Kelly’s veto to enact HB2238, a bill banning trans students’ participation in school sports. Lawmakers also passed a gender-affirming care ban for minors.
• The Florida Senate passed SB 254, a gender-affirming care ban, on Monday. The measure would not only ban gender-affirming care for minors, but also change the state’s child custody and abuse statutes to include providing gender-affirming care to a child as grounds for removal of custody. It also would add significant restrictions for adults to receive care. Providers who violate the ban would be subject to penalties up to a third-degree felony. 
• The Texas Senate passed a number of harmful anti-LGBTQ+ bills on Wednesday, including SB 14, a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth that also prohibits public funding or assistance for that care; SB 12, a drag ban; and SB 1601, which strips public funding from municipal libraries that host drag storytime events.