I promised you a multi-part series on what traditional media is hiding to distract us from the true MAGA agenda. That was 14 days ago.
I had a whole plan for that series, but shortly after that post, I completely burnt myself out. In a last-ditch effort to save my sanity (and, perhaps, in a slight episode of mania), I hopped on a plane to the furthest country from the U.S. that my passport would take me; I went to Australia. I also went cold turkey for two weeks on the burning dumpster fire that is the U.S. right now. I shut down all news apps, muted my group chats, had too many cocktails and koala selfies, but also have zero regrets.
I needed the break to sustain myself for what’s coming. Although I didn’t realize the “what’s coming” would happen while I was gone: the nationwide abortion ban we’ve been screaming about since Dobbs. Let’s dive in.
ICYMI
Last Friday was, in my opinion, the second worst day in U.S. history for reproductive rights, the first being Dobbs itself. A federal court ruled that mifepristone could no longer be dispensed by mail or through pharmacies, effectively shutting down access for a medication used in the vast majority of abortions across the U.S. The judge in this case was, unsurprisingly, a Trump appointee. On Monday, SCOTUS intervened by issuing a temporary stay, restoring access until May 11.
How we got here
After the Dobbs decision overturned Roe in 2022, the Biden administration immediately directed federal agencies to expand medication abortion access. The FDA responded by lifting its in-person dispensing requirement, meaning mifepristone could be prescribed via telehealth and shipped by mail anywhere in the country, including to people living under state bans.
Louisiana sued the FDA for that. The state was PISSED that its residents could circumvent its near total abortion ban. I guess they didn’t get the memo that abortion bans don’t stop abortions; they simply force women to seek alternative ways to access care. Louisiana argued that if its residents can access medication abortion through telehealth and the mail, the ban becomes unenforceable.
If this doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about the anti-abortion agenda, I don’t know what will. Louisiana’s case is not about patient safety and it’s not about protecting women. It’s about punishing its residents for unapologetically continuing to access care that they need.
However, the Fifth Circuit ruled in the state’s favor and reinstated medically unnecessary in-person requirements that have no basis in clinical evidence. The two pharmaceutical manufacturers of mifepristone, Danko Labs and GenBioPro, immediately appealed, forcing Justice Alito to issue a one-week stay while SCOTUS reviews the case.
Here’s what gets me about this case. Republicans told us the fight over Roe was about states’ rights: returning the decision to the people, letting local governments reflect local values. Yet now, a MAGA-backed federal court ruling is threatening to override every state that has chosen to protect access. It turns out states’ rights was never the goal, it was just a more palatable pathway to a national ban.
Continue reading over at the Women in America Substack.
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