Developments in Abortion, Autonomy, and Access: 

This week’s Digest goes through developments in reproductive health litigation, legislation, ballot initiatives and policy. As we draw closer to the November election, contests over state abortion ballot initiatives are heating up, with several anti-abortion groups launching last-minute challenges. Additionally, policy surrounding reproductive health care, bodily autonomy and LGBTQ+ rights continues to develop at both the state and federal levels. Please read on to the end for the news that you need to know.

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This Week’s Must Read:

This week’s must-read is about the people whose lives have been upended by post-Dobbs abortion bans. Last week, Amanda Zurawski, Kaitlyn Joshua and Hadley Duvall all spoke to a packed audience at the DNC about their experiences with pregnancy, miscarriage, sexual assault and abortion care. Each of these women are living reminders of why access to full-spectrum reproductive health care is critical and the horrifying consequences that follow from its prohibition. 

Legislation & Litigation:

• Ohio Blocks 24-Hour Waiting Period: After passing the Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment via ballot initiative last year, advocates in the state have been working to repeal abortion restrictions that remain on the books. Last week, an Ohio county judge blocked certain medically unnecessary requirements, including a 24-hour waiting period, in-person visit requirement, and state-mandated information. The judge found that these provisions are inconsistent with the reproductive rights now constitutionally guaranteed to Ohioans. Other states voting on abortion in November will face similar ongoing legal battles if their respective amendments pass into law. 

• Title IX Remains Blocked: The Title IX rule promulgated by the Biden Administration to protect LGBTQ+ students remains blocked in over half of the states, with the Supreme Court declining to allow the rule to take full effect while litigation is pending.  The new rule was announced in April of this year and is intended to protect LGBTQ+ students in an increasingly hostile national climate. Although the rule went into effect on August 1st, federal judges have blocked its enforcement in 26 states, severely undercutting its impact. 

• New York and Abortion Pill Reversal: An anti-abortion group and two crisis pregnancy centers in New York secured a preliminary victory last week, with a federal judge ruling that they can counsel pregnant patients about the controversial “abortion pill reversal” treatment. The treatment remains largely untested and its safety and efficacy are unproven. New York’s Attorney General Letitia James has sought to crack down on potential misinformation and disinformation being spread by CPCs. However, despite the experimental nature of the treatment, the judge in the case found that anti-abortion plaintiffs are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

• Austin Texas Sued Over Abortion Fund: The city of Austin Texas allocated $400,000 to help Austin residents pay for the costs associated with accessing out of state abortion care, including travel, lodging and childcare. A former city council member has brought a lawsuit asking for that allocation to be blocked on the grounds that taxpayer dollars cannot be legally used for abortion-related activities, even when the abortion takes place out of state and is entirely legal. A similar legal battle is playing out in San Antonio Texas, as the city seeks to implement a reproductive justice fund.
  

Ballot Initiatives:

Arkansas Ballot Initiative Rejected: The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld state election officials' rejection of a pro-choice ballot initiative. The Court found that Arkansans for Limited Government, the group behind the initiative, erroneously submitted documentation of paid signature gatherers separately rather than as a single bundle. Organizers had gathered over 100,000 signatures–enough to make the ballot–but as a result of the courts’ ruling, Arkansans will not have the opportunity to vote on the measure in November. This is the latest in a string of anti-choice efforts to stop abortion ballot initiatives from going before voters in the fall. AFLG stated in response to the ruling that, although they are “outraged” by the outcome, the “effort has generated a wave of fiercely engaged Arkansas women” who will “remember this in November.” AFLG is urging supporters to cast their votes for candidates who supported the ballot measure. 

• Missouri’s Ballot Initiative Challenged by Both Sides: Missouri’s ballot initiative is facing last-minute challenges from both sides of the issue. Proponents of the initiative are challenging the secretary of state’s ballot language, which distorts the intent and impact of the ballot measure. The language approved by Secretary of State Ashcroft states that the measure would allow abortion “at any time of pregnancy,” would prohibit any government regulation of abortion and would remove protections for pregnant people. In actual fact, the ballot measure would effectively restore the Roe standard, allowing for government regulation of abortion post-viability. While pro-choice advocates fight for fair ballot language, opponents of the measure argue that it should be rejected on the grounds that it fails to specify all of the laws potentially impacted by the amendment’s passage and purportedly contains more than one subject. They make the case that voters should be deprived of the opportunity to vote directly on the issue because the use of the phrase “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” is “unlimited in scope” and too broad to be permitted on the ballot. Similar challenges have been rejected in other states. 

• Abortion on the Ballot in Montana: In some good news, the Montana Secretary of State has certified that abortion will be on the ballot in November. If passed, the measure would preserve the right to pre-viability abortion in the state. 

• Nebraska Dueling Ballot Measures: In Nebraska, multiple abortion ballot initiatives will appear before voters in November. One initiative, advanced by pro-choice advocates in the state, would enshrine the right to abortion until fetal viability, significantly expanding access in the state. The second initiative would effectively enshrine the current ban on abortion after 12 weeks, prohibiting abortions in the second and third trimester. This 12-week ballot initiative is backed by anti-abortion groups and seeks to persuade voters to make the current post-Dobbs reality in Nebraska the permanent status quo. Groups on the ground are working to ensure that voters are clear on which of the two initiatives supports reproductive health care in the state. 

• Idahoans Consider 2026 Ballot Initiative: Following the disastrous fallout from Idaho’s total abortion ban, advocates have launched efforts to explore the possibility of a 2026 ballot initiative to restore reproductive rights to the state. Because of Idaho’ state laws, this effort would be to craft legislation for voters to directly consider, rather than a constitutional amendment. Currently, Idaho has one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, permitting abortion only to save the pregnant person’s life. This past term, the state went before the U.S. Supreme Court to defend its right to deprive Idahoans of the right to health-preserving emergency abortions. Testimony in that case included reports of Idahoans having to be air-lifted out of state to obtain care in severe emergencies.

• Florida Ballot Initiative Faces Challenges: The Florida Supreme Court has ruled to allow a financial impact statement for the abortion rights ballot initiative to remain in place. Floridians Protecting Freedom argued that the language should be blocked–as written, it warns voters of consequences including decreasing the state’s live births, and potentially leading to state and federal taxpayer funding for abortion in the state. For the amendment to pass, it will have to garner at least 60% of the vote in November.

Trend & Policy Watch:

• Ohio and Fetal Personhood: An Ohio lawmaker has introduced fetal personhood legislation that would allow embryos or fetuses to be claimed as dependents for tax purposes. Although this kind of legislation is often touted as pro-family, in practice it legally codifies the idea that the state considers a fetus or embryo to have the rights as a child under the law. 

• Abortion Polling: New polling from KFF shows that support for abortion remains high and is relatively consistent across party and religious lines, while disapproval of severe abortion bans and restrictions continues to be widespread. The research also showed that a person’s reported political affiliation had little statistical relation to whether or not that person has had an abortion in their life. 

• Abortion Bans and Mental Health Exceptions: At present, 14 states are enforcing near-total abortion bans across the country, each with varying exceptions for extreme circumstances such as the life or health of the pregnant person. However, noticeably absent (and explicitly excluded in some cases) from the definition of health of the pregnant person is mental health. This failure to recognize mental health as a legitimate medical reason for terminating a pregnancy is inconsistent with recent research showing that mental health is one of the leading causes of pregnant and postpartum mortality. Complicating things further, several medications used to treat certain common mental health disorders may create an increased risk of birth defects, making them potentially incompatible with continuing a pregnancy. 

• Planned Parenthood During the DNC: Planned Parenthood drew national attention last week when its mobile clinic provided free vasectomies, emergency contraception and medication abortions in Chicago near where the Democratic National Convention took place. Planned Parenthood explained that the use of the mobile clinic furthers its mission of expanding access to “care, no matter where.”

• Texas and Trans Rights: Texas, under the leadership of Attorney General Ken Paxton, is once again moving to restrict the rights of trans Texans to live safe and affirming lives. A new rule will reportedly not allow trans drivers in Texas to change the gender markers on their drivers license, even with a certified court order. The internal email showing the change in rule also directed DPS employees to report the names and ID numbers of individuals requesting to change the sex reflected on their license, creating concern about information gathering on trans Texans at a time when efforts to restrict the rights of trans people around the country have reached a fever pitch. 

• Florida and LGBTQ+ Visibility:Florida’s tourism marketing agency has quietly pulled its LGBTQ+ Travel section from its website, despite historically being a popular spot for LGBTQ+ visitors. This continues a concerning trend of the Florida government diminishing the rights and visibility of LGBTQ+ Floridians.