Art by Emily O'Leary
On March 4, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up its first abortion rights case since the court took a right-turn after Trump’s nomination of not one but two conservative justices. The case, June Medical Services vs. Gee, concerns a Louisiana law passed in 2014 mandating that abortion providers must have admitting privileges at a local hospital. This week, we’re outlining how this law has impacted other states, why it’s so damn harmful, and what you can do to support abortion rights.
Another BS law. “Admitting privileges” is the right granted to a doctor to admit patients to a particular hospital, but most hospitals refuse to grant this to abortion providers b/c they fear abortion politics. Supporters of June Medical Services vs. Gee claim the law’s intent is to protect women having emergency complications during abortion. The law is based on a false premise that the procedure is unsafe and it dramatically restricts abortion access. SCOTUS reviewed an identical law in Texas in 2016 and found it unconstitutional. The ruling was so definitive that Alabama and Tennessee stopped defending similar laws.
Getting an abortion is less dangerous than getting your wisdom teeth removed, with a less than 1% major complication rate. But because it’s so hard for providers to get admitting privileges, if SCOTUS upholds the Louisiana law, only ONE abortion provider will be left in the state—essentially outlawing abortion there. This is just another example of how bullshit barriers on abortion providers can send the number of clinics plummeting. In Texas, the number of clinics offering abortion dropped from 40 to 20 before SCOTUS struck down that state’s law.
As war is waged on reproductive rights and clinics are constantly under attack, it’s important that we step in to support them:
—Show up to help!
Abortion AF is facilitating an adopt-a-clinic drive this holiday season. Join The Broad Room on December 7th from 11–1pm as we make post-abortion kits to send to a clinic.
Sign up here!
—Donate! We rec the
Haven Clinic, which supports people traveling to NYC to access abortion.
