Source: http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2013/07/08/book-club-crow-after-roe/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 02:06:20+00:00

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Marty and Pieklo argue that this onslaught of bad legislation has put women — especially poor, minority, and rural women — in a separate and secondary class of health care consumers who have little choice or control over their reproductive health. The authors posit that the goal of the many restrictions is to render abortion “legal in name only” — still legal, but largely unavailable.
Marty and Pieklo point to the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey as a turning point that pitted the rights of women against concerns over eggs, embryos, and fetuses. A case that challenged abortion regulations in Pennsylvania, Planned Parenthood v. Casey resulted in a decision that didn’t overturn the liberties guaranteed by Roe v. Wade but put them at odds with a state’s interest in safeguarding potential life.
While the Casey decision set the legal stage, a more recent court decision gave anti-abortion groups the financial power to roll back reproductive rights. The Supreme Court decision in the 2010 case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission radically undermined campaign finance laws and thereby helped fuel the many recent anti-abortion laws. That particular outcome of the Citizens United decision should put a smile on the face of attorney James Bopp, Jr.; Bopp helped the lobbying organization Citizens United realize their legal victory, and he has also had numerous anti-abortion groups among his clients, including Focus on the Family and National Right to Life.
With that financial power behind them, anti-abortion activists went on the offensive with renewed fervor — and a new strategy. The focus, according to Michael New of the conservative Witherspoon Institute, would no longer be on “demand side” legislation — that is, imposing legal or financial barriers to abortion. The new focus would be on “supply side” legislation — that is, making it increasingly difficult, both legally and financially, for abortion providers to continue operating. Each new regulation, from ultrasound requirements to bans on abortions by telemedicine, can make providers rethink their commitment to offering abortions — and deter potential providers from ever offering them at all. As Marty and Pieklo report, a handful of restrictive bills that were passed in Ohio drove many resident physicians to leave the state.
In her foreword, Feldt repeats a call to action from her book The War on Choice: “‘We must not just fight back,’ I warned; ‘We must fight forward.’” In the book’s final chapter, Marty and Pieklo offer several suggestions for fighting both back and forward, among them the formation of an activist base to support candidates who will defend and advance reproductive rights. To increase the number of candidates who fit that description, they recommend growing the work of organizations like She Should Run and Off the Sidelines, both of which encourage better representation of women in public life and leadership.
The authors also point to two bills introduced in California last year that could serve as models for not only defending reproductive health care but expanding access to it. State Senator Christine Kehoe introduced a bill that would increase access to abortion for rural Californians by allowing nurses, midwives, and physician’s assistants to perform surgical abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell introduced a bill that would allow registered nurses to administer birth control.
Marty and Pieklo point to the “powerful activist backlash” as the silver lining that came out of the last two years of attack. The defeat of Arizona’s 20-week abortion ban is a fresh reminder of what advocates and activists can accomplish. A number of similar bans have been passed in other states in recent years, making Arizona’s victory an important beginning.
This entry was posted in Book & Film Reviews and tagged 2010 elections, abortion, Arizona, Barack Obama, birth control, California, campaign finance, Christine Kehoe, Citizens United, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, contraception, contraceptives, Crow After Roe, Democrat, egg, embryo, family planning, Federal Election Commission, fetus, Focus on the Family, Gloria Feldt, Guttmacher Institute, Holly Mitchell, Idaho, Ig Publishing, James Bopp, Jessica Mason Pieklo, Lynn Paltrow, Michael New, midterm elections, Midwest, midwife, Mississippi, National Advocates for Pregnant Women, National Right to Life, nurse, Off the Sidelines, Ohio, Pennsylvania, physician's assistant, Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, privacy, reproductive health, reproductive rights, Republican, RH Reality Check, RHRealityCheck.org, Robin Marty, She Should Run, telemedicine, Texas, The War on Choice, ultrasound, War on Women, Washington D.C., Wayne Christian, Witherspoon Institute by Matt. Bookmark the permalink.

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