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Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly roundup. Every Monday, we’ll send you a summary of the biggest stories about bodily autonomy. We’ll also include links to pieces that Garnet or Susan have published.
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Let’s dive in.
On Autonomy News
In case you missed it in last week’s onslaught of news: Did you know that the Department of Justice prosecuted someone for selling abortion pills during the first Trump administration? We have a deep dive on a little-known anti-abortion operative who may have spent the last year laying the groundwork for a whole lot more of that. (Share this story on Instagram, Bluesky, or TikTok.)
Garnet Henderson
Federal news
The states of Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas launched yet another attack on access to abortion pills by mail. On Wednesday, the states sued nearly 30 abortion pill providers and a pharmacy for sending medication abortion to their residents, allowing them to evade abortion bans. The case against was filed in the Western District of Louisiana and assigned to Judge James Cain, Jr., whom Trump nominated in his first term. At the same time, the coalition asked the Supreme Court for permission to sue New York, Massachusetts, and California over their telehealth “shield” laws that protect clinicians who write prescriptions across state lines. The Republican-led states want the court to halt enforcement of the laws, which block states from cooperating with investigations or extraditing providers to face criminal charges. The states compared abortion pills to a public health threat like fentanyl or anthrax, and claimed that if the defendants were facilitating the shipment of those deadly substances, they would be able to sue to stop those harms. The Supreme Court normally only hears appeals, but it can take cases that involve conflicts between states directly if there are five votes to do so. Susan posted a video explainer of the complaints:
Louisiana is still separately suing the Food and Drug Administration in an attempt to end telemedicine prescriptions of mifepristone, the first of two drugs in a typical medication abortion regimen. Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga notified the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of the state’s two new complaints in a letter, saying that its initial lawsuit would end the mailing mifepristone into the state, while the newer cases would prevent “the most prominent actors” from sending “any back-up drug.” Both of the new complaints acknowledge that providers are prepared to switch to prescribing only the second drug, misoprostol, if mifepristone is restricted, because misoprostol is safe and effective on its own. In effect, Louisiana is seeking to tie providers' hands by making it legally risky for them to send any drug intended for abortion across state lines. Mifepristone manufacturer GenBioPro told the Fifth Circuit that these new complaints underscore that Louisiana doesn’t have standing to sue the FDA in the first place, because its issues are with state shield laws, not the agency’s regulations. A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit heard arguments in the case earlier this month and could rule at any time.
In more abortion pill news, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles reportedly told Attorney General Todd Blanche to delay any action on the drugs until after the midterm elections, according to The Washington Sun. The administration denied the reporting, but anti-abortion groups told the outlet that officials said change is coming after the elections. What could Blanche do? For one, he could settle Louisiana’s lawsuit against the FDA with a consent decree that ends telemedicine prescriptions of mifepristone nationwide. Blanche could also change the government's stance on enforcing the Comstock Act, a 19th-century anti-vice law governing use of the mail, and greenlight criminal prosecutions under the statute. On a private call in July, Blanche said of shield law states, “they can't, you know, do things like they're doing with mailing and mail-order drugs.”
Not surprisingly, the DOJ does not want a federal judge in Virginia to retain jurisdiction in a case where he ruled that the FDA has kept too many restrictions on mifepristone. To recap, abortion provider Whole Woman’s Health filed this lawsuit, which argues that the FDA is still regulating mifepristone too tightly despite changes that allowed the drug to be prescribed via telehealth and dispensed in retail pharmacies. The judge agreed. WWH then asked the judge to keep overseeing the case—rather than kicking the issue back to the FDA to decide how to move forward—because of concerns that the agency is facing political pressure to restrict mifepristone. In a very defensive court filing, DOJ notes that the judge in a similar case out of Hawai’i declined to do this, and that WWH hasn’t pointed to any wrongdoing on the agency’s part.
It seems the third time might be the charm in Trump’s as-yet unsuccessful effort to install a Surgeon General. The Senate health committee voted to advance the nomination of Dr. Nicole Saphier to the full body, which is expected to confirm her. Saphier, a former Fox news contributor, has said she supports the FDA’s unnecessary “review” of mifepristone’s safety.
A proposal that would have required FedEx to produce a report on how it manages the potential legal risks of shipping abortion pills in light of the Comstock Act failed at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. The proposal was introduced by a Catholic “values investing” firm called IWP Capital, and authored by none other than Christian nationalist law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, a leading proponent of the theory that Comstock bans mailing abortion pills, if not all medical devices used in abortion care.
Nearly 100 community organizations lost their federal HIV prevention grants this week, after the Trump administration abruptly pivoted to offer the grants to state and local health departments instead. Experts worry that the loss of funding for groups with visibility and credibility in their communities could mean that prevention programs become less effective.
A class-action lawsuit seeking to permanently block the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurance plans cover contraception is paused pending the outcome of a related case. Pennsylvania sued the Trump administration in 2017 over a regulation that would allow almost any employer and university to stop covering birth control in its insurance plan. The case is still ongoing. The Trump administration asked to pause proceedings in the newer case, filed in Texas, until the Pennsylvania case is fully resolved. The Texas case, DeOtte v. Kennedy, was filed by anti-abortion activist Jonathan Mitchell—more on him in a second.
Supreme Court watch
Today marks the start of a new Supreme Court term. The justices, who choose the cases they hear, have given themselves the opportunity to do several horrible things relating to autonomy and gender identity. In a case out of Washington state, they could overturn a law that requires licensed homeless shelters to notify the state—not a child’s parents—if a runway minor seeks gender-affirming care or reproductive health services (International Partners for Ethical Care v. Ferguson). The aforementioned Jonathan Mitchell wrote an amicus brief for the bad guys in that case, as well as in another case the justices might still take up this term. The court will also hear a lawsuit from Catholic preschools that want to participate in Colorado’s universal pre-K program, but only if they can reject kids who have same-sex or transgender parents (St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy). Plus, we can very likely expect emergency appeals in one of the many abortion pill cases.
In a new and extremely obnoxious interview, Justice Samuel Alito—aka the author and possible leaker of the opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson—said it took “courage” to move forward with overturning Roe v. Wade after the leak, and that he lost friends over that decision. Boohoo, Sam. People are literally losing their lives. He also said that the Court won’t overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, because people made “concrete” decisions based on that ruling such as entering into the contract of marriage. Women’s reliance on Roe, on the other hand, was “abstract.” You heard it here first, folks. All those plans you made for your reproductive lives were fake!
State news
North Carolina lawmakers directed more than $10.7 million to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. That’s down from a high of more than $12 million in fiscal year 2024, but it’s a staggering increase from the $300,000 allocated a decade ago, in fiscal year 2016.
Health officials in New York state stockpiled misoprostol in 2023 when a previous federal lawsuit threatened access to medication abortion, but now the pills are expired. The state obtained 12,500 doses at a cost of $112,000 and will soon destroy the reserves. Other states also stocked up, and Washington destroyed its reserves while Oregon exchanged its mifepristone with the manufacturer for pills with a later expiration date. A reminder that while people can keep medication abortion on hand for future use, misoprostol does expire after about two years, well before mifepristone.
New research funded by the Center for Reproductive Rights finds that abortion bans are associated with higher health insurance costs. In states with abortion bans, more women are paying out of pocket for private health insurance, and their annual spending on premiums increased by 5.4 percent overall. Costs rose even more for Black and Latina women, with their annual premium spending increasing by 12.8 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively.
We’ve previously covered that Planned Parenthood is returning to Louisiana with a clinic in New Orleans. The health center now has an opening date, October 14, and patients can schedule appointments. The affiliate that formerly served the state closed its two clinics last year and dissolved, but this health center is returning as part of the Planned Parenthood Great Plains (PPGP) network. The clinic will offer birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, gender-affirming care, menopause care, vasectomies, and more.
Elections
It’s not just abortion: Republicans had hoped to punt harmful health insurance changes until after the midterms, but that plan didn’t work. The Big Ugly Bill passed last year was supposed to shrink Medicaid eligibility with work requirements starting in January 2027, but some states adopted the changes early, while others are requiring doctor’s notices for medical exemptions to be submitted well before the federal deadline. Many people already lost coverage when Congress didn’t extend enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans.
Following in the footsteps of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Reproductive Freedom for All endorsed Independent Montana Senate candidate Seth Bodnar. Bodnar is polling ahead of Democratic nominee Alani Bankhead. There’s been some public controversy over PPAF’s choice: The organization said that Bankhead didn’t return its endorsement questionnaire, while Bankhead claimed PPAF only called to pressure her to drop out of the race. RFA also endorsed Democratic Senate candidates Angie Nixon in Florida and Jamie Davis in Louisiana.
A ballot measure in Colorado would ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors, even though this care is rare and not even currently available at any major health system in the state. One doctor worries that, if passed, the measure could prevent transgender youth from receiving any surgical care if the subject of their gender identity even comes up during their interactions with medical providers.
In Nebraska, the state Supreme Court heard arguments in a case attempting to disqualify a ballot measure that would prevent transgender kids from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity. The suit argues that the ballot summary doesn’t adequately inform the public of what the measure is intended to do. It’s already certified and will appear on the November ballot no matter what, but a successful appeal could invalidate the result of the vote, whatever it is.
Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said that people in Virginia shouldn’t think of Trump, his various controversies, or his Supreme Court appointees when voting on a measure that would enshrine abortion rights into their state constitution. “People should not look at this as a political issue,” she said at a “Vote No” campaign event. AAPLOG was one of the anti-abortion medical groups that first sued the FDA over its approval of mifepristone. Francis is also affiliated with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the dubious “research” arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and a proponent of the unproven and potentially dangerous theory of abortion pill “reversal.” Surely there’s nothing political about any of that, either.
Personhood watch
A Nevada county will pay $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman who spent two years in prison for her 2018 stillbirth. Patience Rousseau was convicted under a 1911 law that prohibits taking drugs to end a pregnancy after the 24th week—it’s the only law in the country that explicitly criminalizes pregnant people for self-managing abortions. But the conviction was overturned after Rousseau’s attorney argued that prosecution couldn’t prove that Rousseau's drug use caused her to lose her pregnancy. The state paid her $100,000 in February, which she will repay. After paying her lawyers, Rousseau will get about $1.2 million. The mom of four says it doesn’t undo the trauma she experienced. "They fought so much to avoid paying me," Rousseau told The Nevada Independent. "I went through so much and so did my children, who are still facing these issues. It's not fair." One meaningful bit of closure: The police officer who arrested her kept the ashes of Rousseau’s fetal remains, but as part of the settlement, they were returned to her. A bill to repeal the 1911 law didn’t even receive a hearing during the 2025 session.
First Amendment watch
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the abortion information nonprofit Mayday Health, upholding a lower court decision that temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its ban on abortion pill advertising. This wasn’t a decision on the merits of the law—the Eighth Circuit only weighed in on whether enforcement should be blocked while litigation continues.
Ahead of voting on the deceptive constitutional amendment that could reinstate an abortion ban and outlaw youth gender-affirming care—which is already illegal in the state—Missouri Abortion Fund launched a billboard campaign to remind Missourians of their abortion options.
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Actual good news
More Planned Parenthood affiliates are offering perimenopause and menopause care, including Planned Parenthood Keystone in Pennsylvania, Planned Parenthood of Utah, and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which serves North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Quick hits
- Polish activists set up an abortion pill locker to bypass the country’s abortion ban, which criminalizes distributing abortion pills, but not obtaining or taking them yourself. It’s inside a center opened by Abortion Dream Team last year, which gives people a safe place to learn about abortion options and take pills.
- A first-person account from one of the doctors who helped keep abortion legal in Wyoming after Dobbs.
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