#618 - Peace & Life: Clinics Switching/Referendums/Life-Affirming Help - July 1, 2022
Post-Roe Fallout: Planned Parenthood Centers Back in 2017, there were over 220 PP locations that didn’t do abortions, though of course they all referred for abortions. That was over a third of PP locations. But their numbers were going down as some closed and others started doing abortions, taking them out of the “referral-only” category. On the morning of June 24, before the announcement of the Dobbs decision, they were down to 160, just over a quarter of PP locations. The trend has reversed. On that day or soon thereafter, over a dozen abortion-performing PP centers removed abortion from their service list. Several others say they’re currently unavailable; they need the legal dust to settle before making a permanent determination. Others are in states that don’t have trigger laws but will probably ban or restrict abortion eventually. The trend for PP to have centers that only refer for abortions but don’t do them is going upward, dramatically. This makes it all the more important to acquaint women with the advantages of getting their non-abortion medical care elsewhere. PP will be the focal point of promoting out-of-state travel for abortions.
Post-Roe Fallout: Referendums
The Dobbs decision was on a Friday, and by the following Monday, the California legislature put on the ballot for November 8 a state constitutional amendment to protect abortion. There may be more states that do so, along with more states that do the opposite by voting on amendments that say abortion is not a right.
For good news, the signatures were verified so that South Dakota will be voting on raising the minimum wage in November.
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico Here’s a chance to mention an excellent project again: Last week our emailed issue referred to our member group New Wave Feminists establishing a shelter and clinic in Juarez, Texas – but in fact Ciudad Juárez is in Mexico, near the Texas border! We’re so delighted in their accomplishment.
Our Latest Blog Post
There seems to be a trend in the pro-life literature about the importance of adding support for pregnant women in along with abortion-restricting legislation, and we add to that literature. Rachel MacNair, in Post-Roe Life-Affirming Help, looks especially at some legislative proposals and what impact they might have. There might also be some stirrings on the idea that people of strong pro-life principles should be applying those principles to the death penalty. If that becomes a trend, it would be a very welcome development indeed.
Quotation of the Week
Tish Harrison Warren
Dobbs, Roe and the Myth of ‘Bodily Autonomy’ The New York Times, June 26, 2022
A 2021 United Nations report found that nearly half of all women in 57 developing countries are denied bodily autonomy, with violations including rape, forced sterilization, virginity testing and female genital mutilation. In American culture, women’s bodies are often viewed as primarily valuable only for their sex appeal and beauty. Violence is a constant threat to women’s bodies, with one in five women experiencing completed or attempted rape during her lifetime and nearly one in four women experiencing domestic violence. To have a just society, we must have protection of and safety for female bodies. . . . But these rights also carry obligations to others, perhaps especially to those vulnerable bodies that depend on us. . . . We have an obligation to unborn children. We have an obligation to seek women’s safety and flourishing. For too long these obligations have been pitted against each other, but they need not be and, to move forward, we must create a world where they never are.
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