Lizz here! Happy Fourth of July weekend… I guess? It’s been 250 whole gotdang years and we’re still over here dreaming about an Independence Day where we’re actually independent from a government obsessed with controlling our bodies, censoring information, and handing more power to the people who think your uterus should come with state supervision.
Lemme tell ya folks, that day is NOT today or tomorrow. Let’s get into it.
The Supremely Unpredicable Court Strikes Again
Early this week, the nine robed figures in charge of basically everything made several decisions that laid out the next decade of conservative legal strategy. Birthright citizenship, trans rights, and who Trump gets to hire and fire – constitution be damned!
And on their face, you may not see how this ties into our reproductive freedoms, but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s connect the dots that lead back to abortion.
Birthright Citizenship, Trans Athletes, And The FTC! Oh My!
How do these things tie to abortion? Let me count the ways:
While everyone celebrates the sorta-kinda “win” that was striking down Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, those of us who have spent decades in the abobo trenches know that this is a glimpse at the conservative legal movement’s plans for the future. Birthright citizenship was just the horse they rode in on, the real war these bodily autonomy snatchers are waging is one for more presidential power, faster. The Court just made it harder to slam the brakes on executive overreach, because if you can’t win outright, just make the system take years to process.
The court also ruled that state laws banning trans girls and women from playing on school sports teams are A-OK!!! Constitutional, even! This is obviously devastating for trans folks, but more broadly, this sets a terrifying precedent for any state making laws that ban people of whatever gender they don’t believe in that day from a myriad of public spaces. And because declining birth rates are the new conservative obsession, you just know they’ll point to these decisions as permission slips to start policing bodies in even more creative and horrifying ways.
And because that wasn’t bad enough, the Supremes also handed Trump the keys to the Federal Trade Commission so he can keep doing his favorite thing – firing people with impunity. And if you’re thinking, “But Lizz, doesn’t that violate the separation of the three branches of government outlined in the constitution?” YOU BET YOUR OVER-REGULATED ASS, IT DOES!
We’ve seen what happens when The Fairground Failure puts his minions in charge. And we foresee a huge problem getting accurate abortion information out to folks when public health info and consumer protections and communications are sullied by the greasy hands of the pedos in power.
As a matter of fact, it’s exactly why I started Abortion Access Front over a decade ago: I was sick to fucking death of the constraints of broadcast media who wouldn’t let me talk about even the most BASIC topics of abortion care, I realized I had to forge a new path and create Abortion AF: a beacon of facts and ways to fight back in a sea of misogynistic misinformation.
Moji and I are on vocal rest while I dance on down to D.C. to speak at Georgetown Law about Democracy’s faceplant into fascism and the Federal Government’s increasingly shady use of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Moji and I will return next week with… wait for it… Caro Claire Burke! What??? That’s right, the author of Yesteryear, THE hottest summer read joins us to talk all about her NYT best seller about a tradwife who has it all and then… (no spoilers)! We’re gonna cover the tradwife movement and why she thinks the public is soooo fascinated with this terrifying glamorized trend of female disempowerment. PLUS! From The National Women’s Law Center, Jackii Wang will fill your ears with information about the big fat lawsuit they have filed against Hegseth The Horrible’s Department of Discrimination’s draconian reproductive healthcare policy. We are coming back in a blaze of glory!!!
Now for Some Ways You Can Fight Back!
Now that we’ve given you the really good and the absolute shit news for the week, use that energy to get out in the community and do some good!
Sign Up for the AAF Volunteer Skill Share!
You have the skills, we’ve got the clinics – let’s put them together! Do you do landscaping, are you great at taxes, can you edit video and create graphics? Tell us all about it, and we’ll do our best to connect you with clinics that need your skills! Trust us… everybody has skills to share.
We can all help out in our own ways – fill out the form now and help us build up our network to support abortion!!
Check Out Our Activist Calendar
Our Activist calendar is loaded with events and actions both nationally or in your community – pick your poison and get your boots on the ground!
Not feeling like you wanna dig around a calendar? We chose a highlight just for you!
FEATURED ACTIVIST EVENT THIS WEEK
This Is An AB(ortion) Pregnancy, So C Your Way Out Of It, Creepy Uncle Sam!
Community power drives change – and our friends at Amplify Georgia Collaborative are building that community to learn about pregnancy criminalization, privacy, and surveillance, and how we can fight back! Join their twice-monthly Decrim Action Team meeting on Tuesday, July 7th at 6pm ET – registration link here!
If You’ve Used Abortion Pills, We Need Your Story.
Your medication abortion story is the reality check to the propaganda driving this hard turn into the 1800s! Drop your story at Mifestories.com, and help drag the truth into the light: mifepristone is safe, effective, and basic healthcare. And we all deserve access.
WANT MORE AAF? You Got it!
- For the latest abobo news, follow us errywhere you social @abortionfront
- Pod with us! Subscribe to our hilarious weekly abortion podcast Feminist Buzzkills Drops Fridays wherever you pod
- Video Hilarity! Laugh ‘til ya pee watching our bounty of comedy videos
And remember! If you can’t say something nice about someone: It’s probably because their politics suck and you should say so as loud as possible. Now go play in the sprinkler, have a hot dog, and defy the government a lil’ bit. As a treat.
