In Texas, we’re seeing the devastating impact of extreme abortion bans on women’s health. Yet Florida introduced its own extreme ban today.
Shameful and unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/THt3XbTKaJ
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) March 7, 2023
Exclusive: The White House is jumping into state-level battles for women's reproductive rights, lending advice to allies in states pushing restrictions as the Biden administration seeks to make abortion access a rallying cry in next year's election https://t.co/o8hfJW0TVu
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 6, 2023
… The White House’s Gender Policy Council is spearheading the effort, along with an inter-governmental affairs team and Vice President Kamala Harris’s office, sources said. The groups regularly hold strategy meetings with local elected officials, activists and reproductive rights groups.
The White House has divided fights for abortion rights in states as politically divergent as Texas, New York and North Carolina into three broad categories and has established an approach for each, according to two White House officials and two advisers working on the issue.
“The goal of our strategy is fairly simple: it’s to support actions by state and local leaders to protect and expand access, but it’s also to fight restrictions,” said one of the officials…
To combat restrictions, the White House coordinates with national organizations working to defeat potential bans, is getting the vice president to travel to such states to bring stakeholders together and uses its press contacts to spotlight legislative fights at critical moments.
Harris, who won praise from grassroots Democrats for her frequent defense of abortion rights during the midterm campaign, is a key part of the current White House effort…
The White House sees three different approaches to defend abortions rights and has broken down states into what they call either “battleground,” “extremist” or “proactive” states, White House officials and advisors say.
The White House views “extremist states” as those that have already banned abortion and where there are plans for further restrictions such as Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Idaho, the officials said.
Most abortions are now banned in 13 states as new laws take effect following the Roe decision.
In what it calls “access battleground states,” the White House is tracking fights this legislative session that could reduce reproductive care access. These states include North Carolina, Nebraska, Florida, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy.
In “proactive states” such as Michigan, Minnesota, New York, California, Connecticut, the White House is working with pro-abortion rights state lawmakers who are backing legislation with funding for women and protections for abortion patients and providers…
Focus on the issue helped energize Democratic voters and staved off some defeats for the party in the midterm elections.
Edison Research exit polls found that for one-quarter of voters, abortion was the primary concern and 61% opposed the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.
Harris has spoken to 200 Democratic state legislators on reproductive rights and convened leaders from 38 states in dozens of meetings since the decision, the officials said.
Florida's proposed abortion ban is an attack on freedom. One does not have to abandon their deeply-held beliefs to say that the government should not tell people what to do with their bodies.
President Biden and I will not back down until we secure this right for every American. pic.twitter.com/Rq6fhQaX9v
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) March 8, 2023
Gah, abortion isn’t a “culture war” issue unless you make it one. Walgreen’s didn’t get “embroiled in the culture wars,” they chose to make a political decision on what is a medical issue. pic.twitter.com/48ZB4jC4Xd
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) March 8, 2023
First, it was pharmacists that didn’t want to fulfill prescriptions because of their religion, now this. Walgreens needs to stay out of politics, and just do their job! Walgreens drew a line on abortion-pill access and paying a price – The Washington Post https://t.co/i0GRAZRpIj
— TheDogLady (@QueenLavonia) March 8, 2023
This should be an unpaywalled link:
…The hashtag #boycottwalgreens has exploded on Twitter, fueled by abortion rights supporters who are angry over the pharmacy giant’s plans to refuse to dispense abortion pills in 21 states, including four states where abortion remains legal.
On the other side, antiabortion demonstrators disrupted the chain’s annual shareholder meeting and plan to continue protesting Walgreens for dispensing the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol anywhere. They are attempting to portray retail drugstores as a new version of abortion providers…
Walgreens scrambled to find a safe middle ground based on using legal criteria. But that’s a delicate task on such a historically divisive issue, and as rapidly shifting state laws and rules remain in dispute or face court challenges in multiple jurisdictions.
“We want to be very clear about what our position has always been,” Walgreens posted on Twitter late Monday night, a bid to recalibrate its message after four days of blistering criticism and a threat by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), which he made good on Wednesday, to block Walgreens from receiving any state business. “Walgreens plans to dispense Mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so.”…
Baud
A rare double AL morning.
Is it Christmas already?
Baud
Yay for Harris.
Kay
Bolding is mine. It’s important for women to understand that even if they are in a state that retains the full set of righst for women, antichoice activists intend to reach into those states and ban any medications or health care they decide women should not have.
Don’t listen to people telling you you’re safe. These same people told you the far Right would not overturn Roe. They don’t give good advice – they’re afraid to look at what’s happening so they minimize and women are going to end up dead as a result of their fear. Decide YOURSELF on the level of risk you see. Yiu really don’t need guidance from the same idiots who told us we were exaggerating the risk last time. They’re poor judges of both character and events.
Kay
They’ve already barged into the examining room at your doctors and inserted themselves into the medical decisions when you go to have a baby- now they want to follow you into the drugstore. It’s approaching stalking levels.
Since we can’t get a restraining order to keep the tens of millions of fundie religious nuts and misogynists 500 feet away from us, we need laws to keep them away.
Baud
Someone should redo Lee Greenwood.
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: Yep and they are absolutely coming for birth control next.
Kay
Think back to when Roe was overturned. Recall the people who patronizingly and cavalierly assured women that now it was “up to the states” and there would be no further incursions into womens privacy and agency by religious fundamentalists and far Right judges. Did that hold true? No, it did not. They are now seeking to ban a whole range of medications – deny women still more modern, best practices medical care.
They’re cavalier and smugly complacent because they don’t actually give a shit what happens to women.
Llelldorin
Oh, good… another of my least favorite sort of headline. We live in a democracy. Everything is done “with an eye towards the upcoming election.” That doesn’t mean that Biden doesn’t believe what he’s doing is right!
i get really tired of these deeply cynical headlines that greet every policy stance — no matter how important — as though they were nothing more that plays called in a football game.
“Well sure, he’s fighting for a key right that was taken from women, but the really important question is whether it’ll win him Wisconsin in ‘24!”
Baud
@Llelldorin:
Good point.
Llelldorin
@Baud:
… stated Baud, with an eye towards the upcoming primary season.
Baud
@Llelldorin:
I look forward to sharing the debate stage with Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
delphinium
@Kay: This part from the article got me to: Walgreens scrambled to find a safe middle ground based on using legal criteria.
There isn’t a “safe middle ground” to these extremists. Pharmacies provide medication based on healthcare issues (not other people’s religious beliefs). It is really straightforward-strangers don’t get to covet other people’s bodies. If Walgreens is unable to understand that basic concept and fight to protect their customers’ well-being, then maybe they should shut down their pharmacies altogether.
Anyway
Yay! for the Biden administration and Boo! Hiss at the framing of “federal govt getting involved in state-level matters” Lamestream media sux again.
H.E.Wolf
A striking example of “slanted” news coverage in the Reuters article:
Interesting that Reuters used that phrase, instead of “led to some victories”, isn’t it?
Baud
Y’all are doing some excellent media reading comprehension here. Good job.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I have trouble taking in how women’s health is treated as a special interest issue. Women are more than half the country!
delphinium
@Llelldorin: They also need to stop saying ‘abortion access’. It is healthcare access; for example Planned Parenthood does screenings for breast cancer and ovarian cancer at some locations. Closing down health care clinics may mean some women will no longer get these types of screenings when needed.
Spanky
@Baud:
Boy, ain’t that the truth.
Oh! You just mean that insipid song. Oh well…
OzarkHillbilly
@Dorothy A. Winsor: But they aren’t the important half.
Kay
@delphinium:
Ugh. The simpering “we CARE about WOMEN so we must protect them from themselves!” of the anti choice movement.
How do you have a shred of self respect and independence and buy what these people are selling?
We need to make it clear to them that we don’t want or need their supervision. There really should be some kind of legal tool so women could protect themselves on an individual level- a tweaked “stalker” protection order. I don’t want them w/in 500 feet of me. I want an order.
Betty Cracker
Well said, Ms. Jean-Pierre and VP Harris! I’m so pleased that they’re directly calling out the anti-choice fuckery in Florida. Makes me feel less alone.
Jean-Pierre brought up a subtle point that probably went over a lot of listener’s heads, which is that Florida serves as an alternative destination for women in Deep South states that have draconian restrictions on reproductive healthcare. A six-week ban here would also affect women in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
The free market will that void. Or not. Nothing to fuss over, it’s just women after all.
artem1s
If you are taking HIV medication or hormone treatments or know someone who does, expect those to be the next thing Pharma chains to go after. Alito’s ultimate goal is to strike down Obergefell next – which was based on the need for all states to recognize legal marriages that occurred in other states. This BS is the State’s Rights goons’ end-around the Supremacy Clause. Newsom has the right idea, but should also consider yanking their license to dispense any prescription drugs in CA too. If Walgreens wants to do business nationally, they need to do that. If not, they can shutter their stores in our heathen states and let another chain that cares about all their customers (and employees) take over.
Citizen Alan
@Kay: I remember when that pig Scalia came and spoke to my law school and piously said that it should be left up to the states. He was a lying hypocrite then, because SCOTUS had already affirmed a federal law banning intact dilation and extraction abortion nationwide because Justice Kenney thought it was icky. I knew then that if Roe was overturned, national bans would follow.
Anyway
WalGreens didn’t even wait for the legal action from the Fascist AGs; they jumped at the threat in a stupid letter.
delphinium
@Kay:
Yeah, obviously IANAL, but have never understood how someone can just claim “deeply-held religious belief” and then be able to discriminate against anyone without having to explain exactly what those beliefs are/how they are directly impacted; or demonstrating that they themselves are actually following their stated beliefs.
Decades ago, it was discovered that the man leading one of the Right to Life chapters in NY had gotten divorced and refused to pay his child support. But you know, he ‘deeply’ cared about children.
Scout211
Yes, and they also announced that they will not sell them in states that it is still legal to sell them to people who are up to ten weeks pregnant. That was when they showed their own anti-abortion bias, IMO.
Link
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
I will say I have spoken to individual pharmacists who don’t have a problem with dispensing these medications per se, but have concerns about proper consultation.
What if there’s a bad reaction? If these medications are attached to a standing order, how do we deal with people seeking these medications who haven’t seen a doctor and might not be comfortable having these conversations in a mostly public pharmacy?
I’m fully on board with providing access, but these sounded like legitimate concerns. Then again, I am not a clinician (IANAC).
It’s almost like allowing states to deny women legitimate medical care was a bad idea.
MisterDancer
I’m old enough to have heard from people who actually got what we call “back alley abortions,” back in the day. Not to mention the many words that documented those experiences.
If they have concerns they can start with pushing the assholes who want to silence and bury it all, not with the people who need Reproductive Care. They can actually stand up and be counted publicly in saying “people deserve the right to have proper consultation, free of shame and bias.”
I’ve not got much patience for the “hey, friend” approach when you’re a person in a position of power and leverage in these issues. Not in these times.
narya
Unfortunately, the pharmacies nearest to me are both Walgreens, and they generally have other things I need (contact lens solutions; eyedrops) in stock, at slightly lower prices than anyone else. I got three boosters there, plus flu and Shingrix. Oh well–I’ll be looking for an alternative.
In other news, for those of you who read the “Olivia” books with your kids, the author (Ian Falconer) died of kidney failure. My ex-stepson loved the Olivia books we got for him–and I had no idea that Falconer had also designed the sets for the Chicago Lyric Opera “Turandot.” I’m no opera aficionado, but I became friends with the widow of my professor, and she took me several times, including to that production, IIRC.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Valid.
zhena gogolia
@Llelldorin: Yeah. Stomach-turning.
delphinium
@narya: Are there any decent grocery chains nearby that also have pharmacies? You may want to check them out. I use my local grocer and have never had issues with getting vaccinations or prescriptions.
Also, there is a Walgreens down the street from me where I would occasionally shop-not anymore.
narya
@delphinium: There are some CVS stores, but they don’t have one of the drops I need. I’ve been trying to find it elsewhere, but no luck so far.
Lyrebird
@narya: Thanks for reporting the loss of Mr. Falconer. Those are lyrical books alright!
FWIW the Amazon empire is trying to provide lots of pharmacy type stuff, plus medical supply things the pharmacies don’t carry. I can understand if people want to boycott Amazon, too, but it’s worth a try. Also Target, but Amazon’s selection is bigger for things my relatives need.
lowtechcyclist
@Llelldorin:
You ain’t the only one.
In Stephen R. Donaldson’s The Mirror of Her Dreams, one character says to another, “To you, it’s just a game. To me, it’s the difference between life and ruin.”
That’s what I’d say to the vast majority of MSM pundits.
Sure Lurkalot
@H.E.Wolf:
Months leading up to the very day of the 2022 midterms, the ginormous red wave was going to drown the Democrat Party and months afterwards, it was still supposed to happen. They’re in a feedback loop of their own making. If it’s not door number one “both sides”, it’s door number two “Dems in disarray”.
narya
@Lyrebird: Yeah, I don’t use Amazon. I’ve tried Osco, CVS, Target, and the online FSA store, and I have yet to find any place that carries what I need. I’ll talk to my eye doc when I see him in April-ish; I’ll get it from him if possible, even if I have to pay a premium.
H.E.Wolf
@Sure Lurkalot:
Indeed.
One positive aspect, however, is that our [where “our” = Democrats, allies, jackals, et al] community activism and GOTV efforts are often successful *precisely* because they’re ignored and/or discounted.
This gives me a lot of pleasure. But then I enjoy shivving the bad guys when they least expect it. :-)
EarthWindFire
@delphinium: Or they just could follow each state’s law. They could tell the antichoicers that’s what they said they wanted and they aren’t obligated to go outside the law just because the antichoicers didn’t actually mean what they said. You know, the position Walgreens ultimately found itself in by trying to bypass legal criteria.
Walgreens was trying to find middle ground, my ass. They’re afraid of the antichoice bullies. Should’ve taken a lesson from the playground and pushed back.
Ohio Mom
@narya: If you can find a small privately owned pharmacy — they are a dying breed— they might be able to order your eye drops for you, though it will be at full price.
These little pharmacies often specialize in medical equipment and oxygen, so the pharmacy counter may be behind walkers and bath chairs and apnea machines and similar whatnots. Sometimes they also advertise themselves as compounding pharmacies.
The place where I get my lymphedema sleeves fits this description, and they have ordered my favorite, hypoallergenic, hard-to-find Moisturel lotion for me.
Brachiator
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
And yet this issue is derided as another variety of “identity politics.”
This is asinine.
UncleEbeneezer
Oh I love this: Respect My Trans Homies Or I’m Gonna Identify As A F***ing PROBLEM!!
rikyrah
@Kay:
Exactly, Kay.
They only believe in State’s Rights, if the State does what it wants them to do.
rikyrah
Walgreens made a choice.
And then the world’s 4th largest economy made a choice.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
I’ve worked for most of the retail chains. If there’s an OTC medication they don’t stock, it can be ordered for next business day, at least everywhere I’ve been. As long as their big supplier has it, you can get it.
trollhattan
Okay fellow Californians, dig out those pool noodles.
Madeleine
@narya: Have you tried the online pharmacy Mark Cuban started in order to offer Rx and OTC meds at lower prices? Sorry I can’t remember its name right now.
Edit: CostPlus Drugs is the name.
Manyakitty
@Baud: shoot, I’d pay to watch that.
CaseyL
@narya: You may be able to get eyedrops and contact lens solutions directly from the maker.
I need eyedrops for dry eyes, and I get them mailed direct from refreshbrand.com, via their mail-order site referesh.refreshmyeyes.com.
Not sure how the price compares to retail outlets like Walgreens, though
ETA: What I do when searching for a product is use Amazon for the vendor search, then see if the vendor has its own mail-order capability.
pat
Just got home from switching our prescriptions from Walgreens to the pharmacy associated with our medical provider/hospital.
I was there last week, upset about walgreens, and today I apologized to the tech taking my information. She said I am not the only one doing that. Hehe. Together with the entire state of California.
narya
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation: @Ohio Mom: @Madeleine: @CaseyL: Thank you for the suggestions! This truly is a full-service blog. (I’m serious–one of the things that both amuses me and amazes me is the bits of knowledge that folks here possess.)
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@narya: This truly is a full-service blog.
Facts. My ex found his lawyer here, the bastard.*
*My ex, not the lawyer. He was chill af.
Betty Cracker
@UncleEbeneezer: Clever!
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: Free market!
FelonyGovt
Disgusting that the people yelling loudest about losing their “freedoms” (= the freedom to carry guns anywhere, the freedom to have their religion followed by everyone, the freedom to be out-and-proud racist homophobic assholes) are the ones trying to take away a fundamental freedom from ALL women. And in such a personal matter that affects a woman FOR HER WHOLE LIFE.
Soprano2
For everyone who has dry eyes, you should try Omega-7 supplements. I heard about them from an eye doctor I heard on the People’s Pharmacy; he said he recommended them to all his patients who complained about dry eyes. I was skeptical but thought “Shoot, why not try it?”. I ordered it online (or you can probably get it at a health food store, but regular pharmacies don’t seem to carry it). Within two weeks of starting it my dry eye problem was gone. To this day the only time I have that problem is if I get really, really tired. They also call it sea buckthorn oil.
Manyakitty
@Soprano2: so it’s an oral supplement, not eye drops? Are there different strengths?
JWR
@FelonyGovt: I think it was PBS that did a report last week about abortion access, and they interviewed one of these religious nuts, asking how she felt about forcing her religious beliefs on others and was that a fair thing to do. She replied that she was sorry that another’s beliefs were being stomped, sorry again that it wasn’t fair, but it’s right there in the Bible! It was very cultish. Not at all like the Baptist church I grew up in.
Paul in KY
@Baud: Very well done! Scans right along with the original. I sung it in my ‘Lee Greenwood’ voice and it sounded great!
delphinium
@FelonyGovt: Especially given that so many of them are actually okay with abortion for anyone they deem appropriate (family member, their politicians).
Scout211
@FelonyGovt: @delphinium:
At least the “true believers” can hide behind their bible and their “sincerely held beliefs.” (Excuse me while I 🤮). Sorry, not sorry.
The the biggest problem is the state legislators. It’s absurd to think that 100% of those state legislators and governors who have voted to pass laws in their states to end access to abortions are actually acting out of any kind of sincerely held beliefs.
In reality, they are cynically riding the gravy train of money coming to them from the evangelical mega churches and anti-abortion groups. They are voting in order to stay in office and stay in power. They aren’t voting because they sincerely want to protect fetuses. They certainly aren’t voting the majority of their constituents preferences or to protect their constituents rights and freedoms. Nope it’s all about the money.
The legislators get the big donations pouring into their coffers and the churches and anti-abortion groups get state legislators bought and paid for.
A match made in hell.
/rant
delphinium
@Scout211: Yup-no one in their right mind believes any of this ‘deeply-held religious belief’ BS. Stop being such cowards and invoking God/Jesus for your heinous behavior; you will still get the votes from your followers.
UncleEbeneezer
@FelonyGovt: For Conservatives “Freedom” has always meant: THEIR freedom to oppress, bully, deny rights/justice etc. to the people they don’t like. Or to opt-out of any collective effort to bring those people equality.