Cities, Clinics Prep For Post-Roe World Of Traveling Patients, Investigations

DCist: New Bill Would Protect Women Who Come To DC To Get An Abortion
A new bill introduced in the D.C. Council would prohibit the city from cooperating in any investigation led by another state into anyone who gets, assists with, or performs an abortion in D.C. The bill written by Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) and co-sponsored by nine of her colleagues is the first official response to last week’s leak of a draft majority Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that protects a woman’s right to seek an abortion. (Austermuhle, 5/9)

AP: Chicago Providing $500K To Expand Access To Abortion 
The city of Chicago is providing $500,000 to increase access to abortion, particularly for poor people and people of color, as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to end the nationwide right to legal abortion. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday that the money will go to providers as well as organizations such as the Chicago Abortion Fund and Midwest Access Coalition, which provide lodging, transportation, meals and other support to people seeking abortions. Funding will be available for Chicago residents and people from across the U.S. (5/9)

Reuters: Microsoft To Help Cover U.S. Employees' Travel Costs For Abortion
Microsoft Corp said on Monday that it would extend its abortion and gender affirming care services for employees in the United States to include travel expense assistance. Several companies, including Yelp Inc, Citigroup, Levi Strauss & Co, and Amazon.com Inc, have already pledged to cover costs for American employees who need to travel out of state for an abortion. (5/9)

From Idaho and Texas —

AP: Idaho Lieutenant Governor Wants Harshest US Abortion Ban 
Idaho Republican Lt. Gov. and gubernatorial candidate Janice McGeachin on Monday demanded that Republican Gov. Brad Little call a special legislative session to eliminate rape and incest as legal exceptions to Idaho’s abortion law. The Idaho law will go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. (Ridler, 5/9)

The Texas Tribune: Texas’ Social Safety Net Isn’t Ready For A Post-Roe World, Advocates Warn 
With a near-total abortion ban looming in Texas, advocates and experts say the state’s support systems for low-income mothers and children are already insufficient — and won’t easily bear an increase in need. “When you say ‘social safety net’ in Texas, it sounds like a joke,” said D’Andra Willis of the Afiya Center, a North Texas reproductive justice group. “Everything they could have set up or increased to protect people if they really cared, they’re not doing it here.” Pregnant women in Texas are more likely to be uninsured and less likely to seek early prenatal care than the rest of the country. They’ll give birth in one of the worst states for maternal mortality and morbidity. And low-income new parents will be kicked off of Medicaid sooner than in many other states. (Klibanoff, 5/9)

Abortion providers brace for the worst —

ABC News: How Abortion Clinics Are Preparing For Possible Fall Of Roe V. Wade 
The bombshell leak of a draft Supreme Court decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade was disheartening but not surprising to many abortion providers, who have been preparing for the possible end of legal abortion for years. Whole Woman's Health operates abortion clinics in Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, Indiana and Texas. For Marva Sadler, the senior director of clinical services for the abortion provider, recent restrictions on abortion access in Texas offer a hint of what's to come if Roe is overturned this year. (Deliso, 5/9)

AP: Running An Abortion Clinic While Waiting For Court Decision 
The people who run America’s abortion clinics agree: There’s no job like it. There are the clients -- so many of them desperate, in need, grateful. There are the abortion opponents -- passionate, relentless, often furious. And hovering over it all are legal challenges, and the awareness that your clinic may be just a judicial ruling away from extinction. (Santana and Willingham, 5/9)

The American South: How Abortion Rights Advocates Across South Are Prepping For Roe's Fall
In the South, where five states — including Tennessee — have trigger bans in place to outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned, preparations include expanding access to contraceptives, comprehensive sexual education and family planning services. SisterReach, a Memphis-based nonprofit reproductive justice organization, rebooted its comprehensive sexuality education working group earlier this year to provide tools and information around contraception and natural family planning. (Clark, 5/9)

St. Louis Public Radio: Abortion Fund Donations Surge In Missouri After Supreme Court Leak 
Abortion-rights organizations in the St. Louis area have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations since Politico published a draft U.S. Supreme Court decision early last week that could overturn Roe v. Wade. Donors want to make sure people who need abortions in Missouri and other states set to roll back abortion access can afford them, Missouri Abortion Fund Board President Michele Landeau said. “They kind of want to do something," Landeau said. “And donating to an abortion fund is a really a tangible thing that you can do to help people who are actually being harmed by this legislation in real time. ... I think that a lot of people kind of find it a little bit cathartic to donate.” (Fentem, 5/9)

AP: Wisconsin Anti-Abortion Office Fire Investigation Ongoing
Police asked for the public’s help Monday in tracking down those who vandalized and threw two Molotov cocktails into the office of a prominent Wisconsin anti-abortion lobbying group’s office that was damaged by fire. No one has been arrested and there are no suspects in custody in the fire that was discovered early Sunday morning when someone driving to Madison’s nearby airport noticed flames coming from the office building, said Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes at a news conference. (Bauer, 5/9)

Also —

Salt Lake Tribune: Utahns Gather At Capitol On Mother’s Day In Support Of Abortion Rights
Three sisters approached the Utah Capitol on Sunday cloaked in red hooded robes and little white bonnets meant to help shield their faces. Each sister held a sign that read ‘Of Alito’ ‘Of Thomas’ ‘Of Gorsuch,’ as chants from other pro-choice demonstrators echoed around them. They were three of the roughly 100 people marching at the Capitol on Mother’s Day in support of women’s bodily autonomy. Many marched around the perimeter of the Capitol, holding signs and shouting chants like ‘Hey, hey, ho, ho the patriarchy has got to go.’ Jennie Morris bought the three outfits the moment she discovered the U.S. Supreme Court opinion signaled a possible overturning of the landmark decision Roe v. Wade, which protects constitutional abortion rights, was leaked. (Miller, 5/9)

The Boston Globe: Women Advise Young People About The Bad Old Days Before Roe
When the nurse offered to hold her hand, Ginny O’Brien didn’t understand how much she would need it. Then the doctor began the abortion procedure without anesthesia. “It was extraordinarily painful,” the 75-year-old Marblehead woman told a group of college students in Vermont last week. “They’re just ripping the inside of you out without any medication.” Just as vivid is the shame she felt when she was 23, when the doctor with the Eastern European accent shoved her legs together and chided her to use birth control next time. (Ebbert, 5/9)