Key Votes Will Help Shape Abortion Landscape In Florida, NY, Oklahoma

CNN: Florida Democrats To Decide Tuesday Who Would Be Best To Take Abortion Fight To DeSantis 
On this, the Democratic candidates for Florida governor agree: New restrictions on abortion in the Sunshine State and uncertainty about the future of women’s health across America have reinvigorated their voters and elevated the urgency to their effort to knock off Gov. Ron DeSantis this fall. ... Democratic voters in Florida will be the final arbiters on Tuesday when the state holds its primary, one of the last of the 2022 midterm cycle. (Contorno, 8/22)

FiveThirtyEight: 13 Races To Watch In Florida And Oklahoma  
In the aftermath of its June 28 primary, the Sooner Oklahoma has two notable GOP runoffs. Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon will meet in a runoff in the special election for Senate to succeed Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, who announced earlier this year that he would resign. ... Shannon has struggled to outflank Mullin on the right, as their lone debate showed they largely agree on most issues, including support for abortion bans and Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was rigged. (Skelley, 8/23)

CNN: Special Election For Upstate New York House Seat Offers New Test Of Political Energy Around Abortion 
As leaders from both parties search for clues about what lies ahead in November, the vote here on Tuesday – to replace Antonio Delgado, a Democrat who left to become lieutenant governor – has emerged as a national barometer of the political energy unleashed by the high court’s decision to end the nationwide right to abortion. It’s a test of whether Democrats, even in a politically unpredictable congressional district like New York’s 19th, can translate the anger of their base, and concerns over the implications of the ruling that cut across party lines, into a potent midterm message. (Krieg, 8/22)

Roe v. Wade weighs heavily on the race in Pennsylvania —

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Voter Registrations: Women Outnumber Men Since Abortion Decision From Supreme Court
The voter registration envelope had been sitting in Kiera Coyle’s bedroom for months when her cell phone started blowing up that Friday in June. Had she seen the news about the Supreme Court? Coyle, an 18-year-old from Willow Grove, had been interested in voting but just hadn’t gotten around to it, busy preparing to leave for college, babysitting for a local family, and making trips to the Jersey Shore. (Terruso and Lai, 8/22)

WHYY: Suburban Voters Are Key For Doug Mastriano. His Abortion Views Seem To Be Turning Them Off
Many suburban Republicans say they are having a hard time bringing themselves to vote for their party’s nominee for governor, Doug Mastriano. And several voters and political operatives doing on-the-ground outreach say his stance on abortion is a big reason why. In this race to lead purple Pennsylvania, the difference between the candidates is stark. (Meyer, 8/22)

In other news about reproductive rights —

Axios: Exclusive: Yelp To Flag Listings For Crisis Pregnancy Centers
Yelp is adding a prominent consumer notice to crisis pregnancy center listings to more clearly distinguish them from clinics that provide abortion services, in a policy change shared first with Axios. The big picture: Yelp's move is the latest tech-company response to a post-Roe world in which abortion information has become a significant online battleground, with both sides of the debate applying intense pressure. (Fried, 8/23)

Politico: White Coats In The State Capital: OB-GYNs Become Political Force In Abortion Wars 
Red state lawmakers rushing to pass new abortion restrictions are being stymied by an unexpected political force — OB-GYNs. These physicians — many of whom have never before mobilized politically — are banding together in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, lobbying state lawmakers, testifying before committees, forming PACs, and launching online campaigns against proposed abortion restrictions. Legislators who are themselves physicians are using their medical backgrounds to persuade colleagues to scale back some of the more restrictive and punitive portions of anti-abortion laws being considered. (Ollstein and Messerly, 8/22)

AP: College Students Return To Campus Without Access To Abortion 
Students returning to college are confronting a new reality in states such as Texas, Ohio and Indiana: Abortion, an option for an unplanned pregnancy when they were last on campus, has since been banned, often with few exceptions. Students said they’ve made changes both public and intimate since the U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. Students said they’re using more birth control, and some have made a plan to leave the state for an abortion if they become pregnant. They’re also taking public stances, with increased activism by both opponents and supporters of abortion rights. (Rodgers and Franko, 8/22)

NBC News: Mom Fighting Abortion Bans After Her Daughter's Death Points To Her Homeland As A Cautionary Tale
On the eve of the anniversary of her daughter's death Tuesday night, Rosa Hernández was having trouble falling asleep. She said she could still feel the presence of her 16-year-old child Rosaura "Esperancita" Almonte Hernández, who died a decade ago when she had leukemia. Doctors had delayed giving Rosaura chemotherapy because she was pregnant, and they didn't want to harm the fetus. (Acevedo, 8/19)