Wisconsin Anti-Abortion Group Hit In Arson Attack

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Madison Police Investigating Arson, Threat At Wisconsin Family Action
Madison police are investigating arson after a fire broke out early Sunday in the offices of a prominent anti-abortion group and a threat was spray painted on the group's building. The incident took place a week after a leaked draft of U.S. Supreme Court decision showing a majority of justices plan to vote to overturn the court's landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. If that happens an 1849 law banning most abortions would go into effect in Wisconsin. (Beck, 5/8)

The New York Times: Anti-Abortion Group In Wisconsin Is Hit By Arson, Authorities Say 
In a statement to The New York Times, Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, which works with Wisconsin Family Action, attributed the attack to left-wing extremists who aim to intimidate abortion opponents, and he vowed that they would not succeed. “We are grateful for the unwavering leadership of Wisconsin Family Action and the dozens of family policy councils around the country that are committed to the sanctity of all human life,” he added. The north side of Madison, where Wisconsin Family Action calls home, is not a sleepy neighborhood. Directly off a busy street, International Lane, the group’s long brown office building is tucked next to the Dane County Regional Airport, among other nondescript corporate offices. All of the businesses were empty on Sunday morning, though a steady stream of cars passed by. (Ploeg and Lathers, 5/8)

In other abortion news from Wisconsin —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson Predicts Wisconsin's Abortion Ban Wouldn't Last Post-Roe
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Friday he doesn’t believe Wisconsin’s potential ban on almost all abortions would remain in place for long, distancing himself from his four fellow Republicans running for governor. Speaking to reporters, Johnson did not detail what abortion limits he would like to see but said he did not think a near-total ban would last for long if the landmark Roe v. Wade decision is overturned. Johnson suggested Wisconsin officials would set different limits — even though Republicans who control the Legislature have given no indication they would do anything other than keep the ban in place. (Glauber and Marley, 5/6)

In abortion updates from Michigan —

NPR: A Michigan Law From 1931 Would Make Abortion A Felony If Roe Falls
When Stephanie Mejia Arciñiega drove her friend to the Planned Parenthood in Ann Arbor, Mich., they were surrounded by anti-abortion protestors as soon as they tried to pull in to the clinic. "They come up to your car super fast," Mejia Arciñiega said. "You don't want to run their feet over, so we had to stop and be like, 'OK, no thank you.' But then they started throwing a bunch of papers and resources at us. We tried to go inside, but we couldn't." The clinic, which offers abortion care as well as birth control, cancer screenings, and STD treatment, has long been the target of anti-abortion protestors. Protestors' efforts to limit abortions in the state may soon get a huge boost, if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade. (Wells, 5/7)

The Hill: Michigan AG Warns Of State-Sanctioned Investigations Into Abortion If Roe V. Wade Overturned
Michigan’s Democratic attorney general warned on Sunday that Republican-led states would start investigating and prosecuting abortion providers and abortion patients if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court. Attorney General Dana Nessel told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that while she would “refuse to enforce laws that would endanger” women’s health, she believes more conservative leaders in offices across the country will criminalize abortion care, which could include the prosecution of doctors as well as women who take abortion pills. (Dress, 5/8)

From Texas —

The Texas Tribune: Texas Republicans Say If Roe Falls, They’ll Focus On Adoptions And Preventing Women From Seeking Abortions Elsewhere
During their 20 years in control of the Texas Legislature, Republican lawmakers have steadfastly worked to chip away at abortion access. Bound by the limits of Roe v. Wade, which stopped them from enacting an outright ban on the procedure, lawmakers got creative. They required abortion clinics to have wide hallways and deputized private citizens to sue providers in an effort to shut down facilities that offer the procedure. Future lawmaking on the topic will likely not require such ingenuity. A leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion, published last week by Politico, suggests the court will reverse the landmark abortion ruling in the coming weeks, allowing states to regulate abortion as they see fit. Texas has a “trigger law” that would make performing an abortion a felony, which would go into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court overturns Roe. (Despart and Barragan, 5/9)

Los Angeles Times: Even With Roe Vs. Wade, Texas Limits Abortion Access For Poor Women
The patient slid onto the examination table as the doctor ran through her standard list of questions. Most recent period? Any previous abortions? Medication or surgery? Any complications? An assistant readied an ultrasound wand as the patient lifted her shirt. She wasn’t worried whether she was pregnant — she had already figured that out with four home tests. What she and the doctor needed to know was how many weeks. If the U.S. Supreme Court eliminates the constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade — as it is widely expected to do in coming weeks — Texas and at least 25 other conservative states are likely to ban most abortions. But already in Texas, low-income Latinas, who have long made up the vast majority of patients at Whole Woman’s Health of McAllen, the only abortion clinic for hundreds of miles along the border, face major obstacles when it comes to ending unwanted pregnancies. (Hennessey-Fiske, 5/8)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Cancer Patient Grapples With 6-Week Texas Abortion Ban
Sarah Morris was 10 weeks pregnant when she found out she had cervical cancer, putting her at higher risk of hemorrhaging and other life-threatening complications. The safest choice, her doctor advised, would be to have an abortion — out of state because Texas law prohibits abortions beyond six weeks — and seek cancer treatment. Though the law makes an exception for medical emergencies, Morris said her doctor told her its definition leaves a lot up to interpretation, so she would perform abortions only on patients who were bleeding out or in other obvious life-or-death situations. (Goldenstein, 5/8)

The Texas Tribune: Abortions In Texas By The Numbers 
With Roe v. Wade hanging in the balance, Texas is poised to ban nearly all abortions if the ruling is overturned. The Texas Tribune analyzed data on abortions reported to the state to see who has accessed abortion in Texas — and who stands to lose access in a post-Roe world. Texas already has the most restrictive abortion law in the country. After the law prohibiting abortions after about six weeks into a pregnancy took effect Sept. 1, the number of abortions statewide from September to December dropped by 46% compared with the same period in 2020, according to preliminary data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Data on abortions performed in 2022 is not yet available. Around 50,000 to 55,000 Texans obtained abortions each year from 2014-21. Before that, more than 60,000 abortions were obtained yearly. These totals account only for abortions performed legally in Texas and don’t include people who went out of state or obtained abortion-inducing medication without a prescription. (Cai, 5/9)

From Mississippi, Missouri, Utah, and California —

The Washington Post: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves Won't Rule Out Banning Contraception 
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility that his state would ban certain forms of contraception, sidestepping questions about what would happen next if Roe v. Wade is overturned. On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Reeves confirmed that, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, a trigger law passed in Mississippi in 2007 would go into effect that essentially outlaws abortions in the state, although it makes exceptions for rape and for the life of the mother. (Wang and Foster-Frau, 5/8)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Advocates Say Abortion Ban Would Endanger Black Women 
Black doctors and abortion advocates in St. Louis say that Black women will suffer the most if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that made abortions legal. If the high court rules that way, as a draft opinion obtained last week by Politico indicates, states could ban abortions. Missouri has a “trigger law” that would ban abortion in most cases. Abortion advocates say Black women seeking an abortion would have to travel to Illinois or other states where it is legal. That would be difficult for those who have to take off work without pay, arrange child care and find transportation to other states, said Dr. Jade James, an obstetrician and gynecologist for SSM Health. (Henderson, 5/8)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utahns' Guide To Medication Abortion, Plan B
If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, and Utah’s trigger law goes into effect, medication abortions would be limited in the same way as in-clinic, surgical abortions. Currently, abortion pills are generally available early in a pregnancy, up to 11 weeks, according to Dr. David Turok, an obstetrician/gynecologist practicing in Salt Lake City. “The effectiveness depends on how far along you are in your pregnancy when you take the medicine,” according to Planned Parenthood’s website. A medication abortion involves two drugs: mifepristone, which is taken first, followed by misoprostol. (Jacobs, 5/7)

PBS NewsHour: California Wants To Be A Sanctuary For Abortion Rights. But In The Central Valley, Care Is Harder To Reach
A decade ago, Karina Gallardo-Montoya did not see the same support for reproductive health care access in Tulare County that she sees today. Sexual and reproductive health is a growing interest among many in the San Joaquin Valley, even if access to it still lags behind other parts of the state, Gallardo-Montoya said. The financial cost of accessing general medical care, she said, made her think twice in the past about seeing a doctor. When appointments were made for several weeks out, she opted for urgent care visits. Other times, she traveled far distances to nearby cities just to be seen. (Rodriguez-Delgado, 5/6)