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Content Warning: many of these updates include information about harmful attacks on Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ folx.


🔥Hot Topic: The Supreme Court is teed up, once again, for a major abortion case

On September 8, the Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to hear a case challenging the legality of a safe, effective and commonly-used medication abortion pill, mifepristone. If the Supreme Court accepts the case, there could be another high-stakes decision on abortion in a presidential election year.

To be clear, mifepristone is still on the market and available by telemedicine in states where abortion is legal for now. But this important abortion medication is under threat.

Here’s the background: A group of anti-abortion activists and organizations  brought a case seeking to ban mifepristone, one of the two pills used in medication abortions. The lawyers intentionally brought the case to an extremely conservative Texas judge, Judge Kacsmaryk. Kacsmaryk ruled to revoke the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone, which would make it illegal to prescribe or distribute in the U.S.

The case then went to a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit of Appeals (the court you must go to when you want a Texas federal court decision reviewed). In August, the panel affirmed Judge Kacsmaryk’s order in part. They did not agree that mifepristone should come off the market entirely. Instead, they ruled to reimpose significant, medically-unnecessary restrictions on the drug from years past, including that mifepristone should not be prescribed past seven weeks of pregnancy or via telemedicine. This would substantially roll back access to this important medication abortion pill: lessening the amount of time someone had to obtain it; preventing mifepristone from being mailed to patients; and requiring in-person doctor visits for the drug.

Everyone should be able to access the medications they need without unnecessary interference from judges or lawmakers. The case is an unprecedented challenge to the authority of the FDA to approve medication. Medication abortion is the most common method of abortion. Being able to access abortion pills via telemedicine is crucial because of the many barriers to going in-person for abortion care, including financial burdens, stigma, transportation, and more. These restrictions would disproportionately harm low-income, rural communities and Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.

So what’s next? The ruling does not impact mifepristone approval or access for now. The Fifth Circuit ruling and restrictions will not go into effect right away because of a Supreme Court order maintaining the status quo while the case is being reviewed. Next, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to hear the case. If they decide not to hear the case, the Fifth Circuit’s decision could go into effect. If they do hear the case in the fall, they will likely rule in spring 2024. The stay, which prevents the Fifth Circuit’s ruling from going into effect, will remain until the Supreme Court rules either way.

LGBTQ+ Health, Rights, and Justice

  • The North Carolina legislature overrode vetoes of three extremely harmful bills, allowing them to go into effect. The bills would ban gender-affirming care for trans* youth, prevent trans* women and girls from competing on female sports teams, and limit instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms.  
  • The Oklahoma governor signed an anti-trans* executive order that narrowly defines “female” and “male” based on an individual’s sex assigned at birth, which intentionally excludes trans* and nonbinary people or anyone whose gender does not fit into binary categories.  
  • Two California school district will require teachers to “out” trans* youth by requiring schools to provide notice to parents if a student is showing any indication of being trans* or gender nonconforming. California’s Attorney General has said that the policies could infringe on state law. A New Jersey judge is determining the fate of a similar anti-trans* school district policy in the state.
  • A federal appeal court blocked Idaho’s transgender student athlete ban which is an important victory for equality and the rights of trans youth under the law.

Access to Healthcare

  • A veteran recently filed a lawsuit to push the Veterans Health Administration insurance to cover in vitro fertilization (IVF) for LGBTQ+ and unmarried veterans.
  • Following recommendations from an independent national health task force, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed Medicare coverage for Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) at no cost to the individual.
  • The state of Texas has sued Planned Parenthood Texas Affiliates with a baseless Medicaid fraud claim. The case is before ultra-conservative Judge Kacsmaryk – the same judge who ruled against access to insurance coverage of preventive services including PrEP as well as medication abortion.   
 

Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice

  • The Colorado Medical Board found that prescribing dangerous, so-called “abortion reversal” medication is outside “generally accepted standard of practice” which is significant progress as this rule will curb the use of this unethical practice.
  • Ohio voters rejected a state ballot measure that was aimed at blocking abortion rights, providing the example that a majority of voters support abortion rights.
  • After a year long fight, a near-total abortion ban is going into effect in Indiana, making it the 14th state in the U.S. with a near-total abortion ban.

Economic Justice

  • The Maryland Supreme Court ruled against a gay employee whose employer refused to provide health benefits for his husband. The employee’s federal court case that argues that his employer violated federal law is ongoing.
  • Amid extreme heat across the country, the Biden administration took steps to protect workers, including ramping up enforcement for heat safety violations and increasing inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture. For years, workers have been fighting for protections against excess heat in their workplaces. 
  • New Jersey and Illinois expanded protections for temporary workers by strengthening equal pay rights and safety requirements in Illinois, and creating equal pay and transparency obligations for employers in New Jersey.

Ending Criminalization

  • A federal judge has ordered Texas and Governor Greg Abbott to remove extremely dangerous floating barriers along the Rio Grande, which the state has been using in a deadly campaign to turn back migrants. Additionally, there are disturbing reports that Texas troopers were instructed to push migrant children back into the river and withhold water from migrants in 100+ degree temperatures.
  • A pregnant Black woman was wrongly arrested in Detroit after she was misidentified by the city’s facial recognition software. The woman was held in a detention center for 11 hours, during which time she had contractions. We must demand an end to the use of police facial recognition technology as an invasive, racist surveillance practice.
  • Maine has passed a bill that removed criminal penalties for adults who sell sexual services, but not for buyers, following the so-called “end demand” model. Groups like Decriminalize Sex Work argue that adult consensual sex buyers should be decriminalized too because it would reduce exploitation and violence while improving sex worker health and safety. They note that data shows that the “end demand” approach creates more danger for sex workers and trafficking survivors alike.
  • The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently its draft Harm Reduction Framework which provides an outline of harm reduction and a roadmap of best practices for federal agencies’ policies, programs and practices. The Biden-Harris Administration has identified harm reduction as a federal drug policy priority.