News & Commentary

Recently, two pro-choice groups in Texas released audio evidence of anti-abortion leaders encouraging their activists to track the license plates of clients who access the abortion clinics they protest. The audio, found here, was recorded during an August 4, 2014 Texas Alliance for Life training. In the recording, anti-abortion leaders acknowledge that one of the reasons they stake out clinics is so that they can “track who works there." According to Karen Garnett, executive director of a pro-life organization in north Texas, tracking “the license plates coming into any abortion clinic” using a “kind of…sophisticated little spreadsheet” is a “totally legal” way to make sure abortion doctors have state-regulated hospital admitting privileges. Garnett goes on to say that anti-abortion activists can also use license plates to track women who are accessing the abortion facilities. Tracking patients’ license plates will allow them to know whether or not a client returns to the abortion facility. In the audio, the trainers lay out several other intimidation tactics activists can use, including: identifying and monitoring patients, providers, and clinic staff; obstructing pathways to clinics; tracking the physical descriptions of patients and their vehicles; and using tax records to find new locations of abortion facilities. 

Another win has been declared for reproductive rights this week. On Monday, a federal judge declared an Alabama law that restricted women's access to abortion was unconstitutional. HB 57 required that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The bill, similar in nature to bills in Texas and Wisconsin, would have forced three out of five abortion providers in the state to cease providing abortions. The judge called these potential closures a “striking result,” and issued temporary injunction on the law. The judge will solicit comments and feedback from attorneys from both sides before issuing his final ruling.

Finally, some good news in the world of reproductive rights! On Tuesday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against a Mississippi law that would close the state’s lone abortion clinic. The case brought into question the constitutionality of a 2012 law requiring physicians at the clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital. The clinic and Dr. Willie Parker challenged the law, arguing that it interfered with a woman’s constitutional right to obtain an abortion. The three-judge panel ruled that the law was indeed unconstitutional, arguing that closing the clinic means  that Mississippi would be shifting its constitutional obligation to neighboring states and would place an undue burden on a woman’s right to seek an abortion. Physicians affiliated with the clinic tried to obtain admitting privileges at all of the local hospitals, but their requests were denied. An injunction was put in place to keep the clinic open while the case was being decided. The ruling upholds that injunction. 

Two weeks ago, Mallory Loyola became the first woman to be arrested as a result of Tennessee's new law criminalizing pregnant women. In April, Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill that allows a woman to be charged with criminal assault if she uses narcotics during her pregnancy. The law went into effect early July. One week after the bill was enacted, Mallory Loyola was arrested and charged with assault after she and her newborn tested positive for amphetamine. Amphetamine is not a narcotic.

On Tuesday, Congressional Democrats said that they have created legislation that would override the disappointing June 30 SCOTUS decision on the contraceptive mandate. The Protect Women's Health from Corporate Interference Act, drafted in consultation with the Obama administration, is meant to ensure that working women have access to insurance coverage for contraceptive care, even if they are employed with for-profit companies whose owners have religious objections to birth control.

Many of us are still reeling from the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. The decision, delivered on Monday, concluded that closely held for-profit corporations do not have to comply with the contraceptive mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act. Closely held corporations are, generally, corporations that have more than 50% of their outstanding stock owned by five or fewer individuals at any time during the last half of the tax year. The majority opinion in the decision states that complying with the contraceptive mandate stands in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a federal law that states that the government cannot pass laws that substantially burden the practice of religion. In her dissent, Justice Ginsberg called the ruling “a decision of startling breadth.” For a thorough explanation of the ruling, read Rachael’s blog about Monday’s decision.

Today’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (formerly Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby) dealt a serious blow to a woman’s right to comprehensive healthcare. In a closely divided 5-4 decision, the court held that the contraceptive mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which requires employer health plans provide comprehensive coverage for women’s health, violated the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The case arose when two for-profit corporations, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood, sued the government arguing that covering certain forms of contraception, including emergency contraception and IUDs, violated their religious beliefs. In striking down the contraceptive mandate, the court has given employers the right to decide whether women have access to affordable contraceptives, along with what type and in what circumstances.

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.

The film "Obvious Child" is coming to Maine this week. Writer and director Gillian Robespierre’s  “abortion rom-com” was released in limited cities at the beginning of June. The film’s major roll out is happening at the end of this week – Friday, June 27th. Reviewers have already been praising the film, calling it hilarious, honest, and refreshing.