https://jessica.substack.com/p/arizona-man-awarded-675k-over-his
~~ recommended by larrymotuz ~~
Since when can any state require forced speech by medical practitioners, Beth? Nor is it about 'personhood' This is a horrible story about a clearly abusive man benefiting from telling his wife he had a vasectomy when he clearly knew she did not want to become pregnant.
Arizona Man Won $67,500 Settlement Off Ex’s Abortion
An Arizona abortion clinic must pay a man $67,500 in settlement fees related to his ex-partner’s 2018 abortion, a judge has ruled. The decision stems from an utterly bonkers lawsuit that the man filed back in 2022, so sit tight for the infuriating details.
Earlier this month, the court determined that Camelback Family Planning violated an Arizona law that requires doctors to read a page of anti-abortion propaganda to patients 24 hours before their abortion. If the provider fails to do so, then a third party—including abusive ex-partners—can sue for monetary damages.
We’ll call the Arizona man M, to protect the identity of his ex-partner. An attorney for the clinic tells Abortion, Every Day that this ruling undermines extensive evidence of the man’s abuse toward his ex. M weaponized state laws to drag his ex into court, the Lawyering Project’s Stephanie Toti says, to “continue the abusive dynamic that existed in their marriage” and profit off her abortion.
“I never wanted children and he knew that. … I barely take care of myself as it is,” M’s ex said in 2022. She also testified that the pregnancy came toward the end of their relationship—and after he’d led her to believe he’d had a vasectomy.
M initially sued on fetal personhood grounds, creating an estate for the eight-week aborted embryo, who he named and referred to as a girl. He demanded $1.25 million on wrongful death claims. The court ultimately dismissed M’s claims. But after the woman couldn’t recall in court—years after her abortion—whether her doctor had read a certain line of anti-abortion propaganda, the judge found Camelback liable for breaching Arizona’s mandatory counseling law.
Toti notes that while this is “an infuriating outcome,” it’s a relief that the court dismissed the man’s attempts to establish an estate for the embryo. This could have set a dangerous precedent for fetal personhood—especially as more and more state legislatures weigh bills to allow embryos to qualify for wrongful death suits.
And there’s cause for hope: since M first filed this lawsuit, Arizona passed a constitutional amendment enshrining a right to abortion. As a result, an ongoing lawsuit is challenging several anti-abortion laws in the state; if successful, this could strike down the law that resulted in M receiving $67,500.
“This case really demonstrates the harm that laws like this can do,” Toti says. “Hopefully, in the future, other abusive ex-husbands won’t be able to profit off the law in the same way.”
Another Woman Has Accused Donald Trump of Rape
A report by House Judiciary Democrats includes a new, disturbing rape allegation against our ‘pro-life’ president, Donald Trump. Former Miss Switzerland Beatrice Keul says that in 1983, Trump violently raped her in his room at the Plaza hotel. Keul says Trump offered to help her secure a visa and admission to New York University, but attacked her when she showed up for their meeting.
Keul accuses Trump of grabbing her from behind, raping her, tearing her clothing, and causing bleeding and bruising across her body. She describes the assault as “brutal,” and recalls that Trump told her not to tell anyone about the violent encounter because, “The show must go on.”
Keul also alleges that Jeffrey Epstein, a close friend and associate of Trump, told her, “You know I can take care of you. We organize many parties with Don.”
The report—which documents allegations from over 25 women—notes the stark similarities in Keul’s account with stories from other women. All of this, of course, is in addition to a court finding Trump liable for assaulting E. Jean Carroll, and his own words on hot mic admitting to grabbing women “by the pussy.”
As journalist Marisa Kabas notes, the lack of mainstream media coverage and relative silence surrounding the House Judiciary report is conspicuous:
“The only reason I can think of for this news not being absolutely everywhere is that large media orgs don’t want to be seen as putting their thumbs on the scales a week before election day.”
If anything, it’s biased not to point out howthese allegations align with Trump and Republicans’ closing pitch ahead of the midterms.The report comes, for example, as Trump and Vice President Vance are doubling and tripling down on their support for Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s smear campaign against child rape survivor Amy Acton. The organization Senate Majority PAC, too, has tied several GOP Senate candidates to donors connected to Jeffrey Epstein.
All of this is consistent with the anti-abortion movement’s broader project of state-sanctioned violence against women and girls, a core mission of the Republican Party. And, it seems, their closing message this election cycle.
Ballot Measure Updates: Idaho, Missouri, North Dakota
Idaho advocates for Proposition 1 are sharing increasingly alarming stories of how the state’s ban has upended daily life in the state. Dr. Loren Colson, a founding member of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare, toldTruthdig that where roughly 50% of the state’s medical residents stayed in the state before Dobbs, just 20% of this year’s graduating class chose to remain in the state.
Idaho is already in the midst of a health care desert crisis: half of its 44 counties lack an OBGYN, after over a third left the state since Dobbs. Colson explained, “There’s a chilling effect that happens when you criminalize any type of medicine.”
One woman, Lauren Korth, recounted repeated delays in receiving emergency care for her ectopic pregnancy—because doctors worried her pregnancy could still become viable. She says that even after telling the surgeon, “I feel like I’m dying, something is not right,” she was still sent home.
Korth eventually had no choice but to have the ectopic pregnancy and both her fallopian tubes removed—a surgery she was almost denied because her husband was out of town. (The surgeon told her that they typically require spousal permission for sterilizations, but he made an exception as Korth and the surgeon were former colleagues from when she was a surgical nurse.)
An Idaho OBGYN told the Salt Lake Tribune that, despite never having been an abortion provider, her ability to do her job has been sharply impacted by the state’s ban. “By abortion, they mean every time a baby dies for whatever reason,” the OBGYN explained, meaning the law has threatened miscarriage care. The ban has also made it difficult to recruit staff:
“The concern is that every difficult decision I make is going to be scrutinized by a lawyer and then potentially go in front of a jury. If I do what is right in this situation, is that going to put me behind bars? Is that going to take away my license?
Is that going to get my name plastered on a billboard and my kids bullied because other kids think their mom is a baby killer?”
Over in Missouri—where an anti-abortion, pro-Amendment 3 rally turned out just 50 attendees last week—a pro-choice rally opposing the proposed amendment drew 600 Missourians. Organizers say they knocked over 14,000 doors this weekend.
Plus, Mother Joneswent long on Missouri Republicans’ campaign of anti-trans bigotry to confuse voters into supporting a new abortion ban. One OBGYN who’s canvassing against the measure says these scare tactics are all about diverting attention away from just how devastating Missouri’s ban was while in effect:
“You could see how scared people were to just consider being pregnant in the state of Missouri. I had husbands feel the need to tell me that I should save their wives if something should happen in the pregnancy. And that’s a pretty terrifying place to be.”
Meanwhile, North Dakota reproductive rights advocates warn that Measure 1—a ballot measure to increase the threshold to 60% of the vote for future ballot measures to take effect—is an anti-abortion attack on democracy. North Dakota Right to Life endorsed the measure and LifeNews calls it essential to “keep” the state’s abortion ban “intact.” Catholic bishops also endorsed Measure 1 last week, because:
“A 60 percent threshold would provide an additional safeguard against constitutional changes that could undermine North Dakota’s commitment to protecting unborn children.”
I can’t emphasize this enough: anti-abortion activists know their agenda is unsalvageably unpopular—instead of trying to change hearts and minds, they’re resorting to attacking democracy.
Finally, are abortion ballot measures mobilizing Gen Z? Idaho Capital Sun investigated—and while organizers acknowledged that younger voters can be harder to pin down and turn out, one young voter offered this incredibly important insight:
“We want abortion and reproductive rights to stop being presented as this women-only issue and more so as an economic issue that affects everyone and is a family issue.”
Absolutely.
Abortion at the Heart of Key Governor, Senate Races
In Wisconsin, Democrat David Crowley and Republican Tom Tiffany are running neck-and-neck for governor; and last week’s debate reminded us what’s at stake for the right to abortion. Where Tiffany backs a 20-week ban, Crowley, rightly, declined (🚩) to name a specific gestational limit. “These are discussions that need to be made between a doctor and a patient,” he said.
Remember, Wisconsin only recently defeated an 1849 law banning abortion—thanks to the election of liberal justices to the state Supreme Court.
This isn’t the only purple-state gubernatorial race where abortion is a hot-button topic. In Minnesota, too, Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Republican Lisa Demuth have been sparring on the issue. While serving in the legislature in 2021, Demuth authored a bill that would ban abortion at six weeks—threatening providers with prison. Klobuchar confronted Demuth on this during a recent debate:
“I don’t think we want our first woman governor to be someone that has such an extreme view that would ban women’s health care… with no exceptions for rape or incest, and send doctors to jail… You may have different views on abortion, but not many people think we should send doctors to jail.”
Demuth gave an eyeroll-inducing rebuttal, stating that “abortion is settled here in the state of Minnesota.” She accused Klobuchar of “looking for things that she can try to drive a wedge in,” and suggested that because the bill “never went any place at all,” we should all ignore the fact that she wanted to imprison abortion providers.
This is in line with what we’ve seen from Republican candidates across the country—but especially those in blue or swing states. They try to distance themselves from their extreme positions by insisting they’ll ‘respect’ existing laws.
Speaking of holding feckless, anti-abortion politicians’ feet to the fire: let’s check in on Maine, where Susan Collins is in the fight of her political life, in her first election since the Supreme Court killed Roe (with her help).
NBC Newsnotes that women—including, especially, Democratic women—have been key to Collins’ ability to win elections in the fairly blue state. In 2020, she secured her fifth term by winning women voters by three points, while Donald Trump lost that same demographic by 23 points.
Some older women voters expressed skepticism about Democrat Troy Jackson after the painful fiasco surrounding Graham Platner, who initially won the Democratic nomination for Senate but bowed out after facing a rape allegation. “I’m pausing, but I’m still going to ultimately support him because Collins has to go,” one 72-year-old woman said.
To those women voters who may be hesitant, I’d point them to Jackson’s in-depth conversation with Reproductive Freedom for All’s Mini Timmaraju on his plan for reproductive rights—and remind every Maine voter who cares about reproductive freedom that this race could decide the future makeup of the U.S. judiciary. Much to consider!
Abortion Ad Spending Surges in Final Stretch
In case you need more proof of how central abortion is to this year’s elections, look no further than just how much money is being poured into abortion-related ads. Tracking from Free & Just shows that the week of October 15 to 22 saw $12,191,009 in abortion-related ad spending. Out of the top three markets, two were in Missouri—with $2,667,710 spent on ads in St. Louis, and $2,659,403 in Kansas City.
Missouri, you’ll recall, is set to vote on Amendment 3—a ballot measure that would enshrine an abortion ban into the state constitution. (Just two years after voters passed a pro-choice measure!) Both pro-choice and anti-abortion groups have been spending heavily on ads related to the measure. Meanwhile, $2,368,763 was spent in Portland, Oregon, where GOP gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan is desperately trying to convince voters to trust her on abortion.
Speaking of abortion and political ads: the Republican Party of Florida is suing the state Democratic Party, Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly, and other Florida Democrats over an ad exposing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ corruption. The ad notes that DeSantis redirected $10 million in Medicaid funds for low-income children to bankroll anti-abortion political ads back in 2024. This is well-documented and substantiated by a grand jury’s recent report.
The suit also notably names Fox Television and other communications companies for running the ad. It’s a familiar tactic: in 2024, the DeSantis administration threatened television stations with criminal charges for running ads for the pro-choice amendment on the ballot that year.
Democrat Annette Taddeo, who is running for Florida chief financial officer, told the Tampa Bay Times these attempts at suppression “should outrage every Floridian.”
The Power of Storytelling
The 19th recently highlighted how women candidates are wielding storytelling—including about abortion—to make elections personal. Tippy Amundson, a Minnesota mother-of-three who needed emergency care 20 weeks into her pregnancy, spoke at a conference for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign:
“It’s important to remind people that politics isn’t politics. That politics is real people’s lives, and our votes change people’s lives.”
But Kaitlyn Kash, a Texas woman who campaigned with pro-choice politicians after being denied emergency abortion care, revealed the frustrating side of storytelling—being gaslit or disbelieved:
“There’s the people who immediately wrote my experience off because I was speaking for a politician, and that was the saddest thing about it. I was like, I’m just a real person, who by the way has had my story vetted by every major news outlet.”
The 19th’s full feature is well worth a read.
A Frustrating Story in Texas
A three-time Trump voter in Texas says she’s rethinking her support—but only after receiving her medical bills for breast cancer treatment. Cindy Banda toldFortune that the driving force behind her years-long support for Trump was her anti-abortion position.
That position made her initially hesitant to support James Talarico for U.S. Senate—but Banda ultimately voted for the Democrat last week anyway, compelled by rising costs under Republican leadership. According to a recent poll cited in the article, voters are twice as likely to say they trust Democrats with fixing the health system than Republicans.
This story made me sigh in frustration on numerous occasions. It’s frankly depressing to read about people screwing themselves over repeatedly, all because they’ve been taught to hate women—or hate themselves. And it’s just as frustrating to read about people who are entirely OK with harming pregnant people, immigrants, and other marginalized communities, until they, personally, are harmed.
Sure, it’s never too late to gain new information and change your position. I just wish people cared enough about their community members to not vote so selfishly—and self-sabotagingly!—the first time around.
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