1). “Incoming Texas AG Will End 'Abortion Trafficking' Ordinances: Plus: Republicans introduce federal 'Don’t Flush Babies' Act”, Nov 09, 2026, Jessica Valenti, Abortion, Every Day, at <https://jessica.substack.com/p/incoming-texas-ag-will-end-abortion>.
2). “Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson says he won’t sue out-of-state doctors who mail abortion pills to Texas: Current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued multiple out-of-state doctors for illegally mailing abortion pills, which abortion advocates say has chilled access.”, Nov. 04, 2026, Terri Langford & Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune, at < https://www.texastribune.org/2026/11/04/texas-abortion-ban-democrats-nathan-johnson-gina-hinojosa/ >
3). “Trump Administration Moves to Shut Down Planned Parenthood: With the midterms over, the gloves are off”, Nov 07, 2026, Jessica Valenti, Abortion, Every Day, at < https://jessica.substack.com/p/trump-administration-moves-to-shut >.
4). “Trump Administration Steps Into Planned Parenthood Lawsuit in Texas: The Justice Department’s intervention in the Texas lawsuit could signal that the administration is ready to challenge newly elected Democrats in state offices.”, Nov. 7, 2026, Katie Benner & Lauren McGaughy, The New York Times, at < https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/07/us/politics/doj-texas-fraud-lawsuit-planned-parenthood.html >.
~~ recommended by desmond ~~
Introduction by desmond: After a few tenta by rump and his allies and minions are now attacking the validity of those elections and the legitimacy of any governmental entity or official who opposes their fascist agenda. Abortion Access and Reproductive Healthcare Rights are still under attack by a Federal Government that is firmly under Dark Ages Republican control, with an aggressive Federal prosecution and indictment campaign underway. I focus here on abortion rights in Texas, but the general trends are the same for a variety of policy areas and around the U.S. in general. The far-right intends to implement their agenda regardless of their dubious legal position and using their same disinformation and strong-arm methods.
However, there were significant victories for the center-left and the moderate left on the state level. Many people were surprised to see Democratic Party candidates sweep the 5 elective Texas state-wide offices, take control of the State House of Representatives by 78 to 63 (while the Republicans maintained control of the State Senate 19 to 12), as well as the U.S. Senate contest going to Democratic politician James Talarico. Some of the various aspects of this are discussed in Item 1). “Incoming Texas AG ….”, and Item 2). “Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson ….”, discusses some of the ramifications of replacing Republican Ken Paxton with Democrat Nathan Johnson as the state's Attorney General in greater detail.
The newly aggressive general attack on Planned Parenthood, and on other advocates for the right to freely access abortion and other reproductive healthcare, is the main subject of Item 3). “Trump Administration Moves ….”, and in Item 4)., “Trump Administration Steps Into ….”, which both look at some of the background and possible ramifications of the Trump Regime's post election plans.
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Texas’ New AG Takes Aim at “Abortion Trafficking” Bans
Incoming Texas AG Takes Aim At “Abortion Trafficking” Ordinances
Let’s talk about how much I like incoming Texas Attorney General Nathan Johnson. Not only did Johnson announce just one day after the election that he’d end Ken Paxton’s practice of suing out-of-state abortion providers, but the Democrat also indicated he’d stop the spread of “abortion trafficking” ordinances.
These local laws make it illegal to help someone get an abortion—including by using a county’s roads to drive a woman across state lines for care.
“If some county thinks they’re going to pass an ordinance that says you cannot drive through on our roads on your way to New Mexico to receive abortion services, that’s not going to fly,” Johnson told WFAA.
Texas has about 100 of these local laws, and they’re a pet project of anti-abortion attorney Jonathan Mitchell and his weirdo sidekick Mark Lee Dickson.1 The ordinances don’t have criminal penalties, but allow for civil suits. The goal is to create a chilling effect that makes people too afraid to help each other.
Johnson said something else worth noting, too:
“If somebody’s trying to interpret a 100-year-old law in a way that’s twisted, you’re going to get an attorney general opinion that says that’s twisted and it’s going to have weight.”
My best guess is that he’s referring to the 1925 abortion ban Texas Republicans tried sneaking into that “Life of the Mother” legislation last year. Essentially, there was a bipartisan push for clearer exceptions for women’s lives, but the GOP quietly put in language that would have revived a 100-year old ban allowing the state to prosecute patients. If that’s what Johnson means, it’s clear he knows ball.
Finally, when asked what his message was to women and doctors, the incoming AG made clear he plans to take a hands-off approach:
“They cannot do what is against the law. But to the extent thatthe law permits for their discretion, their medical discretion, their personal discretion, and it does, I’m going to respect and defend those rights.”
Is this a new era of “don’t ask, don’t tell” abortion law in Texas? I don’t know, but I like where we’re headed.
Trump Administration Wastes No Time Attacking Women
After telling anti-abortion leaders that the “gloves will be off” after the midterms, the White House wasted no time keeping its promise: the administration plans to roll back workplace protections for pregnant women, weakening the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and has launched a broad attack on Planned Parenthood designed to shut down the organization for good.
While the White House was already happily attacking reproductive rights—from messing with Title X to calling birth control “abortifacients”—Donald Trump has largely avoided making big, explicit moves against abortion.
Now that Trump is a lame-duck president, however, abortion rights advocates and experts are concerned. From law professor Mary Ziegler at MS NOW:
“After this week’s historical repudiation, the president will be focused on his post-presidential future and may be more willing to cater to the major donors and conservative Christians who have been among his most consistent supporters.”
It also leaves us worrying about what could come next. As you can imagine, I’m thinking most about the Comstock Act—which the administration might enforce as a ban on mailing abortion medication (among other things).
Anti-Abortion Movement in Denial After Midterm Losses
Speaking of the Comstock Act: Americans United for Life CEO John Mize took to Fox News today with his post-midterms wish list—and reviving the zombie law is right at the top. Mize is one of many anti-abortion leaders freaking out over the Democratic wins that swept the nation last week.
In a column advising how Republicans how to move forward, Mize warns that Democrats will come after the Hyde Amendment (as they should), push for the passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act, and could even move to eliminate the filibuster. Mize also calls for “administrative agency action” from Republicans—like the FDA’s “safety review” of mifepristone, and (you guessed it) Comstock.
Meanwhile, a leader from the March for Life directs ‘pro-life’ Americans to start doing a better job of bringing people over to the cause, writing at the Washington Examiner (🚩), “our movement must advance a joyful, hopeful frame.” In other words, maybe stop calling women murderous sluts. And over at USA Today, a conservative columnist insists that voters may have rejected conservative candidates, but not conservative values. (Sure, Jan.)
Finally, Alliance Defending Freedom—the organization behind the end of Roe v. Wade—has highlighted (🚩) a few midterm “wins,” including multiple measures that allow for the discrimination of trans children. Assholes.
Republicans Look to Overturn Pro-Choice Wins in Virginia & Missouri
That didn’t take long! After abortion rights wins in Missouri and Virginia, conservatives in both states are already plotting how to overturn the will of the people.
In Missouri, where voters rejected an abortion ban—again—Republican lawmakers are having strategy sessions about potential legal paths forward. There aren’t many! That’s because in addition to rejecting the anti-abortion Amendment 3, voters also passed Amendment 6—which makes it harder for legislators to overturn citizen-approved measures. (Good job, Missouri!)
State Sen. Nick Schroer, who’ll be Senate majority leader come January, told the Missouri Independent that Republicans will “have to be strategic in what we do.” And while some lawmakers, like Missouri Rep. Brian Seitz, say they plan to focus on “incrementalism,” others are going full extremist from the jump: state Sen. Mike Moon is already floating fetal personhood legislation.
Despite a clear message from voters to leave abortion rights alone, Schroer says abortion will remain a top priority for GOP lawmakers. What Republicans really need to do is take the advice of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board and “move on.”
While Missouri Republicans try to sort out their next steps, Virginia conservatives already have a court date to challenge the pro-choice ballot measure voters passed last week. Anti-abortion groups preemptively brought a sore loser legal challenge, arguing that the campaign sidestepped necessary procedural steps, and that the ballot question uses biased and misleading language.
“If voters knew what was actually in this amendment, they would not vote for it,” said Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia.
Legal expert Rich Kelsey tells Virginia Public Radio that conservatives have a tough road ahead when it comes to the question of the ballot measure’s language, but that “these plaintiffs could be successful” on their claims about procedural rules.
If this suit manages to move forward, I have to imagine voters will be furious—and that it’s Republicans who’ll pay the price in 2028.
Massachusetts Gov. Blocks Effort to Suspend Abortion Law
I figured it would come to this: Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has taken emergency action to implement the state’s new abortion law—preemptively blocking a conservative effort to suspend it.
Massachusetts passed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act back in August, decriminalizing abortion throughout pregnancy. But last week, anti-abortion activists announced that they had collected enough signatures to put the issue on the 2028 ballot and suspend the law from taking effect until that vote happened.
Thankfully, Gov. Healey filed an emergency preamble on Friday—forcing the law to take effect immediately. In a Substack post about her decision, Gov. Healey wrote that this move doesn’t stop the anti-abortion campaign from doing its work, and that Massachusetts voters will have their say in 2028.
“If they choose to repeal the law, we will respect their decision. But families should not have to go without the care they need while that process plays out.”
The activists behind the repeal campaign, of course, are not pleased. Myrna Maloney Flynn, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, accused Gov. Healey of being “beholden..to the Massachusetts abortion lobby.”
I’ll keep you updated as the anti-abortion campaign moves forward, but for now I’m just glad that Massachusetts patients will be able to get the care they need.
In the States: Georgia, Arizona & More
Let’s get into more good news! Georgia’s governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms says she’d like to repeal the state’s abortion ban—a law that’s killed at least two women (that we know about).
A few days after the election, Bottoms told reporters inside the Georgia Capitol that Democrats would take the opportunity to repeal the 6-week ban if they “see a pathway.”
“It may not be this session. We know that whole ballot energy has helped us flip the House, and we have some very thin margins in the Senate. So we’ll begin to have those conversations, and we’ll see if it can be done soon.”
Republicans didn’t much like those comments, with state Sen. Drew Echols calling the issue a “non-starter.” In a statement, Echols said, “Repealing the Heartbeat Bill will not get through our chamber.”
Meanwhile, KJZZ reports that thanks to Democrats’ midterm wins in Arizona, the legislature will drop its defense of the state’s remaining abortion restrictions. Remember: voters enshrined abortion protections into the state constitution in 2024, but Republican lawmakers have been fighting a legal battle to keep a few last anti-abortion laws on the books—like a 24-hour waiting period and a ban on telemedicine abortion.
But when newly elected lawmakers take office in January, Democrats will have control of the state House and Senate. That means lawmakers will abandon the legal defense, and the pro-choice organizations that have been fighting to end the restrictions will win by default. Love it!
Quick hits:
Anti-abortion activists in Nevada are already complaining about the pro-choice amendment voters passed last week;
Missouri’s next House majority floor leader is an anti-abortion extremist who also happens to be Chappell Roan’s uncle;
Anti-abortion misinformation went viral about Virginia’s pro-choice amendment on election night;
And an interview with Karl Eastlund, the longtime CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho (PPGWNI).
Republicans Introduce “Don’t Flush Babies Act”
I really wish I were kidding. This newly introduced federal bill would send women home with ‘catch kits’, make them sort through their pregnancy tissue, and mandate a picture of a fetus on every box of mifepristone.
The insanity couldn’t fit into just one newsletter section, so I published it as a standalone piece this evening. (I didn’t send it over email to spare your inbox.) Read it here:
I can’t believe there was ever a time when I wondered if I’d be able to find enough abortion news to write about every day. (⊙_⊙)
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Nathan Johnson won’t sue out-of-state abortion pill providers
Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give us feedback.
Less than 24 hours after a historic sweep of Texas’ statewide elected offices by Democrats, the state’s attorney general-elect Nathan Johnson said Tuesday he will not continue Ken Paxton’s practice of suing doctors in other states for sending abortion medication to patients here.
It’s the first big salvo against the state’s four-year-old near abortion ban which makes the procedure virtually impossible to access in this state and is likely to be the first of many tweaks to make the ban less rigid. The attorney general’s office under Ken Paxton, who gave up the role to run for Senate, has been a powerful enforcer of the state’s abortion ban laws and a Democrat coming into that position cuts off a powerful tool for the country’s anti-abortion movement.
The first thing I do when people ask me about abortion is point out that I’m not a legislator, and I can’t change abortion law,” Johnson told The Texas Tribune. “What I can do is cease using Texas abortion laws as an instrument of persecution and intimidation, harassment and political showboating. All four of those things have happened.”
It is illegal for Texas doctors to mail abortion medication within the state and Paxton has sued doctors in other states who prescribe the medication, chilling Texans from obtaining these pills, abortion advocates say. Those lawsuits have run up against blue states’ so-called shield laws that protect physicians who send abortion medications.
Johnson said he won’t be suing those out-of-state doctors anymore. “I will not pursue the judicially absurd position that Texas law has extra territorial effect. I can honor other states’ shield laws.”
While this eliminates an obstacle to accessing abortion pills, Democrats won’t be repealing the abortion ban anytime soon.
Despite the increasing use of executive power by Gov. Greg Abbott, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa cannot legally repeal the abortion ban with her own pen stroke. She also told Politico in September that repealing the ban would not be a priority because it would require Republicans to pass such a bill and that seems unlikely.
Instead, University of Houston political professor Brandon Rottinghaus points out she can greatly limit how the law is applied. Hinojosa has said that she would work to end penalties for doctors who perform life-saving abortions, although lawmakers provided additional protections for doctors in these situations last year.
“She can influence how portions of the law are implemented, and how certain exceptions are interpreted, and other reasonable additional restrictions that might become law eventually,” he said.
Anti-abortion advocates like John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, aren’t worried about a new “standalone abortion bill” being passed this upcoming session, but he is concerned incoming Democratic leadership will turn back decades of Republican-led inroads in restricting the procedure.
He could see Hinojosa and other Dems making it tougher for programs like the former Alternatives to Abortion program, now renamed Thriving Texas Families, which sends over $200 million to private contractors to, in part, counsel pregnant women out of abortions, among other services. He said Hinojosa has consistently voted against the program and that he could see her defunding it or transferring the funding to another program.
The agency overseeing the program, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, has an agency commissioner, Stephanie Muth, whose appointment expires Feb. 1. Seago said he also fears that Hinojosa could also use her own appointment power to put someone else in charge of the agency and begin to change how those private contractors are scrutinized.
There’s also the upcoming Sunset process that could grant Hinojosa greater influence. HHSC faces Sunset review, where lawmakers determine what to change within an agency, including eliminating whole departments or agencies.
Lawmakers have broader rein to reshape budget priorities for an agency facing Sunset review and that too could include slashing funding for the Thriving Texas Families program.
The state’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee also faces a Sunset evaluation. Women’s health advocates have lambasted the committee, which is under the Texas Department of State Health Services’ purview, for delaying the release of its latest biennial report this year, which is expected to include a review of deaths that have occurred after the state’s abortion ban went into effect. Members have also called on the Legislature to allow them to review abortion-related deaths but to no avail.
Also Hinojosa could put in her own slate of the Texas Medical Board appointments. A block of the 19-member board has terms expiring this April and she could put appointees who could revise the board’s guidance to physicians about the legal protections they have when they perform an abortion to save a patient’s life.
Two years ago, the TMB issued guidance to doctors that fell far short of what health care advocates had wanted. At first, the panel was hesitant to offer how to interpret medical exceptions to the state law even after the Texas Supreme Court called on them to “assess various hypothetical circumstances, provide best practices, identify red lines, and the like.”
The TMB reworked the guidance but many were still unsatisfied saying it put too much of a burden on the doctor making the shots when seconds count to save a mother’s life.
Seago is also confident that despite Johnson’s announced refusal to actively pursue the flow of drugs from other states, other states will continue their own challenges to stop abortion medication coming by mail. He adds that the state’s “bounty hunter” law that allows private lawsuits against abortion medication providers who violate the Texas abortion ban will not be revisited this next session and will remain on the books.
Still, abortion reproductive advocates like raven e. Freeborn, executive director of Avow Texas, a statewide group advocating for abortion access and reproductive rights in Texas, will not let the Senate’s Republican majority prevent them from trying to undo the abortion ban with a new law.
“We’re going for the most unapologetic vision of abortion access, which is abortion access without exceptions,” said Freeborn. “I think it’s important for us to look at this opportunity in this moment and to be as unwavering about the world that we need immediately.”
Freeborn pointed to how it took decades for the GOP to outlaw abortion in Texas and their group is prepared for a long fight. “They didn’t do that in one legislative session but they were consistent in what they were narrating. And so we’re stepping up to be just as bold.”
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Trump DOJ Joins $1.8B Lawsuit to Bankrupt Planned Parenthood
Remember when the White House promised anti-abortion leaders that the “gloves will come off” after the midterms? Well—here we go.
Donald Trump’s Justice Department is taking over a lawsuit designed to shut down Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest single provider of reproductive health care, The New York Times reports. The suit accuses Planned Parenthood of Medicaid fraud and seeks a $1.8 billion judgment—enough to bankrupt the organization.1
“They want to bully Planned Parenthood out of business,” Susan Baker Manning, the group’s general counsel, says.
The timing here isn’t a coincidence: DOJ announced its intention to take the suit over on Friday, just days after an election where Democrats wiped the floor with Republicans in deep red states. The move not only signals thatthe White House is going all in on attacking abortion for the rest of Trump’s lame-duck presidency, but, as the Times notes, that “the Trump administration could seek to supplant the Democrats’ power in former Republican strongholds.”
You see—this was Ken Paxton’s case.
That’s right, the outgoing Texas attorney general, the guy who just had his ass handed to him by James Talarico, spent years leading the charge to bankrupt Planned Parenthood. With Paxton now out of a job, this case would have gone to Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson. But Johnson has made clear he’s not much interested in abortion cases.
In fact, the day after his midterm win, the Democrat announced that he wouldn’t target out-of-state abortion providers with civil suits—one of Paxton’s favorite pastimes. Johnson told the Texas Tribune that while he can’t change the state’s ban, “What I can do is cease using Texas abortion laws as an instrument of persecution and intimidation, harassment and political showboating.”
The new AG also plans to review all of Paxton’s cases—including this Planned Parenthood one. By taking over the suit, the White House was able to sidestep Johnson and ensure the attack on Planned Parenthood could move forward. Never mind the will of the people.
The proposed trial date for the case is April 2027.
But there’s more: Because the suit was deliberately filed in Amarillo, Texas, the presiding judge is none other than anti-abortion extremist Matthew Kacsmaryk—a guy best known for his wildly biased ruling on mifepristone. Kacsmaryk also struck down Biden-era privacy protections for abortion patients. (A real gem.)
I’ll have more for you on Monday about the case and what comes next, but consider this the Trump administration’s warning shot: with no election on the horizon to rein them in, anti-abortion extremists at the White House appear more than willing to attack our rights, regardless of what voters want.
That means we need to start thinking about what else the administration could have on its agenda—including, potentially, the Comstock Act. I continue to be hopeful that they don’t want that kind of heat, but given what we know about newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche, it’s best to be prepared.
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Trump Administration Steps Into Planned Parenthood Lawsuit in Texas
The Justice Department’s intervention in the Texas lawsuit could signal that the administration is ready to challenge newly elected Democrats in state offices.
The Trump administration is intervening in a high-profile Texas lawsuit against Planned Parenthood, taking ownership of a case that could fall by the wayside under the state’s newly elected Democrat attorney general.
The Justice Department outlined its intention Friday night in a court filing in the five-year-old lawsuit, which had been championed by outgoing Republican attorney general of Texas Ken Paxton. The suit accused Planned Parenthood clinic operators in the state and the national umbrella organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, of committing Medicaid fraud.
The move, just days after an election loss in deep red Texas, was a signal that the Trump administration could seek to supplant the Democrats’ power in former Republican strongholds, where officials had used litigation to further their agenda on social and policy issues. Under President Biden, the Justice Department in 2021 declined to step into the Planned Parenthood case.
The Texas suit accused Planned Parenthood of fraud for collecting Medicaid reimbursements while Texas had sought to remove it as a Medicaid provider. Planned Parenthood has denied the claims, noting that courts did not bar it from collecting payments during the litigation.
The state is seeking to recover $1.8 billion, which includes Medicaid reimbursements, interest and penalties. Planned Parenthood, which recently reported annual revenue of $2.1 billion, said that such a payout could result in its closure.
A lawyer for Planned Parenthood said that the Justice Department’s intervention showed that President Trump was “undeterred by the election results.”
“This is an effort by the Trump administration to shut us down,” said Susan Baker Manning, general counsel for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “It is going to weaponize the Department of Justice against us.”
Representatives of the Texas Attorney General’s office and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Norm Eisen, the White House ethics counsel under the Obama administration and founder of the legal advocacy group Democracy Defenders Action, said it was unusual for the Justice Department to step into a case after it initially declined to intervene.
“Texas voters have now rejected Paxton and his brand of politicized litigation, which is the Justice Department’s only apparent reason for intervening,” said Mr. Eisen, whose nonprofit organization previously sued the Trump administration over election matters.
The Texas suit against Planned Parenthood was filed in 2021 by an anonymous plaintiff, Alex Doe. The next year, Mr. Paxton, an opponent of abortion access, intervened in the case on behalf of the state.
Mr. Paxton will no longer be able to lead the case against Planned Parenthood; he lost his bid for the U.S. Senate this week, as did the Republican meant to be his successor.
Instead, the role will be filled by Nathan Johnson, who won the race for attorney general as part of unexpected midterm election sweep in Texas.
Mr. Johnson, who takes office in January, said he planned to review all of the lawsuits Mr. Paxton filed during his 12-year tenure to ensure that they were cases the state should pursue. On Friday, Mr. Johnson told The New York Times the review would include the Planned Parenthood case.
“We are reviewing this action closely, including what it means for Texans and what the law allows,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement. “When I take office as Attorney General, I will take appropriate action in the interests of my state.”
Mr. Johnson, a veteran litigator, has already said he will halt Mr. Paxton’s practice of suing out-of-state doctors who mail abortion pills into Texas.
The planned moves signal an abrupt about face in Texas, where Republicans have held the position of attorney general since 1994. Democrats in some other states have indicated that they will seek to push their agenda as well. In Georgia, Governor-Elect Keisha Lance Bottoms has said she planned to seek a repeal of her state’s abortion ban.
Planned Parenthood has long been a target of conservatives as the most prominent provider of abortions in the country. While the nonprofit hasn’t offered abortion services in Texas in years, the state’s Republican leaders continued to target its ability to operate through lawsuits and legislation.
The case could go to trial as early as next spring. The presiding judge, Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, is a Trump appointee and abortion opponent.
Katie Benner is a correspondent writing primarily about large institutions that shape American life.
Lauren McGaughy is the Texas politics correspondent for The New York Times, writing about the ways that policymakers in the second largest state are changing lives for their citizens and influencing American politics.
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