04/10/23 04/10/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! dueling ruling. two federal judges have handed down conflicting decisions on the abortion pill mifepristone. an antiabortion trump-appointed judge in texas halted the fda's approval of the drug while a judge in washington state orders the fda to maintain the status quo on mifepristone, which was approved by the fda 23 years ago.

we will speak to the head of planned parenthood alexis mcgill johnson, as well as jessica mason pieklo of rewire news. >>he anti-choi movement is authoritarian by nature anthey are using the federal courts to do what they can't do in state houses. amy: we will also speak to the co-founder of the miscarriage and abortion hotline and the -- who worked to increase access to abortion pills as well as the only independent abortion provider in arizona. >> this leaves pgnant people and clinics in limbo all while abortion access is impossible for many in arizona and across the country. amy: we will also look at how the federal judge in texas based his ruling on abortion pill in part on the 1873 comstock act which banned the interstate mailing or distribution of "obscene" materials.

all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. two federal judges issued conflicting rulings around the medication abortion friday, creating even greater turmoil amid dwindling abortion rights in the united states. in texas, a trump-appointed judge placed a nationwide injunction on the fda's approval of mifepristone, issued over two decades ago, which is due to take effect at the end of this week. the justice department is appealing the ruling. meanwhile, in a separate case, a washington state judge ordered the fda not to make any changes to mifepristone's availability. after headlines, we'll spend the rest of the hour looking at the implications of these rulings. supreme court justice clarence thomas has defended the frequent

lavish trips he received from real estate billionaire and gop mega donor harlan crow saying he was advised at the time not to report them. thomas also referred to crow and his wife as being among his family's dearest friends. or details are emerging about harlan crow and resurfaced article published by the dallas morning news in which a tour of his mansion revealed he had a collection of nazi memorabilia, including a signed copy of "mein kampf" signed by hitler, nazi medallions, swastika-embossed linens, and a garden filled with statues of 20th century despots, -- dictators. the justice department has launched a criminal investigation into an apparent leak of pentagon documents revealing details about the u.s. role in the ukraine war and russian operations in ukraine and beyond. they include data on u.s. surveillance drones in the region and ammunition needed by ukrainian forces. the materials also contain information about china and

reveal u.s. intelligence gathering on allies including ukraine, south korea, and israel. the documents date from late february to early march but have appeared on social media in recent weeks, including last friday. in ukraine, an 11-year-old girl and her father were killed sunday as russia's military struck a residential building in the ukrainian city of zaporizhzhia. the violence came as a ukrainian charity said it has reunited dozens of children with their families over the past week after they were deported from occupied parts of ukraine. russia has denied abducting the children but said some youth were evacuated from the front lines for their own safety. this is natalia rakk, a mother who reunited with her twin daughters on friday, months after they were taken to russian-occupied crimea and told they would be put up for adoption. >> terribly difficult but we kept going. we slept sitting up.

we slept very little. our goal was to pick the children up. amy: ukraine says more than 19,000 children have been taken to russian territory since president vladimir putin ordered his military to invade ukraine last year. the united nations has said the forced deportations violate international humanitarian law and amount to a war crime. china conducted three days of live-fire military drills around taiwan involving dozens of chinese war planes and 11 naval vessels, including an aircraft carrier. china launched the war games as taiwanese president tsai ing-wen wrapped up a visit of the u.s., where she met with house speaker kevin mccarthy and other members of congress. president tsai spoke friday defended her trip which beijing called a provocation and views as a threat to its sovereignty over taiwan. >> we showed the international community that in the face of

pressure and threats, taiwan will be even more united and will absolutely not yield to suppression nor due to obstructions, stoppage wiin the world. amy: israel's military has fired artillery shells and launched air strikes on syria in response to a half-dozen rockets fired northern israel and the occupied golan heights from syrian territory over the weekend. syria's government says they were the 10th attacks on syrian territory by israel so far this year. this follows israeli air strikes on gaza and southern lebanon in response to rocket fire. israel's bombing of gaza on friday destroyed the home of muhanad abu neama, a 23-year-old palestinian taxi driver who said he and his family narrowly survived death. >> if i was in the car, i would have died. money and a car could be redeemed of what does a citizen have to do in all of this? what to the children, my two-year-old sister, parents, and siblings have to do in this? this is a residential area.

there is nothing here but a home, crops, a building, agricultural land. amy: palestinian health officials that the 15-year-old was killed in an israeli miliry raid ar the city of jericho. in tel aviv, an italian tourist was killed and five others were injured friday when a palestinian man with israeli citizenship rammed a car into a crowd of pedestrians. israeli security forces then shot and killed him. the attack came after israeli troops were filmed beating and tear gassing palestinian worshipers inside the al-aqsa mosque in occupied east jerusalem last week, prompting condemnation by palestinians and world leaders. meanwhile, tens of thousands of israelis resumed protests over the weekend demanding the far-right government of prime minister benjamin netanyahu cancel plans to dramatically weaken israel's judiciary. in yemen, saudi officials are meeting with houthi leaders for peace talks, mediated by oman, in hopes of finding a path to end the brutal war that's driven yemen to a humanitarian catastrophe.

the u.n. expressed hope the renewed momentum towards ending the conflict, including the recent resumption of ties between saudi arabia and iran, could finally lead to a sustainable peace deal. thiss chief houthi negotiator mohammed abdulsalam speaking from the airport in sanaa saturday as the omani delegation arrived in the yemeni capital. >> my just commands are stopping the aggression completely, lifting the blockade completely, paying the salaries of all yemeni employees from oil and gas revenues as well as the exit of foreign forces. amy: iranian authorities say they're installing surveillance cameras in public spaces in order to identify and bring to justice women who are not wearing the mandatory hijab. this is iran's chief of police. >> with the use of advanced

technology and equipment, the person identified shall be warned and a person will be introduced to the judicial system. amy: this comes just over six months after the death of mahsa amini while in custody of the so-called morality police, which spurred a nationwide revolt. a growing number of iranian women are choosing to go unveiled outside of their homes, despite the risk of arrest and the violent crackdown on dissent. iranian police also warned businesses, including shops and restaurants, they could be shut down if they violate the hijab law. back in the united states and tennessee, the nashville metropolitan council could reinstate democratic representative justin jones as early as today after he was expelled by the republican-led legislature last week, alongside fellow representative justin pearson of memphis, for leading a protest against gun violence on the chamber floor. the board of commissioners for shelby county is scheduled to hold a special meeting wednesday to consider reappointing justin pearson to his position. the re-appointments would be temporary but both lawmakers could run in special elections to reclaim their seats.

on sunday, pearson spoke at an easter service in memphis. >> they convinced themselves that this would be the end because we would not see p ast the veil of their democracy and not see it as what it truly is, a mob-ocracy, white supremacy, and patriarchy. amy: on friday, vice president kamala harris traveled to nashville where she met with the expelled lawmakers and praised their courage in standing up for their constituents. in new jersey, unions representing 9000 faculty and academic staff have gone on strike at rutgers university's three main campuses in new brunswick, newark, and camden. they're demanding increased pay and better job security, especially for poorly-paid graduate workers and adjunct faculty. it's the first strike by educators in rutgers' 257-year history. and here in new york, family and community members are demanding justice for raul de la cruz, a

42-year-old man from the bronx who was critically injured in late march after new york police officers shot him six times. de la cruz was experiencing a mental health crisis when his father called 311 for help. police began firing at de la cruz within seconds of arriving, claiming he had a knife. de la cruz was taken to the hospital where he remained unconscious for days and is now slowly recovering. his supporters held a rally outside the police precinct in the bronx friday. this is de la cruz's nine-year-old cousin juliana fuentes confronting police officers. >> youth abusers. your abusers. [indiscernible] for what? for what? amy: and

those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today we spend the hour today looking at perhaps the most significant legal rulings on abortion since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade last year. on friday, a trump-appointed antiabortion judge in texas revoked the food and drug administration approval of the abortion pill misoprostol, which is part of the most common abortion method in the united states. shortly after the texas ruling was announced, a federal judge in washington state ordered the fda to keep mifepristone on the market and maintain the status quo. the drug was approved by the fda 23 years ago. of studies have proven the drug hundreds to be highly safe and effective. the judge in texas, matthew kacsmaryk, based his ruling in part on the 1873 comstock act

which banned the interstate mailing or distribution of "obscene" materials. on friday night, the justice department appealed the texas ruling. in a statement, attorney general merrick garland said -- "today's decision overturns the fda's expert judgment, rendered over two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective. the department will continue to defend the fda's decision." with the dueling rulings in texas and washington state, future access to mifepristone may be decided by the conservative controlled supreme court. on sunday, health and human services secretary xavier becerra was interviewed about the texas ruling by cnn's dana bash. >> are you taking it off the table, that you will recommend the fda ignore a war? >> everything is on the table. the president said that when the dobbs really came outcome every option is on the table. amy: after the comment, was a

clarifying statement tweeting " as dangers a president is its record to disregard the judge regarding a drug safety and efficacy, it would also set a dangerous precedent for the administration to disregard a binding decision." we begin today's show with alexis mcgill johnson, president and ceo of the planned parenthood federation of america and the planned parenthood action fund. welcome to democracy now! first, your reaction to judge kacsmaryk's decision in texas? >> what can i say, direction feels a lot like dobbs. not a shock or surprise but you still feel the gut punch. i think that is what we felt on friday evening, on good friday evening, this judge, the singular servant activist judge to lay dow this decision to block decades of approval of mifespristone that is clearly used for over 23 years in more

than 60 countries, more than 5 million patients, and to dare challenge the fda not just on mifespristone, but also the implications that are far-reaching for other medications. amy: if you could explain, alexis, mifespristone, it might surprise people, part of a to drug cocktail, that is used in most of the abortions in united states most of how widespread this is and what exactly does it mean? the judge said it would go into effect in seven days. so it is not in effect yet. but what this also means for planned parenthood? >> thank you for that opportunity to offer some patient reassurance for the next seven days, that there are people who are waking up toy, tomorrow will have appointments that they have already mad because they were planning to make decisionsbout tir own lives and our bodies and they will be seeking access to mifespristone and medication

abortion over the next seven days. those appointments will still be available. look, the process for medication abortion, this standard used is mifespristone as a first medication and misoprostol as the second medication. it is used in the majority of early terminations, so about 12 weeks or so, 10 to 12 weeks. it is common. it is something people can do in a self-managed weight, in the privacy of their own home. what was often over the last year and a half, the fda and dobbs decision, people having to travel multiple hours out of state, already taking off time from work, time to get childcare and so forth. having to then drive back and being able to manage at their

convenience the end of their pregnancies. it will be significant in fact this drug comes off the market in the next seven days or in the next short period because the majority of people who are seeking access to abortion are seeking it through this method. obviously, it would wreak havoc on our health care situation. amy: what does it mean for planned parenthood clinics around the country? i want to ask about two things. one, mifespristone's cell. if you have the drug in places, but also this isn't just about mifespristone. if a judge can rule against the fda, whi has not been done before, it could be about insulin, it could be about x and nations, it could be almost anything -- it could be almost anything. what this means for planned parenthood.

>> you are right. that is the alarm. i've been saying not only is this a crisis of public health precisely for those reasons because it will impact the patients seeking access to abortion, but it also really threatens our process at the fda, which is a very independent bo that relies on evidence and a rigor to test the impcations and the blic health for our country. medicine relies on that kind of rigor, relies on that, not on the junk science that this judge relied on from the antiabortion opponents. so it cocould have implications for cancer drugs, drugs that rely on stem cell research. there are so many ways in which this decision could come as it has been called, unprecedented, really implicate the public health crisis. it is also a crisis of

democracy, one in which this judge was guaranteed because the organization that broughthe lawsuit against the fda brought it in amarillo guaranteeing that would get this conservative activist judge, judge kacsmaryk, guaranteeing the decision would be appealed to the conservative fifth circuit and then the supreme court. the fact we don't know what the implications will be because we need to watch the process play out at the fda and hhs and the adnistration at the same time we neeto ensure our patients are getting the care they need. so for planned parenthood, what that means is each individual affiliate will be making their own decisions for operating reasons and also as you mentioned earlier competing orders now with the state of washington that is protecting mifespristone in th states that they represent. we are sorting it out in real

time along with everyone else but trying to reassure those folks this week they will be able to get the care where abortion is available or to get referred out of state where abortion is banned and to ensure we both create access but also looking at other protocols with the double misoprostol and mifespristone protocol in order to make sure we can get patients the care they're asking for. amy: i know you have to go but you mentioned judge kacsmaryk. planned parenthood is before him in another case, $1.8 billion lawsuit. 10 you explain what that is about, before the same judge in amarillo? >> yes. title x case, this mifespristone case, the fta, and planned parenthood. there is a false claims act that is totally meritless related to

our three texas affiliates, billing medicaid for which they were entitled to bill. and the judge, again, you know, we are in litigation right now where we will go before this judge in the fall. if what we are seeing is any indication, his opposition, his ability to actually provide independent judgment, independent of his own personal convictions, i think this really in question here. i am deeply concerned about the implications for the organization and also, again, deeply concerned for our democracy. one loan conservative activist judge should not be able to take away access to medical care from -- for 50% of the country.

this judgment, as we know, won't just say in texas. this will have implications for other places where they have declared themselves to be oasis states for care. what we know is people will not stop seeking access to abortion. we are just making it harder for people to get the medication and the care they need, and that is unconscionable. amy: alexis mcgill johnson, thank you for being with us, president and ceo of the planned parenthood federation of america and the planned parenthood action fund. coming up, we continue to look at the future of the abortion pill mifespristone and the most significant rulings on abortion since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade last year. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "you don't speak for me" by judy small. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue our roundtable on these major decisions that came out friday night. two federal judges handing down conflicting decisions on the abortion pill mifespristone. in antiabortion trump appointed judge in texas holding the 23-year-old fda approval of the drug while a judge in washington state ordered the fda to maintain the status quo on the abortion pill. in 17 states where the attorneys general have brought a lawsuit, including the district of columbia will stop for more we

are joined by jessica mason pieklo, executive director of rewire news group. author of "the end of roe v. wade: inside the right's plan to destroy legal abortion." if i can get your response to these decisions? clearly the judge in washington state was waiting for the ruling in texas and then handed down his. talk about what is happening in iowa with the attorney general halting payments for rape victims contraceptives and abortions. the reason i putting these together is this is a full frontal assault. >> it is. good morning. thank you for having me. what we are really seeing are the second, third, and fourth dominoes falling as a result not just of the dobbs decision but of the supreme court's decision a year prior tthat to let texas fda take effect on th shadow documents. those decisio cumulatively

have sena signal to conservative judges across the country that they can behave in any manner they choose and it comes to restricting reproductive autonomy. these decisions out of texas and the actions taken in iowa -- we need to call them lawless. it is good the democratic attorney general filed a lawsuit in washington as a countermeasure because what we have now is a full picture of what trying to secure abortion rights and access via the federal courts looks like now. it is competing jurisdictions shopping for favorable decisions, which is a porcine as alexis mcgill johnson indicated before me on the health of our democracy. this is truly a constitutional crisis we find ourselves in. amy: so if you can talk about what happened in iowa.

this came out last week, the des moines registereported. what we have now is in attorney general is on her own functionally saying i am going to review our policies of the state to see if we shod be reimbursing cost-related two rape exams, for examp, and other reproductive health services to see whether orot they're justified anymore. what we are hearing are conservatives collecting around the idea that reproductive health care is never necessary for women andeople who can become pregnant. and that is alarming. amy: let me ask you about clarence thomas and all the revelations about his undisclosed vacations with his wife, the well-known antiabortion activist ginni

thomas, that have been supported by harlan crow. so he defended these frequent lavish trips by the billionaire republican mega donor harlan crow saying he was advised not to disclose this. thomas also referred to crow and his wife being among his family's dearest friends. meanwhile, more information is emerging about harlan crow in which a tour of his dallas-area mansion revealed he has a nazi sign copy of mein kampf from hiller, paintings by hitler and a garden filled with statues of 20th century dictators. i bring this up because when this was coming out, there was also a painting of a group sitting around together harlan crow comes a dear friend of the supreme court justice clarence thomas, next to leonard leo,

founder of the federalist society which was so key and the rise of judge kacsmaryk in amarillo, texas. if you can tk about this through line? >> thank you for the opportunity because what we really have in this clarence thomas story and the ancillaries that have spun off is a snapshot in how policy byonservatives is being made these days. it is not in state houses, it is these almost secret sociees to have litter leo, one man who has spent over 20 years really influencing the conservative legal movement to the point where they have successfully captured the federal judiciary andurned it into a policymaking body truly astonishing. i think it is important to highlight the clarence thomas story with thetory out of the supremcourt election out of wisconsin where conservatives are already suggesting they are

going to try and impeach wisconsin supreme court judge janet protasiewicz -- i just messed up her name. i apologize for that. simply for winning. because democrats win electns accordg to conservatives, something must be amiss. yewe have the story of clarence tmas functiolly amassing and retaining power sily by his access to a few wealthy donors. the contrast is shocking. amy: i want to read which reports judge kacsmaryk also has deep connections to the conservative federalist society which have not been previously reported. president trump picked all three supreme court justice from the federalist society vetted list. "depose" reported kacsmaryk had attended meetings in law school

and remains affiliated with a group that doesn't adequately describe his ties. kacsmaryk actually co-founded the fort worth, texas, chapter of the federalist society and has spoken at least 10 of its events, most recently in new ones come the same day final briefs were due in the abortion pill case. leonard leo himself has financial ties to the firm where kacsmaryk worked immediately before becoming a judge. after trump first nominated kacsmaryk in 2017, first liberty institute began paying the leo-aligned firm crc advisors over $100,000 a year. at a february 2020 meeting, first liberty institute president and ceo kelly shackelford bragged about the wide-ranging effort staged by various groups to influence trump's selections for federal judges. saying "some of us literally opened a whole operation on judicial nominations and vetting," he said. "we poured millions of dollars into this to make sure the president has good information, he picks the best judges." and then finally, leo's money is also being used to advance the abortion pill lawsuit

specifically. 22 republican attorneys general filing a brief in support of taking the main abortion pill off the market and, wouldn't you know it, the concord fund was the top contributor to the republican attorneys general association in 2022, with a $1 million donation. this is long in the planning. and the question is, jessica, what do you think needs to be done at this point? there are now congress members who are saying congress has to pass a law protecting abortion. what about the congressional level and the -- and president biden? >> so much. at a minimum, we should have the congressional hearings on how the federalist society and leonard leo gets this money and moves it around. when we have an operatn that is pouring more moy into lifetime appointmentthan they

are in some fedel elections, what is goi on? people deserve answers. i think daylight into the conservative leg movemenis first and foremost what is required. it is important to know the reblican attorney general's associatn was also inicately volved with e j6 uprising. so these folks are all connected. it is incumbent upon us to shine a light on those connections. this is not just about trying to restrict access tobortion lls, this is an authoritarian movement that is afoot in this country. congress needs to act. amy: jessica mason pieklo, thank you for being with us, executive editor of rewire news group. co-author of "the end of roe v. wade: inside the right's plan to destroy legal abortion." this is democracy now! i am amy goodman. when the u.s. district judge,

federal judge matthew kacsmaryk ruled friday in texas that the food and drug administration's 23-year-old approval of the leading abortion drug mifepristone violates the law, he cited the 19th century comstock act. -- the 1873 comstock act. the so-called anti-vice law prohibits the mailing of "obscene" materials and has been dormant for half a century. after the supreme court overturned roe v wade and the 50-year-old federal right to abortion in its dobbs decision last year, the justice department issued a memorandum that said the comstock act does not prohibit the mailing of such drugs as mifepristone. but in his ruling come that trump appointed antiabortion judge kacsmaryk agrees with plaintiffs in the case that the law does in fact prohibit mailing the drug. for more, we are joined by lauren macivor thompson, a

historian of birth control, specialist is specifically the comstock act. lauren macivor thompson, if you can explain with this ruling is he invoked from the 19th century, 1870 what was a, 1879? 1873. >> 1873. you are right. this as a historian when i read the opinion on friday afternoon, i was just kind of gob smacked come although i guess we should not be surprised, jessica and alexis already pointed out. the comstock act was the product of anthony comstock who lobbied congress in 1873 and the law was passed in march 1870 three, so we are looking at 150 years now just last month.

the law essentially criminalized anything having to do with sex at the federal level, and that included instruments that could be used for the prevention of conception or to procure abortion. so the judge to raise the comstock law from the dead, essentially, as a viable legal strategy in order to achieve a ban on medication abortion come as a historian, i really saw us coming full-circle and not in a good way. amy: talk more about this. talk or about who comstock was and what this means about where this country is going. >> that is such a good question because i think we do have to look at anthony comstock specifically as a person. it illustrates in many ways how one person can have a really outsized impact on our democracy. comstock served in the union army where he was scandalized by

the amount of alcohol, pornography, you know, that his fellow soldiers were taking advantage of during the civil war. after the war, he went to new york where he aligned himself with the young men's christian association and he started a sort of offshoot called the new york society for the suppression of feiss. at that point, he was funded to go down to washington, d.c., and lobby congress for this obscenity law. he was obsessed with sex and he was able to get the senators and representatives at the time on board. it was one of the quickest laws that has ever been passed in american history. there was really no opposition to it. amy: i was just going to say, michelle gilbert writes in "the new york times" that notorious and types entity law used to

indict the planned parenthood founder margaret sanger banned books by dhs lawrence and arrest people by the thousands, turning 150 last year. clubs yes. this was a law with teeth. there were steep fines for violating the comstock act. certainly you could be sentenced heard labor, two years in prison. this ensnared ordinary americans in this vast and types entity legal regime. it is one of the things where when you look at it as a whole, it was absolutely a violation of the constitution. it wasn't until the 1920's there were cases that began to chip away first amendment cases. that chipped away the comstock act. it was one of those laws at the federal law level that increased and expanded and already legal regime because there have been

state laws existing 30 or 40 years before that, before the comstock act was passed. amy: we talk about resistance. in 2019, you wrote a piece in the times women have always had abortions. you talk about the 17th and 18th centuries abortion legal after kamala before quickening or when the credit woman could feel the fetus move around 16 weeks. writing in the 1850's, the crusade against abortion began in earnest. fascinating history. relay it. >> there's actually no loss about abortion at all until the beginning and 1830's and 1840's. in the 1850's, particularly with the spearheading of the american medical association, physicians in this country began to work with legislators to criminalize abortion, essentially by 1900 in every state in the union.

you had a statewide network of antiabortion and anti-contraception laws. layered on top of that by 18 73, of the comstock act. somebody seeking to abort a pregnancy or prevent conception -- by the way, there were reproductive control items everywhere in america in the 19th century. you could order barrier methods from any kind of mail order catalog or obtain them at the pharmacy. women were managing their fertility at home with these things. but to do so was risking a legal arrest. it was a dangerous prospect to do so because of the legal regime that they put into place at the federal and state level. amy: finally, kacsmaryk's language, not only talking about the comstock act, but referring to fetuses as unborn humans? >> yes. what is kind of interesting

about that come interesting is the word, the antiabortion movement emphasis on fetal personhood these days, that has been around since the 1960's. decades-old. but originally the passage of abortion laws and the comstock act were really not focused on the idea the fetus was a person. these laws were rooted in anti-immigrant sentiment, eugenic sentiment, the idea not enough white no class women were having babies -- middle-class women were having babies because they were seeking contraception and abortion. although physicians paid lip service to abortion was murder, they were -- if you look at it in terms of a pike, that was just one piece of the pie and the other pieces included misogyny, racism, and eugenics sentiment. for this kind of invocation of

the fetus is a person, you know, that is something that is different than it was in the 19th century. i think what the comstock act -- reviving that might achieve, it is going to essentially, if this decision goes through and carries forward, we are going to end up seeing a nationwide ban on abortion through the comstock act rather than trying to convince the rest of america that fetal personhood and the 14th amendment and the rights of a fetus, you know, should ban abortion nationwide. they may not have to go down that path if they can ban abortion nationwide through the comstock act. amy: lauren macivor thompson, thank you for being with us historian of birth control and , a fellow at georgia state law, speaking to us from atlanta, georgia. next up, we will talk with two women, when a cofounder of the

miscarriage and abortion hotline who deals with access to abortion pills, and we will speak to the head of the only independent abortion clinic in arizona. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "something better's coming" by leann rimes. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. i of the reason abortion rulings in a federal courts, we look at how patients will be able to access abortion and abortion pills. dr. linda prine is a physician and cofounder of the miscarriage and abortion hotline. she works with providers and groups to increase access to abortion pills. dr. prine is also affiliated with the abortion coalition for medicine access, or act access. welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with this dr. prine. if you can talk about how this decision -- again, doesn't go into effect for seven days and

the attorney general's has already said he's appealing this decision. but what this means and the significance of mifespristone? >> thank you, amy. well, abortion access has always been a problem in our country because we don't have universal access to medical care and many leaves of people are uninsured. and even for those insured, abortion is often not covered. people had trouble getting abortion for a long time. it got worse with texas and worse with the dobbs decision and it may be about to get even worse yet again with this texas decision. our miscarriage and abortion hotline, which we founded in 2019, has seen the effects of these decisions over time with increased calls and increased

calls for where can i get abortion pills? the beauty of the abortion pill is that people can get them through telemedicine or even from online pharmacies overseas and use of and the privacy of their own homes without having to cross picket lines and even restricted states. so that is what our hotline is all about, answering calls from people who are self managing abortions and are doing it at home without necessarily any medical advice. we are there to talk to them about what is going on either how to get the pills or what to expect as they're using them. we talk them through the process. we have gotten increasingly busy in the last four years since we founded the hotline to the point where now we have 70 clinicians taking calls for 18 hours out of every day. we are very busy talking to people about these issues. we expect this is going to only

get worse with time and with his decision in texas. amy: dr. prine, of talked about shield laws for telemedicine abortion, that the cutting edge of protest lawmaking. what do you mean? >> so the blue states have been passing laws to protect abortion care in their states. we need them to take it a step further. we need them to pass laws that would allow us, the clinicians in these blue states, to provide telemedicine abortion into the restricted states. it is not enough to just safeguard abortion within the walls of our state. we need to be helping people in these restricted states and mailing them pills quickly. what we have seen happen on the hotline is people are still getting there abortion pills. people know how to get abortions. these laws do not prevent abortion access, they just make it harder and people are getting their pills later in pregnancy

and we are hearing about that on the hotline and it is really quite a miserable process when they're using the pills at 14 weeks and 18 weeks and 20 weeks. we want people to be able to get their pills in a timely fashion as they did prior to dobbs. when most abortions were done under eight weeks with the abortion pills. so the idea of the shield laws is we can prescribe the pills through telemedicine abortion to people no matter where they live, protected by our new york state, california state, washington state laws that will say for the purposes of this telemedicine encounter, it is occurring in the state where the clinician is sitting. so if we can get those laws passed, that will greatly expand access for all these restricted states. we need our pro-choice legislators to step up and help us get care to people in need. amy: let me ask you about our

headline friday, idaho republican governor brad little signing a bill criminalizing the act of helping someone under the age of 18 obtain an abortion in another state without parental consent. the first so-called abortion trafficking law passed in the united states carries penalties of two years to five years. alexis mcgill johnson said the law will isolate young people, put them in danger, including those who are in abusive situations. what about this term they are coining abortion trafficking? >> it is horrifying language. we are used to that by now, the horrifying language that comes from right-wing lunatics is -- i think we just have to ignore it and move on and get care to people who need it. we will do that. the telemedicine providers cross the country are going to continue to mail pills despite

this texas decision, despite the dobbs decision. we are going to get pills to people as best we can. amy: dr. linda prines a physician and co-founder of the miscarriage and abortion hotline. we end today show and arizona with dr. deshawn tayr, an ob/gyn physician, abortion provider and owner of desert star family planning in phoenix, arizona. the only black-owned independent abortion provider in arizona. her upcoming book, "undue burden: a black woman physician on being christian and pro-abortion in the reproductive justice movement." can you respond to what is happening right now, the climate we are in, the judge's decision friday night out of texas that would -- if it is enacted, overturned or than 20-year-old fda decision to make available a

pill that is responsible for more than half the abortions in the united states, dr. taylor? >> good morning. as the founder and ceo of family star planning and phoenix, arizona, i have seen for 10 years firsthand how access to the safe and highly affected method of medication abortion with mifespristone and misoprostol improve the lives of my patients, increasingly used for miscarriage management as well. it is very disconcerting how reproductive autonomy of millions hangs in the balance indicates brought by known antiabortion extremists with no scientific merit. it is leaving pregnant people in the clinics that provide care for them in limbo as we figure out how this plays out. the od and drug administration has reviewed mifespristone several times over the 23 years

since the medication was approved and reached the same conclusion as other regulatory agencies in other countries that medication is safe and effective. and so it is extremely heartbreaking to consider the idea the most common method of abortion across the country could no longer be available to people who need it, especially in this climate we are in right now where there are whole populations, whole regions of the country who don't have access to an abortion provider. amy: last week arizona governor katie hobbs, the democratic governor of arizona, because senate bill 1600 that if asked would have forced doctors to treat fetuses that have no chance of survival and require hospitals to report all abortions performed to the department of health services. can you talk about the significance of the new democratic governor vetoing this bill? >> my gosh, we're just thankful

we have that protective backstop of the governor's veto. i will share we already have a so-called futile born alive law in arizona. it was signed by then republican governor back in 2017i believe and so when i saw this bill going through the legislature i'm like, what are we doing here? nse and repeat? there are more important thing that we need our legislators to be doing when they go to the state legislature. and so especially in light of operating under a 15 week abortion ban, really what sb 1600 would do was -- would be making more traumatic birth

outcomes foramilies that are already suffering. it would not have any impact on abortion at all consider we are providing abortion care in arizona. amy: i want to ask you about these reports coming out right now, the rate of black maternal mortality increased by nearly 26% between 2019 and 2020. vox reported black women seek abortions of the highest rate and will face greater rates of maternal or telly without the right to choose under roe. an ap reporting if you are black or hispanic and a conservative state that already limits access to abortion, you are far more likely than a white woman to have one. and if u.s. supreme court allows states to further restrict or even ban abortions, minority women will bear the brunt of it, according to statistics analyzed by the associated press. dr. taylor, if you could explain? >> so tse disparities in

health care in general exist. so we are seeing them exacerbate as it relates to reproductive health care. we know that black people are impacted greatly across all areas of health care, all disease states. we see black people are sicker in -- and are dying re exponentially of -- across the board. when we look at pregnancieswe have to understandhat some of this or tell eddie is related to the fact -- mortality is related to the fact that health inequities in black people. those don't disappear automatically when someone becomes pregnant. when we are banning aboions, what we're doing is we are creating a situation where people are forced to continue pregnancies that are dangerous

to their lives. so we have that part of it where peop are sick and pregnant but then we also have the inequities in aess to women's health care and tatment of people of color by the medical and distrust real -- industrial complex as i relates to complic, inherent bias in all these things that people are being forced to check boxes but ulmately, e racism in the country is reflected in the medical system weave a whole host of systems thatre acting agast people of color and increasing their chances odying during childbirth. amy: dr. taylor come out ask about undocumented immigrants. in new york, there is this real pu right now to get the governor to sign off on health care for undocumented immigrants. you are in arizona.

which is, to say the least, a quarter state dashboard border state were a document of people don't have access to health care. can you talk about what access they have when it comes to reproductive rights, to abortion? >> the are aot of laws that really impact in a negative way and it and document a person's ility to access health care. we have id laws, we hav ice prisons nr facility that provides healtcare, have checkpoints where people would have to go through potentily they could pop up in places. so there are a l of opportunities fopeople t beco ensnared. we have actual evidence where health care workers call immigration autrities o patients who are undocumented who are just trying to take care of theelves.

so it is aeal obstacle, a real hurdle for people who are in the cotry and they are undocumented. i always want people to understand that someone's documentation stas does not mean they don't have basic human rights to health care. it i extremely distressing to see how this plays out. i will say we in azona has some practical support organizations. there are a lot of community support to help all people seeking abortion get the care they need but there are some specific interests in making sure that our and document a brothe and sisterset the care they need -- and document a brothers and sisters get the care they need. herbal remedies have been increasing over time just because all of the restrictions that already exist

in arizona. amy: dr. deshawn taylor, thank you for being with us ob/gyn , physician, abortion provider, owner of desert star family planning in phoenix, arizona. only black-owned independent abortion provider in arizona. her upcoming book, "undue burden: a black woman physician on being christian and pro-abortion in the reproductive justice movement." pppxxxx■]■t■]o

hello, this is nhk "newsline". i am catherine kobayashi innew york. russian soldiers have trudged through the mud in a battle green strong comparisons to the wars of the past. they believe the capture of bakhmut may open the way for offensive through eastern uk ukraine. pro-russian officials say they control most of bakhmut. they have conduct