A Woman’s Right to Choose

A quick update: the Texas bill has passed provisionally in the state House, the North Carolina bill has run into some roadblocks but is still moving through the legislature, and a judge has temporarily blocked the bill in Wisconsin. All three of these new laws would massively restrict safe abortion access if implemented. For more information about what this year has brought in terms of reproductive rights, check out the Guttmacher Institute’s study on state-level policy changes, or just keep in mind that this is where we’re at right now:

In the first six months of 2013, legislators enacted 43 provisions aimed at restricting access to abortion. Although this is significantly lower than the record-breaking 80 restrictions that had been enacted by this point in 2011, it is the second-highest total on record (see chart below).

In terms of small, good things, though: there’s this great Roxane Gay piece on the connection between pop-culture misogyny and legislative warfare, and also the fact that in 2013, New Hampshire, Colorado, Illinois, Hawaii and Nebraska have all either reversed previous restrictions or expanded access to reproductive health measures.