The lead editorial in Thursday’s New York Times, “How to Help Protect Abortion Rights,” crossed over from laying out a pro-choice stand and into full-blown pro-abortion, Planned Parenthood-promoting activism.
NewsBusters usually strip out the links embedded in newspaper and magazine stories, but they are preserved in this case for emphasis (click “expand”):
All eyes were on Alabama on Tuesday as the State Senate debated, and then passed, what could become the most restrictive abortion law in the country. Under the legislation, which the Republican governor, Kay Ivey, signed Wednesday, women in Alabama would be forced to carry unwanted or nonviable pregnancies to term in nearly all circumstances, including when a pregnancy results from rape or incest. Doctors who perform the procedure would face felony charges and up to 99 years in prison -- which is more prison time than convicted rapists face in the state.
Showing just how far to the right the anti-abortion movement has pushed the “center” of the abortion debate, it was the bill’s rape and incest exceptions, since removed, that dominated the conversation in the Alabama Senate....
There is a strategy behind this law’s remarkable cruelty, and its supporters have not been subtle about it....
But don’t despair, The Times is there to help women repressed in those troglodyte states with a handy checklist of abortion-rights, er, “reproductive-rights advocates” about groups offering assistance:
The states with these new laws each have a community of reproductive-rights advocates who’ve seen the writing on the wall and have been preparing for the worst. Among them are the Kentucky Health Justice Network; Access Reproductive Care-Southeast, which works in states including Mississippi and Alabama; the Yellowhammer Fund in Alabama; Naral Pro-Choice Ohio; and Women Have Options also in Ohio. The web companion to “Handbook for a Post-Roe America,” the timely new book by Robin Marty, contains up-to-date information about groups working in all parts of the country.
The editorial page doesn’t think much of pro-lifers who exercise their right to protest abortion clinics. The solution: Become a Planned Parenthood volunteer (click “expand”):
Beyond making donations, those looking to support abortion access can look into becoming a clinic escort -- someone who walks women into a clinic, helping shield them from the anti-abortion protesters who often shout epithets at or try to mislead or confuse patients. While Alabama and Georgia are understandably dominating headlines, clinics all over the country ---including in blue states -- need you, too. Contact your local clinic directly to ask about how you can help or sign up to be a Planned Parenthood volunteer here.
There will also be more and more political debate over abortion pills in this country, and it’s important to educate yourself about this discussion. Women who can’t make it to an abortion clinic are increasingly acquiring these drugs, often a safe option, on their own. That trend is sure to continue as abortion access gets rolled back across the country. Here’s a good primer on the issue and a hotline for women who have legal questions about acquiring and taking such medications.
The editorial page did something similar in November 2017, in a failed push against the Republican tax plan, publishing congressional phone numbers of specific Republican congresspeople on Twitter, urging voters to contact their representatives to express opposition to the tax reform bill, even using the hashtag #thetaxbillhurts.
The bill became law, the tax cuts kicked in, and somehow, the republic survived.
