What I Wrote in November
The fight to expand abortion pill access, an election analysis, and what's next.
Programming Note: In response to a request from a reader who doesn’t use social media, I’ve decided to send out occasional quick ‘n’ dirty roundups of my most recent work, likely on a bimonthly basis moving forward. This is the first one! —MB
On ticket-splitting that shows voters in the 2024 election supported both Trump and abortion rights (South Seattle Emerald):
But let’s take a closer look at what happened in Florida. In Florida, constitutional amendments must hit a threshold of 60% of the vote to pass. That’s an unusually high number, and the initiative came close, with 57% of the vote. In many other states, that would’ve been enough for the initiative to pass, and plenty of elections have been determined by much thinner margins. In Florida, Trump so far has 56.1% of the vote. By that metric, abortion is actually more popular in the state than he is.
At a time when we’re constantly reminded of how polarized our politics have gotten, is it possible that abortion, long thought to be a contentious issue, is actually where we can find the most common ground?
Maybe it’s time to just say the quiet part out loud: Abortion rights aren’t controversial. Abortion access is a winning issue, one that wins even when Democrats don’t.
What I wrote when I was still very in my feelings about the election (South Seattle Emerald):
“The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think,” Virginia Woolf once wrote. In the days since the presidential election, I’ve been coming back to this idea: That the murkiness of the future is also a container for possibility, because do we ever really know what’s going to happen to us, or how we’ll feel about it when it does?
As I process the election results we were promised could take weeks to crystallize, but that arrived instead with quick, cutting clarity Tuesday night, I’m not interested in jumping into the what-went-wrong discourse right now.
Nor am I interested in a reading list, a sex strike, or an entry-level primer on Joining the Resistance. I report on abortion policy every damn day, thank you very much. I’ve been here. Besides, I think it’s more important right now to take a pause, to have a moment, to consider what we feel and how we can care for ourselves and each other as we prepare for what comes next.
On how Trump 2.0 could energize an existing fight in WA for greater *access* to the abortion pill mifepristone, thanks to a lawsuit filed by Governor-Elect Bob Ferguson, the guy who sued Trump 1.0 97 times (Cascade PBS):
For years, abortion rights advocates and providers have argued that the restrictions on mifepristone are scientifically baseless and burdensome, pointing out that there are no similar requirements when mifepristone is prescribed for purposes aside from pregnancy termination. Mifepristone is also commonly used to manage high blood sugar in patients with Cushing syndrome.
“There is, truly, zero science or medicine to support it,” said Sarah Prager, a Seattle-area abortion provider and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington.
On the deeply underwhelming Golden Bachelorette finale (The Stranger):
The Bachelor franchise tells us a story about love, one that almost never delivers on its promise. But that’s never stopped Jesse Palmer from grinning in his ill-fitting suit and promising that this really is the most dramatic season ever at the outset of every season’s first and final episodes.
Good for him that he restrained himself this time, though, because the finale of The Golden Bachelorette is among the most airless, predictable 90-minute conclusions I’ve ever seen in the history of this franchise. I love mess! There is none here.
Also! I’m on Bluesky now. It feels great to be on a Twitter dupe with strong moderation tools, and it’s been a wonderful way to connect with other reproductive health policy reporters. You can find me on it here.
Playing you out: In college, my art history professor played Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film” followed by this song by the Jam as a demonstration of the distinction between flashy commercial art and the lyrical, emotional clarity of minimalism. At the time I found “That’s Entertainment” to be one of the best songs I’d ever heard, and I still feel that way. The “scream of midnight” line always hits.