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Long before this summer's Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, people of color working to make ends meet have encountered numerous obstacles to abortion access. Decades of restrictions – including insurance coverage bans, bans on medication abortion, inhumane policies that target immigrants, and more have pushed abortion care out of reach even in states where it's legal.

Five forthcoming state ballot initiatives on abortion rights could add fissures to the fractured post-Roe landscape and the evolving patchwork of reproductive health policies. The big picture: The U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion has hardened sentiments in red and blue states and put critical access questions in front of voters this fall. Kansas showed how potent the issue is in driving turnout last month, when voters during state primary elections overwhelmingly rejected an amendment that would have struck abortion protections in the state's constitution. The turnout of more than 900,000 was nearly half of all registered voters in the state, and almost double the amount of voters that Kansas normally sees in a primary election.

Thirty Democratic senators led by Washington's Patty Murray are calling on the Biden administration to use health care privacy laws to protect patients' reproductive health information, specifically when it comes to abortion. In the letter sent Tuesday, first shared with The 19th, the senators ask the Biden administration to use the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to prohibit health care providers and personnel from sharing any information about patients' medical records "without explicit consent."

Public policy has the power to set women and families up for success, and new data released by the Census Bureau yesterday provide a critical look at where our country stands on the issues that matter most in determining just how successful they are. The data, which look at poverty, health insurance, and income in the United States, make clear that policy makers have unfinished business to take care of to make sure women and families have all the supports they need to live healthy and secure lives.

As bans and restrictions proliferate across the country, abortion pill providers are pushing the envelope of regulations and laws to meet the surging demand for medication abortion in post-Roe America. Some are using physician discretion to prescribe pills to patients further along in pregnancy than the 10-week limit set by the Food and Drug Administration.

Well, it's Moms' Equal Pay Day again. All the way in September. That's right – a typical mother would have to work nine additional months into 2022 just to be paid what fathers made in 2021. And wow, has it been a tough nine months for moms in the United States.

When a young Rohingya woman touched down in New York in 2018, she thought she had finally reached safety – the end to an arduous lifelong journey of fleeing persecution without much choice. [...] "Getting an abortion had a financial cost to it, but now that cost has essentially tripled," said Rachna Khare, the executive director of Daya, a Houston-area survivors organization.

The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has harmed millions of people across the nation, impeding their access to abortion, disrupting their economic futures, and putting their health and even their lives at risk. The impact of this decision is particularly harmful for women of color, who are less likely to have insurance, and face economic barriers to accessing abortion.

States that have enacted abortion restrictions or bans are doing little to "support the health and economic security of pregnant and birthing people and their families," according to a new report from the National Partnership for Women & Families first shared with Axios.

"Cheered by a decisive win for abortion rights in a Kansas vote and eyeing November midterm elections, the White House is launching a push for abortion access that aims to influence men as well as women, sources with direct knowledge told Reuters."

"The case of a Nebraska woman charged with helping her teenage daughter end her pregnancy after investigators obtained Facebook messages between the two has raised fresh concerns about data privacy in the post-Roe world."

"Joe Biden signed a second executive order on Wednesday that aims to protect access to reproductive healthcare after the US supreme court struck down the constitutional right to abortion."

In the fight towards equity and justice for women and families, we must acknowledge the factors that negatively impact communities of color's well-being, which include but are not limited to collective, cultural, generational, and systemic trauma. Compounding that harm are the structural and cultural barriers to accessing culturally congruent, trauma-informed, anti-racist support and care exacerbate mental health challenges and inequities. We have compiled some resources that center the experiences, expertise, voices of communities of color.

"Karen Kaiser says she will never forget her feelings of dread and sadness as she hurried past picket lines of antiabortion protesters in 2008. In the waiting room of a Maryland Planned Parenthood, “I remember crying,” she said. Kaiser had decided to have an abortion in part because she was taking a medication called Depakote to control her bipolar disorder."

"Last year, a 35-year-old woman named Amanda, who lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, had a miscarriage in the first trimester of her pregnancy. At a large hospital, a doctor performed a surgical procedure often used as a safe and quick method to remove tissue from a failed pregnancy... Eight months later,"

"President Biden attempted to preserve abortion access on Friday through executive action but stopped short of restoring full access to the procedure or preventing states from enacting their own restrictions or bans. The executive order Biden signed empowers Health and Human Services (HHS) in a variety of ways,"

"Abortion rights activists say the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade will reverberate around the world, possibly restricting access to the procedure in other countries and weakening the global movement for reproductive rights."

Editor's Note: The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and reverse a legal precedent of nearly 50 years is no surprise. The willingness of the Court's majority to disrespect the importance of women's autonomy and catapult them backwards into a 19th century, second-class status speaks volumes about the majority's lack of respect for women's equality and individual dignity.

Ethical shopping is one of the most significant ways in which economic justice can be shown to the LGBTQ+ community, and is not something that should be limited to the month of June. Consider these ethical shopping practices to ensure that the LGBTQ+ community, especially LGBTQ+ workers, are placed at the forefront of your shopping cart.

We knew this was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women's Health Organization reversed a nearly 50-year legal precedent established in Roe v. Wade: that abortion is a fundamental constitutional right. The Court in Dobbs upheld the Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks, and ruled that states have the right to restrict or ban abortion access entirely.