She Needed an Abortion in Alabama

Darling Meteor readers,

I’m sure by now you’ve seen clips of the racist comments made by speakers at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend. I won’t angrily opine on the “floating island of garbage” comment for too long, but as a product of garbage island, I will say one thing: If you don’t quite understand why the right is targeting Latinos and Puerto Rico specifically, read this and this (written by my sister!), then go out and read The War Against All Puerto Ricans.

In today’s newsletter, we introduce you to a young woman who was denied life-saving abortion care in Alabama. Plus, an open letter about Israel from more than 1,000 authors, and an update on the WNBA.

Aqui estamos,

Garbage Girl

WHAT’S GOING ON

United States of Abortion: Alabama 

Yesterday, we broke the story of Tamara Costa, a young woman from Alabama who was denied timely abortion care and forced to travel nearly 600 miles to terminate a life-threatening partial molar pregnancy.

In early August, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist shared with Tamara and her husband Caleb that the fetus she was carrying didn’t have a skull. Its major organs were outside of its body; the lower extremities couldn’t be seen at all. “I was pretty quiet,” Tamara explains. “But my husband was like, ‘Are you sure your results are correct? Are you sure your ultrasound is up to date?’ I think we were just trying to hear that there could be a possibility of something different.”

The specialist said that Tamara’s baby would not survive outside the womb, that termination was his only recommendation, and that Tamara should go back to her doctor for more information.

But the OB-GYN did not offer “more information”—at least not in the way they might have hoped. When Costa and her husband arrived at her appointment the following week, they say that the OB-GYN told them that, since they were in Alabama, there weren’t “a lot of resources,” but that she’d see what she could find.

Then the doctor handed her a sticky note with a phone number and the words “Planned Parenthood Chicago” written on it. “She told me that she’d be willing to see me afterward to do genetic testing, just to confirm that it was nothing with me that happened,” says Costa, “and that was pretty much the last time I heard from my doctor.”

After maxing out a credit card, the couple traveled to Chicago—where Tamara was diagnosed with a partial molar pregnancy, a condition in which an abnormal placenta grows at an accelerated rate, raising the pregnant person’s risk of organ failure and cancer. “No one in her care up until this point had even mentioned the word molar pregnancy to her, right?” recalls Dr. Erica Hinz, the doctor on duty at Planned Parenthood Chicago. “I was very, very angry and very, very shocked.”

AND:

• The city of Odessa, TX, has passed a new ban targeting trans people trying to use the bathroom. Under this ban, any transgender person using a bathroom that does not align with their sex assigned at birth can be found guilty of a misdemeanor, hit with a fine by the county, and even be sued by whoever saw them in the bathroom for “statutory damages” up to $10,000. “It’s a very aggressive way to alienate trans people from public life,” Johnathan Gooch, communications director for Equality Texas, told the AP. “It enables vigilantes just to target anyone that they don’t think matches the type of gender expression they expect to see in the bathroom, and that is truly insane.”

• More than 1,000 authors and publishers have signed an open letter that organizers say is the “largest cultural boycott of Israel” in history. In the letter, the authors state that they will refuse to “work with Israeli cultural institutions that are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians.” They write that “Israeli cultural institutions, often working directly with the state, have been crucial in obfuscating, disguising and artwashing the dispossession and oppression of millions of Palestinians for decades.” Among the initial signatories are folks like Judith Butler, Junot Diaz, Naomi Klein, Jhumpa Lahiri, Carmen Maria Machado, Sally Rooney, and Torrey Peters.

• Important election day news for parents! If you need someone to look after your child so you have enough time to get out and vote in North Carolina, New York, or Los Angeles, there are programs operating in those states to cover the costs of childcare. So, as we’ve been saying for the last month: Make a plan! And maybe now that plan doesn’t have to involve packing line snacks for your kids.

• For some, their hesitation to vote goes beyond childcare needs: A new survey from The Cut found that just 82% of Black women plan on voting, down from 91% in a September survey. The small share of Black female Trump voters remained unchanged, but other survey respondents may feel taken for granted by the Democrats: “Black women are never protected,” one participant said, “but the first to be called on when someone needs protection.”

• Things are getting intense at the WNBA. Yesterday, the Connecticut Sun parted ways with head coach Stephanie White, making her the sixth coach to be removed this season. Why is that such a big deal? Well, there are only 12 WNBA teams, and as of right now, half are shopping for a new head coach. Not to mention that players are also in the middle of negotiating a new CBA ahead of the 2025 season. In the words of Alysha Clark: “Buckle up.”

A NOTE FROM OUR FRIENDS

Attention, New Yorkers! As next Tuesday nears, PowHer New York, a network of over 100 gender and racial justice organizations, is mobilizing voters to ensure that the rights and interests of women and people of color are front and center through its PowHer the Vote campaign. This year, the initiative focuses on informing New York voters and candidates about issues like Prop 1—the New York  Equal Rights Amendment—along with voter turnout and the importance of electing leaders who champion gender and racial equity.

Learn more about Prop 1 and the campaign through PowHer the Vote, supported by the Amplify Her Foundation.

FOLLOW THE METEOR

Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? Subscribe using their share code or sign up for your own copy, sent Tuesdays and Thursdays.

[email protected]