Good Abortion News Still Exists

Greetings, Meteor readers,

You already know what I’ve been thinking about all day:

In today’s newsletter, we tip our hats to the advocates doing the darn thing in South Carolina. Plus, an American cheese queen and your weekend reading list.

Love ya, mean it, bye,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Pushback in South Carolina: On Wednesday, an all-male committee held a public hearing on South Carolina’s SB 323, the most draconian and vile proposed abortion ban in the country (and that’s saying a lot). The men of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee were joined by so many advocates and protestors that they needed two overflow rooms to hold everyone.

All in all, the committee listened to more than seven hours of testimony from those who supported the ban and those who opposed it, including Tori Nardone of South Carolina’s Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network, who spoke with The Meteor earlier this week. Even some anti-abortion groups joined the opposition, claiming the bill goes too far and would be harmful to pregnant women. That’s how extreme this bill is!

So what happens next? After this week’s hearing, the committee will meet again privately to discuss next steps on this bill. A vote hasn’t been scheduled, and there is a strong chance that it will not survive the regular legislative session, which begins in January. Hope is alive!

The FDA, doing its job: Speaking of hope: Hours before the government shutdown on Tuesday, the FDA approved a generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone. (Quick point of clarity here: Mifeprex, which received FDA approval in 2000, is the “brand” name, while mifepristone is the drug itself.)

This is actually the second mifepristone generic to be approved by the FDA, following GenBioPro in 2019. The irony here is, of course, that both of these moves occurred during Trump’s time in office—and they are both instances in which a government agency actually functioned as intended, since legally the FDA must approve a generic if the manufacturer can prove it’s identical to the branded version. Evita Solutions, makers of the new generic, applied for approval in 2021, and following an extensive review period, the FDA found that the drug is “bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent” to Mifeprex and therefore safe to be used as an abortifacient. But in contrast to the 2019 approval, the MAGA faithful are furious that the FDA would do something as heinous as…carry out the tasks and responsibilities assigned to it in compliance with the law. How dare they!

  AND: 

• There’s A LOT going on with the WNBA this postseason, and much of it is happening behind the scenes. Or at least it was until Lynx forward and Unrivaled cofounder Napheesa Collier decided it was time to bring a few truths about the league to light. I cannot wait to hear what Cathy Engelbert has to say for herself.

PHEE ISN’T HERE FOR THE FOOLISHNESS, CATHY! (VIA GETTY IMAGES) 

• An immigration judge in Baltimore has denied Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s request for asylum in the United States. Wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March, Garcia was returned to the U.S. three months later after being held in the notorious CECOT. His lawyers plan to appeal the decision.

• Earlier this week, lifelong activist Jane Fonda joined hundreds of her peers in entertainment to relaunch the Committee for the First Amendment, a group first founded in 1947 to combat the crusade of Joseph McCarthy. (McCarthy led the House Un-American Activities Committee, which launched investigations into a host of entertainers and media makers whom he accused of having Communist ties.) “The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry,” the group said in a statement. On Instagram, Fonda added, “Our industry is ready to mobilize. … We’re artists. We’re creatives. Freedom of expression is what we do.” Fonda comes by it honestly: her father, Henry Fonda, was a member of the original effort. The plan, per Jane, is “creative, nonviolent noncooperation.” Sounds good to us.

• MAGA is so mad about Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl, with one official from the administration going so far as to imply that ICE will be present and ready to make arrests. Who’s going to tell them this will be Bad Bunny’s second time performing at a Super Bowl?

• A funky bit of news here: Emilia D’Albero is the first American to win the Mondial du Fromage—a cheese competition in France. We almost can’t brie-lieve it. 🥁🧀

• Beloved news and culture outlet The Root has been wrestled from the private equity clutches of G/O Media (IYKYK) by Ashley Allison of Watering Hole Media. “This moment is not just about me, it’s about us,” Allison said, announcing the purchase. “It’s about carrying forward the tradition of telling our stories with depth, authority, and unapologetic honesty.”​​​​​​​

WEEKEND READING 📚

On (show)girlhood: What do Taylor Swift and Shakespeare’s Ophelia have in common? They’re both whatever we want them to be. (Teen Vogue)

On Mother Benson: Why are we all still so obsessed with Captain Olivia Benson, arguably the only good police officer in the NYPD? (Dame Magazine)

On rebuilding: A year after Hurricane Helene devastated entire counties and much of the Appalachian Trail, conservationists are still working to repair it. (National Parks Traveler)

On looking back: Palestinian journalist and new memoirist Plestia Alaqad, 23, sometimes can’t believe the things she’s survived. (Teen Vogue)

FOLLOW THE METEOR

Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend?
Sign up for your own copy, sent Tuesdays and Thursdays.

[email protected]