Good Abortion News Still Exists
![]() October 3, 2025 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 ONPushback 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:
![]() PHEE ISN’T HERE FOR THE FOOLISHNESS, CATHY! (VIA GETTY IMAGES)
![]() 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?
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