There’s something rotten in the state of Louisiana

Louisiana is not a great place to get pregnant. If you need an abortion, a near-total ban means it’s almost impossible to get one, even in cases of rape or incest – anyone who provides an abortion deemed illegal can go to jail for 15 years. And if you plan on having the baby, you have to deal with some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the US. Although, as Senator Bill Cassidy has helpfully noted, “if you correct our population for race, we’re not as much of an outlier as it’d otherwise appear”. In other words, if you ignore Black people (a third of his constituents), things look a little better. So that’s OK then!

This week, Louisiana decided to descend further into dystopia and passed a first-of-its-kind law making abortion pills a controlled substance. Senate Bill 276 makes possession of the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol without a prescription punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Republicans excel at using sneaky tactics to undermine our rights, and this bill is no exception. When it was originally put forward, you see, the bill didn’t include the amendment that turns abortion pills into Schedule IV drugs – a classification normally given to dangerous or addictive substances. Rather, the bill was positioned as a way to protect pregnant people by making it a crime to intentionally give an abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant woman without her consent. Everyone can get behind that idea, right?

There was also an emotional story behind the legislation that made it easy to sell. Senator Thomas Pressly, the author of the bill, explained that his sister, Catherine Herring, had been slipped the abortion pill by her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Various outlets have said that Herring then managed to save the baby through a “medical abortion reversal process”. KTBS, for example, a Louisiana media outlet, reported that Herring “used a pill-reversal regimen and her baby is still alive”.

I’m sorry … what? I’m not a doctor but this story sounds medically implausible. Sara Pentlicky, who is a doctor (a gynecologist) and an abortion provider, told me much the same thing.

“If [Herring] took medication abortion pills and was still pregnant with a baby, the only explanation is that the pills didn’t work, which is a possibility,” Pentlicky said when I ran the scenario past her. There are, however, she notes, organizations that “prescribe progesterone to people who have taken medication abortion pills with the false information that it can reverse the medication abortion”. The New York attorney general is currently cracking down on these organizations, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has said the procedures are “unproven and unethical”. They’re also dangerous: a recent study looking at the effects of progesterone on people who had taken mifepristone was halted after “the third hemorrhage”.

To be clear, I’m not saying Pressly is lying about what his sister went through: Herring’s husband pleaded guilty to injuring a child and the assault of a pregnant person and was sentenced to six months in jail. But it does rather feel like Pressly has weaponized elements of his sister’s story to position a regressive law as a way to protect women. That’s certainly how it’s being defended following a backlash to the law, anyway. On Friday, for example, Landry tweeted that safety was the motivation behind the bill. “Proud to stand with our legislature to ensure this drug can be obtained legally and safely – ensuring the protection of all women. Without this bill, women and the unborn are more susceptible to predators,” Landry said.

Let’s be very clear here: this isn’t about protecting women at all. Rather it’s about making abortion pills even more difficult to access in Louisiana than they already are. More than 200 doctors in Louisiana have signed a letter to lawmakers warning that reclassification could provide a “barrier to physicians’ ease of prescribing appropriate treatment” and cause unnecessary fear and confusion among patients and doctors. Which, of course, is exactly what anti-abortion activists want.

Perhaps the most depressing aspect of all this is that it’s almost certain that Louisiana has just set a dangerous new trend. As Pentlicky notes: “Every time a state succeeds in passing any type of abortion restriction, we see other states follow suit – it just becomes more and more egregious.”

In short, expect Louisiana’s crackdown on abortion pills to come to a red state near you soon.

Texas doctor who said nine-year-olds can safely give birth now on maternal mortality committee

Looks like Texas is giving Louisiana a run for its money when it comes to the worst US state to be female.

British teacher charged with hate crime for calling Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman ‘coconuts’

Marieha Hussain has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence for a placard at a pro-Palestinian demonstration poking fun at the British prime minister and former home secretary by depicting them as coconuts. It’s fair to debate whether the term “coconut” (which is used in British ethnic minority communities to mean someone brown outside and white inside) is offensive, but criminalizing a brown woman for using it to criticize two brown politicians who have thrown their weight behind racist policies is outrageous. Let’s not forget that Sunak wants to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, and, during her stint as home secretary, Braverman brought in dystopian anti-protest legislation that has just been ruled unlawful and undemocratic. I can think of a lot worse things to call the pair of them than “coconuts”. This feels a lot like yet another way of punishing pro-Palestinian speech.

What does Donald Trump think about birth control?

On Tuesday, Trump suggested that he would be open to restricting access to birth control and would have a policy on that “very shortly”. After a lot of alarmed headlines, he announced on Truth Social that: “I DO NOT SUPPORT A BAN ON BIRTH CONTROL.” The all-caps do not make this assurance any more convincing.

There’s a new reality TV dating show called ‘Virgin Island’

You will be able to guess from the name exactly what Virgin Island is about. In other abstinence-related news, celibacy is very hot right now. And if a President Trump does outlaw birth control, I imagine it will become even more popular.

Epidural in labour can reduce risk of serious complications by 35%

A new study suggests expanding access to epidurals, particularly in women who are delivering prematurely, could improve maternal health.

Nicola Coughlan shows that you don’t need to sacrifice your morals for success

I’ve been delighted to watch the Bridgerton actor (who got her big break in the amazing Derry Girls) go from strength to strength. Unlike a lot of other celebrities, the 37-year-old isn’t a cowardly nepo baby: the self-made actor has consistently spoken out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza despite being warned that calling for a ceasefire could harm her career. Just take that in for a moment, will you? We live in a world where calling for a ceasefire in the middle of a genocide can hurt your career. Meanwhile, Amy Schumer, the self-proclaimed “most successful female comedian of all time”, has shared outrageously racist statements about Palestinians without facing any career consequences whatsoever.

The week in pawtriarchy

Spotted a cute, bandit-faced critter out and about? Then it’s time to dial 1-800-BAD-RACCOON! Tokyo is currently at war with its raccoon population, which grew out of control after a 1970s TV show reportedly led to people importing the animals and keeping them as pets. Now they’ve gone from pets to pests and certain areas of the city are launching hotlines for people to call and report naughty raccoons.