No, we did not just pick these two states because you can’t spell one without the other. But we do not talk about them nearly enough!
So what’s going on in Arkansas and Kansas are perfect examples of real, terrible “undue burden” that fuckface judges refuse to acknowledge. In case you forgot, “undue burden” was established in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (a case that supposedly affirmed Roe but also gave a little too much wiggle room if you ask us). The thing is… any judge can be like “naw we don’t think it’s an undue burden for a patient to have to fight a lava monster to get an abortion, as long as the lava monster isn’t within 10 feet of the clinic.”
I mean, in Arkansas they passed a 72-hour waiting period. We realize on the surface, that’s pretty boring. BUT IT IS SUCH A LONG TIME FOR NO REASON. But whatever maybe you’re like “well, that’s three days.” Yes BUT, now a Planned Parenthood is closing (we’ll get to why) and the nearest next clinic in the state is over 100 miles away. That means ONE journey to that clinic and ONE let’s say 3 hour drive. THEN 72 hours of limbo, then another 3-hour drive. FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO CREATE A BURDEN. And the clinic that’s closing isn’t closing because of something they did or to find a better space… it’s closing because the extremists orcs out front got too aggressive and lied too much and they didn’t want patients to have to deal with it. And they can’t find a new place because the A-word is so stigmatized. The 6-week bans are obvs all garbage, but this kinda shit… happens all the time. And we have to pay attention.
Enter Kansas where bans on telemedicine are in legislative limbo. But hey, it doesn’t matter, a judge still decided they can’t provide telemedicine. DON’T FALL ASLEEP we realize this article is very very long and confusing. But this kinda nonsense is honestly… the whole thing. It’s how they get you. Because a judge WITH A STRAIGHT FACE (we assume) said hey, it doesn’t prevent access to make a patient come into the office rather than talking to them on video. WHAT EFFING WORLD DOES THIS PERSON LIVE IN THAT TALKING ON A VIDEO CALL ISN’T EASIER THAN DRIVING A LONG DISTANCE. And let’s be clear, this is just for the PILL. A patient has to be in the presence of a doctor to… take a pill. They can’t… be on a video call with the doctor. HOW IS THIS NOT THE SAME THING? I mean, we’d argue that people should just be able to take a pill… by themselves. But… uh, what the eff is the difference between a doctor watching you take a pill in person or on the phone? Except to be a fucking pain! Except to discourage people from coming!
There is none.
