Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/13

A qualified win at SCOTUS

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Hi, all, and happy Thursday!

We got a bit of “good” news from SCOTUS this morning, although those quotation marks are important.

First the facts: the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling against the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in the mifepristone case, not because all the justices disagreed on the merits—some of them almost certainly didn’t—but because they all found the plaintiffs didn’t have standing. (This was apparent from the beginning.)

If any of you were on the SCOTUS debrief call yesterday with United For Democracy (it was AMAZING) you’ll know that this ruling, while a relief, is hardly a permanent reprieve. It was, in fact, largely expected. The Leonard Leo extremists on the Supreme Court would still love to ban abortion medication; this just wasn’t a strong enough case on which to do so. Also, as court expert Dahlia Lithwick and others explained on the call yesterday, the right-wing justices know they’re on the hot seat right now; they don’t want to “get out ahead of their skis.” The MAGA majority still wants to ban mifepristone. They’re just biding their time until a stronger case comes along.

The amazing Plan C, in their press release this morning, put it this way:

This is a minor win on a baseless case that never should have made it past the initial filing. We’re relieved that the court did not take action to further restrict access to mifepristone, a very safe and effective medication that is already overregulated by the Food and Drug Administration. 

Despite this win at the court, the situation regarding access to these life-saving medications continues to deteriorate at the state level. Louisiana’s recent bill designating both mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances, and Arkansas’ attempts to limit the provision of information to Arkansans about ways to obtain abortion pills in their state, are clear provocations. These unjust actions demonstrate that states will stop at nothing to keep pregnant people from accessing this basic medical care.  

Exactly.

Still, for now, this vital, safe, effective medication remains available for the almost 60% of Americans who use it for abortion care, and the millions more who take it for other reasons.

So let’s take the win, but be very clear that this court remains dangerous. It is still dominated by religious extremists who want to take away our freedoms and rule for the wealthy few. It must be expanded and reformed.

And it will be if we do our work right.

One more thing: the Senate is voting on Tammy Duckworth’s Right to IVF Act today. The vote will happen early, so if you read this before 1PM ET go ahead and call your Senators in support. If it’s much later than that the vote has likely already happened, and almost certainly failed. At that point it’s important to call your Republican Senator and ask how they voted. I’ll give you a script below for what to say if they were a NO. It’s important to let them know we’re watching and we don’t approve.

If your Senator voted YES please be sure to thank them. Remember, we can’t only call when our lawmakers do something wrong! They need positive feedback when they fight for us, too.

OK. Thanks, all! Let’s get to it!

P.S. — No House call today. Wanted to get this email out early so you had time to call on the IVF bill.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

I know the Senate is voting today on the Right to IVF Act. I expect the Senator to vote yes. Will s/he?

[If the vote has already happened do the following instead:]

I know the Senate voted on the Right to IVF Act today. May I ask how the Senator voted? [If they supported, thank. If they opposed, say:] That’s incredibly disappointing. I support full access to reproductive healthcare, including fertility treatments like IVF. But it’s not just me. A recent survey shows that 86% of Americans believe that IVF should be legal. And about 40% of Americans say they or someone they know has used fertility treatments. Republicans are out of touch with what Americans want. I’ll remember it on election day.

Extra Credit ✅

On June 27, CNN is hosting the first Presidential Debate of the 2024 election — and up to 100 million voters may tune in live.

After 12 consecutive months of record breaking heat, and escalating climate catastrophes from heat waves, to fires, to floods, and more — CNN has a duty to the American public to highlight climate change and ask what the two candidates will do about it. Click here to tell CNN: Ask about climate change at the first Presidential debate! This is a conversation we need to have often!

Get Smart! 📚

Please consider reading this article, “The inflationary consequences of Trump's planned immigration crackdown.” It’s important to understand that Trump’s economic policies were never good, but the ones he wants to implement in a second term would be absolutely disastrous for the economy.

A few quotes:

Conventional wisdom is that Republicans hold an advantage over the economy; however, a close examination of Trump’s toxic economic record presents many lines of attack, particularly regarding how his policies will increase voter's cost of living. Remember, Trump is the only president in modern history to leave office losing more jobs than he created. His corporate tax cuts didn't benefit working-class voters economically and increased wealth inequality. Worse, his current economic plans, raising tariffs across the board by 10% and creating a deportation force, would increase inflation, raise costs, and hurt working people. 

And:

If elected, Trump would do everything he could to remove immigrants. These mass deportations would be a humanitarian disaster and raise the cost of goods and services for everyone.  According to the Center of Migration Studies of New York: "The undocumented population comprises 5 percent of the workforce in the United States, working in industries such as agriculture, construction, service, entertainment, and health care. Without their labor, the US economy would experience a labor shortage, and the costs of goods and services would rise.

Spread the Word! 📣

Yesterday I spoke to a wonderful local Democratic women’s group in Florida. During our conversation I mentioned that only one in four Americans have heard of Project 2025; I encouraged them to spread the word about it. They asked me to give them a few talking points, and I did, using information I already had and some from a list I’d found on this website. It went so well that after the meeting I made a TikTok with the same info—something I’ve been meaning to do for awhile.

Here is my under-three-minute recap of Project 2025 on TikTok, IG, and, below, on YouTube. If you find it useful please share.

Give 💰!

Are you worried about the youth vote in 2024? Wondering what you can do to ensure Gen-Z takes action in November?

Come to our Virtual Event & Fundraiser in support of Tour To Save Democracy! You’ll get your answers! Co-hosted by me,

Robert B. Hubbell

, tour director Sam Schwartz and Democratic social media influencer Jo Carducci (@JoJoFromJerz). Join us for an inside, behind-the-scenes look at the Tour To Save Democracy and the Gen-Z activists behind it. 

Thursday, June 20, at 5pm PT/8pm ET, on Zoom

RSVP HERE to receive the Zoom Link.

Support the Tour To Save Democracy HERE

Win Races—Postcard! 🗳

Activate America’s newest postcard campaign is up in the great state of Ohio. 

They are focusing on sharing Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown’s impressive work bringing well-paying jobs to Ohio with infrequent voters, making sure they know how important it is to support Senator Brown in November.  

They are also writing postcards into Ohio to make sure folks know that they need to sign up to Vote By Mail for every election.

Interested in either campaign? Sign up HERE.

Win Races—Write Letters!

VoteRiders has a virtual letter writing party today at 7 pm ET. They will be writing letters to voters in GA and TX to make them aware of the Voter ID requirements in those states and to offer assistance. Sign up here!

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: all three reps ] [H/T] [Text SIGN PGEGEX to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

As your constituent, I urge you to restore $1.9 billion in funding for the Victims of Crime Act, and provide $1.15 billion for Violence Against Women Act programs, including $100 million each for the Sexual Assault Services Program, Transitional Housing Program, and the Legal Assistance for Victims Program. I hope you’ll advocate for these priorities with colleagues as they work on the annual appropriations bill to fund the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and Science - and work to ensure overall spending caps do not threaten these and other key investments.

Stagnant―or decreased―funding endangers survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, while demand skyrockets. During the lockdown phase of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. saw an 8.1% increase in domestic violence incidents―and the number hasn’t gone down. Several states and cities have seen an increase in domestic violence incidents and calls to hotlines, with Illinois experiencing a 90% increase over pre-pandemic levels.

From FY2023 to FY2024, the Victims Of Crime Act withstood a $600 million cut―40% of its budget.

We know that the impact of these cuts will fall hardest on rural communities, low-income communities, LGBTQ communities, and communities of color. Potentially tens of millions of victims nationwide will lose access to lifesaving and life-sustaining child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and other victim services, which will not only be felt by individuals and families, but also in communities. Unfortunately, these are the kinds of investments that are threatened by harsh and arbitrary funding caps that would result in at least $75 billion in reduced funding for critical human needs.

I strongly urge you to fund these critical programs so that survivors can have access to all the support they need – and work to pass bipartisan spending bills that invest in our communities. Thanks!

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OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk soon.

Jess