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Public Records from States with Abortion Bans

Following an onslaught of anti-abortion legislation and rhetoric in states across the United States in 2019, Equity Forward filed records requests in Arizona, Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Utah.

After receiving and reviewing more than 13,000 pages of records from several of these states, Equity Forward identified key findings from Ohio, Missouri, Arizona, Florida and Georgia. Below is a research report highlighting these findings, as well as the public records as received.

 


 


1. Ohio State Representative John Becker worked hand-in-hand with a right-wing lobbyist in the state, soliciting line-by-line edits on his proposed legislation that would provide insurance coverage for a non-existent treatment for a life-threatening complication.

 


2. Missouri State Representative Ann Kelley, who sponsored the state's near-total abortion ban, was questioned by her chief of staff in text messages where she wondered if “we are forcing our beliefs on people.”

 


3. Missouri State Senator Bob Onder received line edits that appeared in the final version of Missouri’s eight-week abortion ban from anti-abortion lobbyist Samuel Lee. Missouri Right To Life executive director Susan Klein also instructed State Senator Onder on his anti-abortion legislation.

 


4. Missouri State Representative Ron Hicks’ office reached out to Susan B. Anthony List for "pro-life legislation" suggestions. SBA List advised Hicks to work with TEAM Play to increase abortion reporting requirements.

 


5. In Arizona, the right-wing Center for Arizona Policy attempted to pass a bill via State Representative Michelle Udall that would send $7.5 million to a program modeled on the work of a reckless anti-abortion pregnancy network.

 


6. Arizona State Representative Nancy Barto was given vaccine disinformation from the Center for Arizona Policy to push an anti-vax bill right before the start of the measles outbreaks in early 2019.

 


7. In Florida, a former legislative aide with played a major role in linking anti-abortion extremists to support and help lobby for an attempted 20-week abortion ban in the state. Records also reveal that State Representative Mike Hill was lobbied by The Human Coalition to bring the group’s abortion alternatives program to Florida.

 


8. The Georgia attorney general's office seemed to be aware that the state’s abortion ban was unconstitutional.

 


Please contact Equity Forward’s team at info@equityfwd.org if you are looking to utilize this data or are interested in working with us on other research projects.