Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 1d

If you’re still trying to figure out why Trump’s FDA approved a generic form of mifepristone, I break it down here.

The short version, which I also laid out in the newsletter, is that the agency didn’t really have a choice.

2 27 90

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 1d

ICYMI: One of Turning Point USA’s first campus events since Charlie Kirk’s murder is a panel of abortion “abolitionists” — extremists who want women executed for ending their pregnancies.

jessica.substack.com/p/turning-po...

Turning Point USA Hosts Campus Event Pushing Death Penalty for Abortion Patients

10.3.25

jessica.substack.com

24 140 260

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 4d

If you appreciate independent feminist media that doesn’t miss a thing - sign up for Abortion, Every Day jessica.substack.com

Abortion, Every Day | Jessica Valenti | Substack

All things abortion. Feminist commentary & community. Click to read Abortion, Every Day, a Substack publication.

jessica.substack.com

9 44

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 4d

By the way, that's not the only big news in Abortion, Every Day:

If Oklahoma healthcare providers want to keep their Medicaid funding, they'll have to sign what amounts to an anti-abortion loyalty pledge—promising they won't even refer patients for abortions, or affiliate with pro-choice groups

2 23 77

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 4d

This comes at the same time that Turning Point USA has been making a concerted push to reach younger women. I hope that any female college students tempted to go to these events take note jessica.substack.com/p/turning-po...

Turning Point USA Hosts Campus Event Pushing Death Penalty for Abortion Patients

10.3.25

jessica.substack.com

1 8 57

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 4d

One of the panelists Turning Point will host at the University of Alabama next week said of women who have abortions: "You forfeit your right to live.”

8 28 77

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 4d

At the newsletter right now:

One of Turning Point USA’s first campus events since the murder of Charlie Kirk will be a panel with leaders of the abortion ‘abolition’ movement - extremists who lobby for abortion patients to get the death penalty

jessica.substack.com/p/turning-po...

Turning Point USA Hosts Campus Event Pushing Death Penalty for Abortion Patients

10.3.25

jessica.substack.com

28 200 320

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 4d

Don't ever let anyone scare you about have a teenage daughter - it's the best 💜

8 16 270

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 5d

When the news is coming this fast, I need a place to talk it out—and that means a livestream. This week, I couldn’t think of a better partner-in-fire than @mintimm.bsky.social of @reproductivefreedomforall.org

Join us live: open.substack.com/live-stream/...

2 14 47

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 6d

On the one hand, I'm so proud and in awe of these young people who are taking care of their community.

On the other, I can't believe in 2025 that women have been reduced to starting underground birth control networks

apnews.com/article/abor...

A student 'womb service' works covertly to deliver contraception at a Catholic college

At DePaul University, a Catholic school in Chicago, students have created a covert contraceptive delivery network called “the womb service.”

apnews.com

7 140 440

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 6d

If you're on tiktok please go interact with the video there - I've been shadow-banned, along with lots of other folks who make videos about abortion www.tiktok.com/@auntiekillj...

SB 323 is not just about #southcarolina - it’s about all of us. They’re telling us clearly - in writing! - the future they want for American women. Are we going to listen? #fyp #politics #news

TikTok video by Jessica Valenti

www.tiktok.com

2 16 46

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 6d

Not done yet!

- life-threatening pregnancies treated with c-sections & vaginal delivery rather than standard abortion, even when fetus isn't viable
- force anti-choice propaganda video in public school classrooms & AG could go after schools that don't comply
- charge providers under the RICO Act

3 23 63

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 6d

SB 323 is model legislation from National Right to Life - so this is their roadmap for all of us:

- no exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities
- patients charged with murder
- birth control ban
- ban on pro-choice websites, abortion referrals, or even general info on abortion

2 37 59

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 6d

All eyes on South Carolina, where the anti-abortion movement is using the state as a testing ground for what they want nationally

4 98 200

Reposted by Jessica Valenti

Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 7d

If any other president in all of history said the military should use American cities as a training ground he would be removed from office that same day. The hardest thing to tolerate in all this is how relatively silent elected democrats are. It’s ridiculous.

250 3.2K 12K

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 8d

The hope is to get these stories to a broader audience and
ensure that big mainstream outlets are covering abortion news in the right way.

But we rely on subscribers to make it all happen! So read Kylie's story along with the AP, and consider signing up:
jessica.substack.com/p/louisiana-...

Louisiana Issued Arrest Warrant for ANOTHER Abortion Provider

Attorney General Liz Murrill thinks 'coercion' will get her case to the Supreme Court

jessica.substack.com

24 77

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 8d

Kudos to @kylietcheung.bsky.social who broke this story at Abortion, Every Day last week.

It's pretty common for national publications and wire services to pick up our pieces. Most of the time, we don't get credit - and that's ok because it's part of the goal

abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory...

Louisiana issues a warrant to arrest California doctor accused of mailing abortion pills

Louisiana has issued a warrant to arrest a California doctor accused of mailing abortion pills

abcnews.go.com

14 220 490

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 8d

NPR made the same mistake a while back - I get that it might not seem like the biggest deal, but right now language is *everything*

1 16 150

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 8d

This headline from Politico is incorrect and feeds into anti-abortion scare tactics: doctors aren't 'anonymously' prescribing abortion pills - their name just isn't publicly visible on the pill bottle.

5 89 340

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 8d

To single out abortion as the place for compromise is to ignore the political reality of the last three years.

And in a moment when the stakes are so high—as women are literally dying—being both confidently wrong and hugely influential is straight up dangerous. jessica.substack.com/p/ezra-klein...

Ezra Klein is Wrong About Abortion

Abortion *is* a big tent issue

jessica.substack.com

43 150 570

Reposted by Jessica Valenti

Kylie Cheung @kylietcheung.bsky.social · 12d

More on reproductive coercion and how attacks on abortion access—in particular, increasing attacks on pills—have escalated this crisis:

26 97

Reposted by Jessica Valenti

Kylie Cheung @kylietcheung.bsky.social · 12d

And, re: coercion: Abortion bans—not abortion access—pose the real threat to victims. Forced pregnancy is a tool in the toolbox of abusers, and abortion access is a lifeline for victims. As @ifwhenhow.bsky.social's Farah Diaz-Tello put it:

1 27 79

Reposted by Jessica Valenti

Kylie Cheung @kylietcheung.bsky.social · 12d

In a newly filed motion to join an ongoing lawsuit agst abortion pills, Louisiana revealed it has a warrant for ANOTHER out-of-state abortion provider—who they accuse of enabling a 'coerced' abortion. This builds on antis' top strategy lately: equating abortion w/ abuse:

Louisiana Issued Arrest Warrant for ANOTHER Abortion Provider

Attorney General Liz Murrill thinks 'coercion' will get her case to the Supreme Court

jessica.substack.com

1 61 110

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 12d

Huge kudos to @kylietcheung.bsky.social, who broke the news: which was buried 50 pages into a motion from Louisiana AG Liz Murrill to join the FDA mifepristone lawsuit.

Murrill is winning the Republican AG race to get shield laws in front of SCOTUS - and is using the guise of 'coercion' to do it

12 66

Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 12d

Breaking news at Abortion, Every Day:

Louisiana has issued ANOTHER arrest warrant for an abortion provider in a shield state. In addition to trying to extradite NY provider Dr. Maggie Carpenter, Louisiana is targeting California doctor Dr. Remy Coeytaux.

jessica.substack.com/p/louisiana-...

Louisiana Issued Arrest Warrant for ANOTHER Abortion Provider

Attorney General Liz Murrill thinks 'coercion' will get her case to the Supreme Court

jessica.substack.com

8 99 200