Column: It’s not about babies. Abortion restrictions are about power
LA TimesThe toes, the clothes and, oh, the smell of a newborn. “Misogyny amongst certain parts of our culture knows no bounds,” state Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley Democrat and head of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, told me. “Controlling women’s bodies, controlling sexuality, also means controlling the sexuality of gay, transgender, all the letters.” So Kacsmaryk’s ruling is a beginning, not an end. Gavin Newsom, calls the current moment “incredibly alarming and concerning.” She has spent the last few months helping California plan for the Texas ruling, work that culminated with the announcement Monday that the state has purchased a stockpile of misoprostol that could provide about 12,000 abortions if needed, and has the ability to obtain 2 million pills — enough for nearly 100,000 abortions — in all. The cache is an “insurance plan,” she said, to protect safe, legal and affordable abortion in California for all women — the ones who live here and the ones forced to travel here for care.