This is our newsletter, Hard Reset. Sign up here.
BigIfTrue.org’s mission is to report stories that envision a more equitable world and energize our readers to improve their communities. Donate to support our work here.
Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned,
- Abortion is illegal or heavily restricted in at least 11 states, including Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri. A judge in at least one of those states, Louisiana, has temporarily blocked its ban, potentially allowing procedures to resume (NPR, Louisiana Illuminator)
- Some state politicians, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, are expected to push for new abortion restrictions (Politico)
- Abortion seekers in states with bans had already been traveling to other states to receive the procedure. One study predicts the number of patients seeking abortions could increase 385% in Washington state (KING 5)
- But many patients can’t afford to travel for an abortion. Doctors worry that low-income women and those of color, who already had lower access to abortions, will be most impacted by the overturning of Roe (Wisconsin Examiner)
- How judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit paved the way for last week’s Supreme Court decision (Texas Monthly)
- Read fact checks on the ruling (PolitiFact)
In local news
- Reporter Carrington J. Tatum wrote about his decision to leave journalism and his job at nonprofit news site MLK50 due to a steep rent hike and student loan debt. “It’s funny that when we talk about predatory lenders, we don’t bring up private student loans, a debt trap with excessive interest and unrelenting repayment terms relied upon by low-income students looking for economic mobility,” he wrote. “Who’s going to stand up to those lenders?” (Go deeper: Rents rose 11% nationally last year, leaving renters paying more for substandard homes)
- A state legislative report says that staffing in Oklahoma prisons has fallen to less than half the recommended size, increasing the risk of violence to inmates and correctional officers. (Learn more: Last year, The Marshall Project reported that during the pandemic, many state corrections officers have retired or quit, and recruiting their replacements has been difficult)
New from BigIfTrue.org
Oklahoma imprisons women at higher rates than almost every other state. Lawyers and other legal experts say that women here are punished more harshly than men for crimes involving child neglect or abuse – in some cases, when they never actually committed abuse.
I wrote about how incarcerating women impacts families and how better access to mental health care could help reduce the number of women in Oklahoma’s prisons.
This article was published as part of a collaborative project with Tulsa news outlet Verified News Network. It was funded by the Oklahoma Media Center with support from the Native American Journalists Association.
Thank you for reading Hard Reset. You can reach me here at bryant@bigiftrue.org and 405-990-0988.
– Mollie Bryant
Founder and editor, BigIfTrue.org
