News Roundup: Investigating Efforts to Restrict Abortion Rights

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Americans have voted in favor of abortion rights every time the issue has been on the ballot. In Tuesday’s elections, voters in three states sent a clear signal that limiting reproductive freedom is unpopular.

• In Ohio, voters approved an amendment that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s constitution.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was reelected as governor of Kentucky. Beshear made his support of abortion rights a key issue in the election.
• In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal for a 15-week abortion ban hit a stumbling block when his fellow Republicans failed to gain a majority in the state legislature. 

But since the Dobbs decision, several other states have moved to restrict abortion. We’ve filed dozens of public records requests to investigate the effects of these restrictions:

• We submitted public records requests to Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia regarding crisis pregnancy centers. Each of these states allocate funds to the facilities, which aim to dissuade people from obtaining abortions. We’re seeking records including related communications and contracts. 
• This spring, Idaho passed a law that makes it illegal to help a minor get an abortion across state lines without parental consent. We asked the offices of the governor, attorney general, and specific state legislators for related emails.
• In July, Iowa passed a bill banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Days later, a judge temporarily blocked the ban. We requested communications between the governor’s office and the state Board of Medicine about the ban.
• We recently published records showing that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Andrea Lucas solicited comments from the far-right Alliance Defending Freedom and other groups. Lucas has previously used her position to investigate companies’ abortion travel policies.

Wisconsin Judge Orders Release of Records in Impeachment Panel Lawsuit
On Friday, Dane County, Wisc., Circuit Court Judge Frank Remington ordered former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack to release records related to her work on the panel Assembly Speaker Robin Vos created to advise on the potential impeachment of sitting Justice Janet Protasawiecz.

• The order, which was made in American Oversight’s ongoing lawsuit to bring transparency to Wisconsinites about the panel’s work, requires Roggensack to release the records within 30 days.
• American Oversight’s litigation previously revealed the names of all three former state Supreme Court justices that formed the panel. We obtained records from former Justices David Prosser and Jon Wilcox, the other two members of the panel, in response to public records requests about the group’s formation and scope of work. 
• Roggensack, the third member of the panel, has continued to resist transparency and refused to provide any records. During the hearing on Friday, Remington noted Roggensack’s apparent efforts to evade service of a subpoena to attend.
• “It is concerning to see a former official of such high public office go to such great lengths to avoid answering questions about their actions,” said American Oversight’s Executive Director Heather Sawyer. “Judge Remington has now ordered former Chief Justice Roggensack to turn over records regarding her work on Speaker Vos’s once-secret impeachment panel. Judge Remington’s order confirms Wisconsin’s longstanding commitment to government transparency and we look forward to getting more information to the public about Speaker Vos’s impeachment efforts.”

On the Records

Puzder’s Anti-ESG Meeting with West Virginia Treasury
Records we obtained reveal that in February 2022, the West Virginia treasurer’s office met with Andy Puzder, former President Trump’s first nominee for secretary of labor, who is now a fellow at the Heritage Foundation and the executive chairman of investment firm 2ndVote Advisers.

• According to the records, the meeting was to discuss “ESG investing and 2ndVote Advisers.” 

Republican politicians, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have attacked environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing as “woke” capitalism for its consideration of non-financial factors such as a company’s diversity or environmental impact.

• Puzder has reportedly written and shared model legislation with conservative lawmakers aimed at restricting ESG investing. Last year, Puzder spoke at an anti-ESG event hosted by the American Legislative Election Council, a conservative lobbying group that circulates model legislation to state governments.

We also uncovered records that show the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), an anti-ESG group that connects Republican state auditors and treasurers, paid $1,033.75 for the West Virginia treasurer and general counsel to attend a 2021 SFOF event in Orlando.

• The expenses cover tolls, car rentals, and flights; other records show the hotel stays for the trip cost a total of $1,664.52.

Texts About Open Deputy Solicitor General Position in GeorgiaWe obtained text messages from Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and Alabama AG Steve Marshall in which
Carr asked for help contacting a Trump-appointed judge who might know “some good folks who think like he does” who could fill an open state deputy solicitor general position.

• Marshall responded with the phone number for the judge’s office and suggested another contact who “was aware of another possible prospect.”
• The records also include texts that appear to be between Carr and Republican attorneys general in Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia. Carr also texted with former Nebraska Attorney General Doug Petersen.

DeSantis’ Scrapped Rescue Mission in Iowa
In June, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted a tweet stating that he had directed the state’s Division of Emergency Management (FLDEM) and Department of Transportation to send personnel to Davenport, Iowa, to help with a building collapse. NBC News later reported that Iowa officials had informed the DeSantis administration that they no longer needed Florida’s help — more than ten hours before DeSantis’ tweet. 

• We asked FLDEM for records reflecting the cost of the intended deployment to Iowa, and obtained a resource support agreement with Iowa that included a total cost estimate of $166,303.96 for what would have been a four-day mission. Two Florida DOT officials had already left for Iowa when Iowa canceled its request. They were in Iowa for a brief time.
• The final cost would likely have been reduced since the deployment was brief. The records show that no costs were incurred by FLDEM employees for this deployment.

Other Stories We’re Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

• 2020 falsehoods thrive as a replay of the election nears (Washington Post)
• Why the fight to counter false election claims may be harder in 2024 (NPR)
• NBC’s partner for GOP debate is Salem, promoter of 2020 election denial (Washington Post)
• California’s Shasta County abandons plan to hand count election (Democracy Docket)
• A tide of election worker resignations raises alarms ahead of 2024 (CNN)
• Election offices are sent envelopes with fentanyl or other substances. Authorities are investigating (Associated Press)

Voting Rights

• Virginia ‘Voting Rights Restoration’ process may be a form of voter suppression (Truthout)
• Wisconsin Senate approves GOP-backed elections amendments to the state constitution (Associated Press)
• In Virginia, yet another attempt at cleaning voter rolls goes badly wrong (Votebeat)
• Kansas Supreme Court set to consider protections for voting rights (Kansas Reflector)
• State has wrong or missing addresses for 92 voting precincts, investigation finds (Mississippi Free Press)
• Ballot shortages in Mississippi created a problem for democracy on the day of a governor’s election (Associated Press)

National News

• A guide to the friends and patrons of Clarence and Ginni Thomas (Washington Post)
• Librarians turn to civil rights agency to oppose book bans and their firings (Associated Press)
• ICE releases investigation into immigrant’s death after months of ‘inexcusable’ delay (NPR)
• Massachusetts is running out of shelter beds for families, including migrants from other states (Associated Press)

LGBTQ Rights

• Nebraska gender care law causes confusion among mental health providers (News from the States)
• Federal judge hears oral arguments on gender care ban for Idaho’s trans youth (Idaho Capital Sun)
• Judge to rule on temporary block of North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors (Associated Press)
• DOJ asks Supreme Court to review Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care (Axios)
• Trans student kicked out of lead role of high school production of ‘Oklahoma!’ over gender policy (NBC News)
• Federal judge rejects challenge to Florida trans athlete law (CBS News)

Abortion and Reproductive Rights

• Abortion rights advocates win major victories in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia (Washington Post)
• Right to Life sues to block Michigan’s voter-approved abortion rights law (Detroit News)
• In Michigan, #RestoreRoe abortion rights movement hits its limit in the legislature (NPR)
• Judge to rule on temporary block of North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors (Associated Press)
• Iowa’s governor opposes abortion — and has the final say on whether Medicaid pays for it (19th News)
• Missouri Supreme Court hears case on latest effort to block Planned Parenthood funding (Associated Press)
• Appeals court considers Texas’ challenge to federal abortion guidance (Texas Tribune)
• In the South, looming uncertainty threatens the limited abortion access that remains (CNN)
• Abortion debate is affecting access to drug used after miscarriages (Washington Post)

Threats to Education

• Florida joins conservative states severing ties with national library group (Politico)
• Controversial PragerU videos gain educational foothold in a handful of states (Arkansas Advocate)
• Regents panel calls for dropping university DEI activities not tied to compliance, accreditation (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Government Transparency and Public Records Law

• Enormous public records requests may come with a $25-an-hour search fee (News from the States)

Trump Accountability

• Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice Department control in a second term (Washington Post)
• Takeaways from Donald Trump’s contentious testimony in his civil fraud trial (CNN)
• Minnesota Supreme Court won’t remove Trump from GOP primary ballot in 14th Amendment challenge (CNN)

• Trump belief that 2020 election was stolen is not a defense, DOJ says (Washington Post)
• Echoes of Jan. 6 committee as Jack Smith foreshadows plan to tie Trump to Capitol riot (Politico)