New near-total abortions bans are taking effect in four states this week

Eleven states have outlawed abortion in almost all instances. The change will contribute to growing regional abortion deserts.

Shefali Luthra, Health Reporter
August 25, 2022

Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas will begin enforcing near-total abortion bans Thursday, and a ban in a fifth state — North Dakota — was blocked by a judge the day before it was set to go into effect Friday. So as of this week, 11 states will have outlawed abortion in almost all instances.

Abortions were legal in three of those states before this week, though they were difficult to obtain. After Roe v. Wade was overturned June 24, ending the federal right to an abortion, Idaho and Tennessee began enforcing six-week bans. Oklahoma and Texas have already begun enforcing laws banning abortions, but the laws taking effect Thursday add new legal punishments for people who provide the service.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2022/08/five-abortion-bans-texas-oklahoma-idaho-tennessee-north-dakota/

25.08.2022

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near-total abortion ban

What would happen to abortion access if Roe v. Wade is overturned or weakened: Report

Guttmacher Institute compiled data on the impact of lessening abortion rights.

By Alexandra Svokos
28 October 2021

The Supreme Court has a real opportunity this year to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that made abortion a federally protected right, or otherwise lessen the right to abortion.

The court will be hearing a case out of Mississippi, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, that asks the justices to directly reconsider the landmark precedent in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which many court watchers believe is closer to a possibility than ever with the current makeup of the court.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/US/happen-abortion-access-roe-wade-overturned-weakened-report/story?id=80819993

Lawmakers are racing to mimic the Texas abortion law in their own states. They say the bills will fly through.

‘Copycat bills’ are a tradition that has been a hallmark of the antiabortion movement for decades

Caroline Kitchener
October 19, 2021

Less than 48 hours after Texas’s abortion law went into effect, banning almost all abortions, West Virginia state delegate Josh Holstein was reminded of the promise that got him elected in 2020.

Holstein ran as a “100 percent pro-life” Republican alternative to the two-term Democratic incumbent. He would pursue a “heartbeat bill” that would ban abortion once cardiac activity is detected, around six weeks of pregnancy. On Sept. 2, the day after Texas became the first state to successfully implement a six-week ban without court interference, a West Virginia resident called Holstein and other state delegates to task in a private post on his Facebook page. He wanted to know: Can we do the same thing in West Virginia?

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/lawmakers-are-racing-to-mimic-the-texas-abortion-law-in-their-own-states-they-say-the-bills-will-fly-through/

Florida becomes 1st state to try to mirror Texas fetal ‘heartbeat’ abortion law

Bill would ban abortion after 6 to 8 weeks and allow people to sue doctors who perform them

Thomson Reuters
Posted: Sep 22, 2021

A Florida Republican lawmaker has filed a bill that would ban abortions after six to eight weeks and allow members of the community to sue doctors for terminating pregnancies in what may be the first effort to mirror a similar new law in Texas.

The bill by state Rep. Webster Barnaby would ban abortions after regular cardiac contractions are detected in an embryo, known as a fetal heartbeat even though the heart has not yet developed, about six to eight weeks into pregnancy. That is before many women know they are pregnant.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/abortion-law-florida-texas-1.6186255

‘No one wants to get sued’: Some abortion providers have stopped working in Texas

Nearly half of the doctors at one of the state’s biggest providers stopped working after Texas’ new law went into effect. The law has created a chilling effect for some abortion care services.

Jennifer Gerson
September 15, 2021

On August 31, there were 17 abortion providers serving at the four locations of the Whole Woman’s Health clinics in Texas. On September 1 — the day that the nation’s most restrictive active abortion law went into effect, there were just eight.

Senate Bill 8 not only bans the procedure past six weeks of pregnancy, but allows private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” abortion care past that point. Clinics have told The 19th they are fully complying with the new law. It is why Whole Woman’s Health in Fort Worth raced to perform as many abortions as possible before SB 8 went into effect, battling against the clock. It’s why, in mid-August, Planned Parenthoods across the state stopped taking appointments related to the procedure if it would be performed past six weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2021/09/abortion-providers-texas-stopped-working-under-threat-sued/

Long Drives, Costly Flights, And Wearying Waits: What Abortion Requires In The South

August 2, 2021
SARAH VARNEY

Just a quick walk through the parking lot of Choices-Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, in this legendary music mecca, speaks volumes about access to abortion in the American South. Parked alongside the polished SUVs and weathered sedans with Tennessee license plates are cars from Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida and, on many days, Alabama, Georgia and Texas.

Choices is one of two abortion clinics in the Memphis metro area, with a population of 1.3 million. While that might not seem like much for women seeking a commonplace medical procedure, it represents a wealth of access compared with Mississippi, which has just one abortion clinic for the entire state of 3 million people.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/08/02/1022860226/long-drives-costly-flights-and-wearying-waits-what-abortion-requires-in-the-sout

USA – More Abortion Restrictions Have Been Enacted In The U.S. This Year Than In Any Other

By EMMA BOWMAN
July 9, 2021

More abortion restrictions have been enacted across the U.S. this year than in any previous year, according to an analysis by a group that supports abortion rights.

State legislatures have passed at least 90 laws restricting the procedure in 2021 so far, finds a report released this month from the Guttmacher Institute.

Continued: https://www.wvtf.org/post/new-record-states-have-enacted-90-abortion-restrictions-so-far-year#stream/0

State Policy Trends at Midyear 2021: Already the Worst Legislative Year Ever for U.S. Abortion Rights

Elizabeth Nash, Guttmacher Institute
Sophia Naide, Guttmacher Institute
First published online: July 1, 2021

In the first six months of the year, many state legislatures engaged in an assault on many civil rights, including abortion, voting and transgender rights. More abortion restrictions—90—have already been enacted in 2021 than in any year since the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down in 1973. Many of these actions took place in the beginning of the year, despite the need for state legislatures to address critical issues ranging from racial equity to the COVID-19 response and pandemic-related health care.

In addition to their relentless attacks on abortion, several state legislatures have focused on measures that target transgender youth by banning gender-affirming care or restricting their participation in sports. These laws are part of a new wave of restrictions that build on transphobic legislation from previous years, including “bathroom bills” that require individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds to their sex as assigned at birth and bills to ban puberty blockers, which give young people time to make a decision about transitioning.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2021/07/state-policy-trends-midyear-2021-already-worst-legislative-year-ever-us-abortion

Roe v. Wade is solid constitutional law. The U.S. Supreme Court will overturn it anyway

BY ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, SPECIAL TO THE SACRAMENTO BEE

JUNE 12, 2021

I expect in about a year that the Supreme Court will overrule Roe v. Wade and
end constitutional protection of abortion rights.

On May 17, the Court granted review in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health
Organization, which concerns a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after
the fifteenth week of pregnancy. In light of the current composition of the
Supreme Court, there are five and maybe six votes to overrule Roe and allow
states to prohibit all or virtually all abortions. The case will be argued in
Fall 2021 and likely decided in June 2022.

Continued: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article251699748.html

California moves to make abortion cheaper, as other states work to restrict it

By RACHEL BLUTH, KAISER HEALTH NEWS
JUNE 7, 2021

SACRAMENTO — Even as most states are trying to make it harder to get an abortion, California could make it free for more people.

State lawmakers are debating a bill to eliminate out-of-pocket expenses such as co-pays and payments toward deductibles for abortions and related services, including counseling. The measure, approved by the Senate and headed to the Assembly, would apply to most private health plans regulated by the state.

Continued: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-07/california-to-make-abortion-cheaper-unlike-many-states