Why Six-Week Abortion Bans Make It Impossible for Many People to Get Care

Guttmacher Institute – Doris W. Chiu, Anna Bernstein, Alice F. Cartwright, Rachel K. Jones
Oct 7, 2024

All bans restricting abortion based on gestation are unjust; these arbitrary limits can make abortion inaccessible, leaving pregnant people’s reproductive autonomy dependent on their state of residence. But six-week abortion bans are especially pernicious because they prohibit abortion before many people know they are pregnant. Uncovering information on the timing of pregnancy recognition is vital to understanding the harmful effects of abortion bans based on gestation and who is most affected by them.

A new analysis of data from the Guttmacher Institute’s 2021–2022 Abortion Patient Survey finds that 37% of people accessing abortion discovered their pregnancy at six weeks or later. The survey collected information from a national sample of more than 6,500 people who obtained abortions in clinics across the United States between June 2021 and July 2022 (methodological details below).

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/10/why-six-week-abortion-bans-make-it-impossible-many-people-get-care

US abortion numbers have risen slightly since Roe was overturned, study finds

Abortion was slightly more common across the U.S. in the first three months of this year than it was before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and cleared the way for states to implement bans, according to a new study.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL and KIMBERLEE KRUESI
August 7, 2024

The number of women getting abortions in the U.S. actually went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a report released Wednesday found, reflecting the lengths that Democratic-controlled states went to expand access.

A major reason for the increase is that some Democratic-controlled states enacted laws to protect doctors who use telemedicine to see patients in places that have abortion bans, according to the quarterly #WeCount report for the Society of Family Planning, which supports abortion access.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-survey-pills-roe-election-2024-7179dda48eae0a764be89c2e0aafd80a

Tracking abortion laws across the United States

Abortion is now banned in 14 states, while four have banned the procedure past roughly six weeks of pregnancy

Carter Sherman and Andrew Witherspoon, with additional reporting by Jessica Glenza and Poppy Noor
Mon 29 Jul 2024

The US supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade may have abolished the national right to abortion, but the state-by-state battle for abortion rights is far from over.

Since Roe was overturned in 2022, 14 states have enacted near-total abortion bans, while four states – Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and Iowa – have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Other states have enacted laws or held ballot referendums to protect abortion rights.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/jul/29/abortion-laws-bans-by-state

29.07.2024

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AbortionFinder

Center for Reproductive Rights

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

near-total abortion bans

overturning Roe v. Wade

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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Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health

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