On the cusp of the 40th anniversary of the landmark U. S. Supreme Court decisions (1973) in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, states have been actively legislating laws and regulations that limit whether, when and under what circumstances a woman can obtain an abortion according to the Guttmacher Institute‘s State Policies in Brief: An Overview of Abortion Laws (9/1/2012). This overview charts nine categories highlighting which states have abortion laws in effect today. The categories are: Physician and Hospital Requirements in 39 states including additional restrictive amendments; Gestational Limits in 41 states; Partial-Birth Abortion in 18 states; Public Funding restriction in 17 states relating to Medicaid prohibition, in addition to 32 states and District of Columbia prohibiting the use of state funds except when using federal funding; Coverage by Private Insurance in 8 states; Refusal cause in 46 states allowing individual health care providers from abortion-related coverage as well as 43 states allowing institutions the right of refusal and 16 states limiting private and religious institutions participation in abortion-related coverage; State–Mandated Counseling in 17 states; Waiting Periods in 26 states requiring 25 hours to pass and 9 states requiring two separate trips; Parental Involvement in 37 states for decision by a minor while 22 states require parental consent and 11 states requiring notification leaving 4 states requiring both consent and notification. Elizabeth Nash, Guttmacher Institute’s state issues manager, said “Since the November 2010 elections, we have just seen a huge tidal wave of abortion restrictions roll across states.”
In a recent CBS News (8/26/12) story, it cited that in the past two years, 32 states have adopted some form of abortion restrictions. As noted in recent Free Legal Aid news regarding Ohio’s anti-abortion law and Mississippi’s last abortion clinic court case that shows the types of activity from anti-abortion advocates. “We have been able to enact legislation in eight states to protect unborn children at 20 weeks or more who are experiencing pain in abortion,” said Susan Musket, a member of the National Right to Life Committee. In Court Paves Way for Texas Planned Parenthood Cuts story from NPR.org (8/27/12), the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision stated that “the state can defund these health clinics because Planned Parenthood is associated with abortion.” According to Stephanie Lindquist, a law professor at the University of Texas, stated “The court is very clear that the Texas policy is constitutional, to the extent that it limits funding to Planned Parenthood in both its affiliates and non-abortion providing entities. It will provide other states who are interested in limiting abortion funding - or funding for abortion-related organizations…with a road map, especially if they choose to forgo federal dollars.” Even though states in the Northeast and West Coast continue to support unrestrictive abortion rights and the federal abortion rights law that prohibits any state to outright ban abortions, states continue to enact laws and regulations that restrict a woman access. In 2012, the newest state restrictions enactments are: ultrasounds, medication abortion limits known as “telemedicine” by requiring a physician to be in the same room, increasing gestational limits on legal abortions, and insurance companies right to refuse coverage for abortions and contraception medicine.
Susanne L Woodford, Freelance Writer