As we approach the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, abortion laws are being discussed in legislatures, court decisions, political campaigns, and ballot initiatives.
There have always been rallies, protests, and political vows surrounding the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision on January 22, 1973. This time, there is a frenzy of activity as state policy is decided by judges, legislatures, and voters following the 2022 verdict that reversed the nationwide right to abortion that Roe guaranteed. It’s also providing Democrats with an opportunity to mobilize voters on abortion access, which includes President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. Opponents of abortion also had a rally in Washington last week, although this year’s March for Life was unique in its setting compared to previous years. There is no longer a federal right to an abortion, and all stages of pregnancy are prohibited by law in 14 states. However, the political backlash has increased their opponents more than them.
Traditional anti-abortion demonstrations continued, such as the one in St. Paul, Minnesota, which drew an estimated 2,000 participants. Many of them demonstrated against laws that restrict access to abortion by setting up life-size models of fetuses on the state Capitol steps. In an effort to start a signature drive for a ballot initiative that would include abortion rights in the state constitution, at least a hundred individuals gathered on the steps of the Colorado Capitol on Monday. As the audience applauded and state legislators and the Colorado attorney general gathered around a microphone, a cardboard sign that said, “Someone you love has had an abortion” was shown.
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Abortion Laws
Although Colorado’s legislature passed legislation protecting abortion last year, Nicole Hensel, executive director of New Era Colorado, one of the coalition of organizations supporting Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, warned that “if we don’t enshrine it in the constitution, we will be at the whim of lawmakers.” After Roe was reversed, surrounding states imposed limits on abortion, turning Colorado into an island of protection for the right to an abortion. The Colorado-based Cobalt Abortion Fund helped six times as many people receive abortions in 2023 as it did in 2021.
Abortion Laws
Maryland activists also launched their campaign to promote the November ballot initiative to include abortion rights in the state constitution on Monday, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The only other state where a statewide referendum on abortion rights is anticipated to occur in 2024 is New York, where safeguarding reproductive freedom is part of the proposed amendment. However, over a dozen states are considering similar votes. Supporters of abortion rights have won all seven statewide ballot proposals since 2022.
Abortion Laws
WISCONSIN AND MAINE LAWMAKERS CONSIDER BALLOT MEASURES
As a first step toward asking voters to amend abortion laws, lawmakers in two states have planned hearings for this coming Monday. They both have challenges uphill. Democrats in Maine are advocating for a bill that would include a clause protecting reproductive autonomy in the state constitution. In addition to the governor’s office and both chambers of the Legislature being controlled by Democrats, abortion is legal in the state at any stage of pregnancy as long as a doctor certifies it as necessary. However, two-thirds of both legislative chambers would need to approve a measure before it could be put to a vote. That would require a few Republicans to vote in support of requesting a public vote.
Abortion Laws
A GOP plan in Wisconsin would outlaw abortions after 14 weeks of pregnancy.
Although the state legislature is controlled by Republicans, Democrat Gov. Tony Evers is expected to veto any legislation that passes. In Wisconsin, abortion is currently legal up until fetal viability, but whether an 1849 law—which conservatives regarded as outlawing abortion—should still be in effect is a matter of debate. Activists in Missouri Select an Amendment to Back Last Thursday, a coalition in Missouri that supports abortion rights chose which of the 11 proposed amendments to back. They chose the option that would let legislators limit access to abortions only when a pregnancy reaches viability, which is usually defined as 23 or 24 weeks gestation. At that point, the fetus may be able to survive outside the uterus.
Abortion Laws
One resolution to the argument proponents have been having over whether to support laws that permit some restrictions on abortion is the decision made by organizations like the state chapters of the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. The Missouri bill would permit abortions later in pregnancy in order to safeguard the woman’s life as well as her physical and emotional well-being. A competing amendment being pushed by some moderate Republicans would permit abortions up to 12 weeks in most situations and only in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency between then and viability.
Abortion Laws
The administration side of the hospital in Biden, Oklahoma
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determined that an Oklahoma hospital did not break federal law when its doctors advised a woman with a nonviable pregnancy to wait in a parking lot until her condition improved enough for her to be eligible for an abortion under the state’s strict ban. This decision was made in October but was not made public until last week. The majority of Republican-controlled states have implemented abortion prohibitions, and this verdict is the most recent in what has become a significant legal dispute: When do exclusions come into play? The same government agency has argued that in other circumstances, hospitals would be in violation of federal law if they turned away women who were in urgent need of an abortion.
Abortion Laws
Abortion Laws
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