Anti-Abortion Bills Across America: State Legislatures Push for Stricter Restrictions
Across the United States, 2019 state legislative sessions have seen a number of bills aiming to crack down on abortion access. Some states passed legislation deemed so restrictive it was challenged in court and others have a plethora of bills waiting to find out their fate.
The Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade affirmed the Fourteenth Amendment made it legal for a woman to have an abortion but left it up to states to regulate abortions during second and third trimesters and defining the viability of a fetus. Some states, including Mississippi and Kentucky, signed bills into law that banned abortions after a fetus was viable. The bills defined viability of a fetus, not when it can survive outside of the womb, but when a fetal heartbeat is detected.
"It's clear that's the intent of it. It's a race to the U.S. Supreme Court, with all of these conservative states to be the one that gets Roe overturned," Georgia State Senator Jen Jordan told Newsweek about her own state's fetal heartbeat bill. "I think they're trying to be as outrageous as they possibly can, and they've definitely done it here."
Each state had its own bills, but there were several recurring proposals, including banning abortions at times when the decision is based on the sex or a Down syndrome diagnosis and prohibiting the dilation and evacuation method.
Dilation and evacuation is a surgical abortion performed after 16 weeks of gestation, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Several states, including Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina and Washington have proposed legislation banning the procedure and pro-choice activists argued it effectively bans abortions.
"When you ban this method, it is in effect a ban on abortion at about 15 weeks of pregnancy because that is the only method that is available for most abortions after 14 weeks," Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst for the Guttmacher Institute, told The Bismark Tribune.
Other bills targeting abortion that were proposed in several states would require doctors to give women the option to listen to the fetal heartbeat or watch an ultrasound before performing an abortion. In many cases, women would have to sign a form declaring they were given the option but declined.
Between January and March 20, 2019, the Guttmacher Institute said 304 abortion restrictions were introduced in states across the country.
Connecticut
Purpose: Requires a parent or guardian to be notified at least 48 hours before an abortion is performed on a minor
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Public Healthy
Delaware
Purpose: Bans abortions after 20 weeks
Status: Assigned to House Health & Human Development Committee
Florida
HB 1335
Purpose: Requires consent from a parent or guardian before an abortion is performed on a minor
Status: In Judiciary Committee
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: Introduced in House
Georgia
HB 481
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: Sent to Governor Brian Kemp for signature
Maryland
Purpose: Requires consent from a parent or guardian before an abortion is performed on a minor
Status: In the House of Representatives
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after 20 weeks
Status: Read in Senate
Michigan
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after 20 weeks
Status: Referred to Committee on Health Policy and Human Services
Minnesota
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: Referred to Health and Human Services Policy
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after 20 weeks
Status: Referred to Health and Human Services Policy
Missouri
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: Referred to Children and Families Committee
New York
Purpose: Requires a parent or guardian to be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor.
Status: In Assembly Committee
North Carolina
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after 13 weeks
Status: Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Ohio
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: Referred to Health Committee
Oklahoma
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after the sex of the unborn child has been determined
Status: Approved by the Public Health Committee
Purpose: Prohibits abortions without exception
Status: Referred to Health and Human Services Committee then to Appropriations Committee
South Carolina
SB 3020
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs
Tennessee
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: On Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for April 2
Purpose: Bans abortion in Tennessee if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Status: On Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for April 2
Texas
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: Referred to Public Health Committee
Washington
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetus is determined by a physician to be viable
Status: In Health Care & Wellness Committee
Purpose: Requires a parent or guardian to be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor
Status: In Law & Justice Committee
West Virginia
Purpose: Prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected
Status: Referred to House Health and Human Resources Committee