A law signed by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on Tuesday makes it a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, to perform an abortion in the state. It is the latest in a cascade of restrictive abortion laws proposed in Republican-led states across the country.
The measure, Senate Bill 612, which takes effect in August, allows only an exception “to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency.”
The bill’s enactment comes after Oklahoma became a haven for Texans seeking abortions after Texas enacted a ban on most procedures last fall, the most far-reaching abortion restrictions to take effect since the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. It also comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule this year on a case that could quash Roe v. Wade.
Here you will find answers to some frequently asked questions about national legislation.
Which States Have Enacted Legislation Banning Abortion?
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, nearly total abortion bans have been introduced in 30 states this year. At least one legislature is banned in seven states: Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. They have been established in four of those states: Oklahoma, Arizona, Idaho, and Wyoming.
“What we’re seeing right now is the build-up of decades where state lawmakers have introduced restriction after restriction, and now they are going to introduce ban after ban,” said Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst for the Guttmacher Institute. She said the legislation reflected the efforts of increasingly conservative state lawmakers moving to take advantage of right-wing shifts in the courts.
Several states already have so-called trigger bans, making abortion illegal if Roe is reversed or scaled back. All legislation proposed so far is likely to be passed, Ms Nash said. But some efforts may face judicial challenges: In Idaho, for example, an abortion ban modeled on Texas’s was set to go into effect on April 22, but was temporarily blocked by the Idaho Supreme Court on Friday. Planned Parenthood said Tuesday it would “challenge any abortion ban in Oklahoma.”
Even as they enact more far-reaching bans, states have not dropped other restrictions, including waiting times and parental consent laws. On Tuesday, a Florida judge allowed a 24-hour wait that abortion rights groups had been trying to block for seven years.
Which States Have Strengthened Their Support for Abortion?
With Roe v. Wade’s future unclear, many states are pushing for legislation protecting the right to abortion. According to Ms. Nash, about 30 states and the District of Columbia are considering measures to protect and expand access to abortion. Laws protecting the right to abortion already exist in at least 16 states and the District of Columbia.
Some states have gone further: Vermont lawmakers voted in February to move forward with an amendment to the state constitution that would guarantee the right to abortion.
A sizable package of bills in California is trying to make the state a “refuge” for women who want to have abortions. The bills would make it easier for clients to access abortion services and for providers to get paid.
A proposal released late last year with the support of Governor Gavin Newsom and the leaders of California’s two legislative houses calls for more funding for abortion providers, reducing administrative barriers to abortion access and strengthening the legal framework. protection for abortion patients. In March, Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, signed legislation to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for abortion services.
What is an ‘almost total’ ban? What does it mean in practice?
A “near-total” ban usually refers to a law that restricts abortions except in cases where a patient’s life is at risk, said Ms Nash of the Guttmacher Institute. Lawmakers are considering two major types of near-total bans. One is a ban modeled on Texas, which gives citizens the power to sue anyone who performs an abortion or conducts an “AIDS and abets” procedure. Texas law prohibits abortions once heart activity is detected in the embryo; such activity usually takes place around the sixth week of pregnancy, before many are even aware that they are pregnant.
A bill that goes to the Senate in Oklahoma goes further and allows citizens to try to enforce a ban on abortion after conception. That law would take effect immediately.
The state of abortion in the US
Who gets an abortion in America? The typical patient is most likely already a mother, poor, single, late 20s, college educated, and very early in pregnancy. Teenagers today have far fewer abortions. Nearly half of abortions take place in the first six weeks of pregnancy and almost all in the first trimester.
Other states are considering a 15-week ban. These aren’t “near-total” bans, but are still a significant rollback from Roe, protecting the right to abortion until a fetus is viable outside the womb, usually around 23 weeks.
Which states have the most abortions?
According to a 2017 census of abortion providers conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, the majority of state abortions were performed in California, at 15.4 percent. The second-highest share was performed in New York State, at 12.2 percent. The third highest state was Florida at 8.2 percent.
Those are three of the four most populous states, along with Texas.
What ratio of abortions are performed surgically compared to those performed medically with a combination of pills?
Abortion bans apply to both surgical abortions and medical abortions, which are performed with a two-drug combination of mifepristone and misoprostol. According to the Guttmacher Institute, medical abortions accounted for more than half of all abortions in the United States by 2020.
Additional bans on the use of medical abortion pills have been proposed this year in at least eight states, and at least one has been passed in both South Dakota and Wyoming. A ban on the supply of medical abortion pills has been proposed this year in at least seven states and passed in at least one chamber in both Georgia and Kentucky.
Kate Zernike reporting contributed.