Tougher Abortion Laws Passed by 22 States in 2013
In 2013, a year that marked the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark US Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide, 22 states restricted access to abortionaccording to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit reproductive rights think tank.
70 state-level abortion restrictions were enacted in 2013, the second highest number ever enacted in a single year. 2011 holds the record, when 92 laws were enacted in 24 states. There were 205 abortion restrictions enacted during the past three years (2011-2013), surpassing the 189 laws enacted over the entire preceding decade (2001-2010).
The majority of the laws (56%) fell into four categories: bans on abortions performed after 20 weeks of pregnancy, laws imposing tougher restrictions on clinics and physicians, limitations on abortion coverage in private insurance plans, and restrictions on the availability of abortion procedures using medication rather than surgery. Other laws included requiring parental involvement in minors’ abortions, limiting public funding of abortion procedures, extending waiting periods, and requiring women to undergo an ultrasound prior to having an abortion, with the option of listening to the fetus’ heartbeat.
The Guttmacher report also noted an increase in states it terms “hostile to abortion rights,” defined as having “at least four types of major abortion restrictions.” 27 states were included in the “hostile” category in 2013, up from 13 in 2000. The proportion of women living in “hostile” states rose from 31% to 51% in the same period.
Source: procon.org
