We're bringing back our Friday deep dives to detail the changes to abortion rights throughout the week. State bans are being blocked, implemented, and blocked again on a near-daily basis. We'll break it all down every Friday in this space. For the most up to date information on how to access abortion care where you are, click here.
Today marks 3 weeks of forced birth in America and here’s where the country stands: 13 states (SD, WI, MO, OH, WV, AZ, OK, AR, TN, TX, MS, AL, SC) have effectively banned abortion, likely to be 16 by month’s end (ID, WY, ND all have impending bans). Four states (UT, KY, LA, GA) that initially banned abortion following the Dobbs decision have resumed care after judges temporarily blocked their trigger laws. This is what happened this week.
Utah:
On Monday, a Utah state judge granted Planned Parenthood’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s trigger law from going into effect while the group pursues legal action through the courts. The process will take at least a year, and in the meantime an 18-week ban will be in place in Utah with exceptions for the life of the mother, severe or lethal abnormalities to the fetus requiring the signature of two doctors, and in cases of rape or incest.
Louisiana:
Louisiana Judge Donald Johnson issued an order on Monday halting enforcement of the state’s trigger ban, which sought to outlaw abortion from the moment of conception with the only exception being in a case threatening the life of the pregnant person. The order allows a Louisiana clinic to pursue legal challenges to the law. There will be a hearing on Monday where a lawyer for the clinic will argue for Judge Johnson to grant a preliminary injunction. Meanwhile abortion remains legal in Louisiana this weekend.
Minnesota:
This one is actually good news! A Minnesota judge ruled that many of the state’s laws designed to make abortion less accessible in the Democratic state are unconstitutional, closing a lawsuit that began in 2019. The decision nullified requirements for a 24-hour waiting period, a two-parent notification mandate for minors, and that all abortions, even medication abortions, be administered by a doctor. It also lifted the mandate that abortions past the first trimester be done in a hospital and abolished felony penalties for regulatory infractions on reporting requirements. This is a huge step as abortion is legal in Minnesota and the state is expected to have a patient increase of 25 percent.
Arizona:
The legality of abortion is up in the air in Arizona, where a U.S. District Judge granted a temporary injunction in a case involving a law that gives personhood to fetuses. Abortion providers are pursuing legal action as they could be criminally prosecuted with child abuse or endangerment for giving medical care to patients. The state also has a total abortion ban on the books from 1901, which effectively halted abortion when SCOTUS handed down their ruling last month. That ban remains, as well as a 15-week ban that will go into effect in September. Abortion is illegal in Arizona.
Texas:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden Administration yesterday for their order requiring doctors to perform abortions when medically necessary as lifesaving care for the pregnant person. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra says the order is lawful under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act guaranteeing a right to emergency medical care, but Paxton argues that since the Act does not mandate specific treatment, the order is unlawful and unconstitutional. He references that it violates the Hyde Amendment by using Justice Department funding to enforce the order, and that it violates the 10th amendment. The Biden administration's order will remain in place for the time being.
In Congress:
This week House and Senate panels heard from state legislators, special interest groups, and medical experts in a series of hearings examining the impact of the Dobbs decision around the country. These hearings were generally frustrating to listen to as Republicans in Congress asked health care providers abhorrent and idiotic questions grounded in disinformation, while Democrats questioned pro-birth interest groups who had a disturbing new talking point.
As seen here, here, and here, pro-birth activists are spreading the lie that if an abortion is being provided as a treatment for an ectopic pregnancy or otherwise life-threatening condition, it is "not an abortion.” It is, because abortion is literally a medical procedure, and every law banning abortion will, in practice, apply to these situations. By framing these scenarios as “not an abortion” political interests are hoping they can literally get away with murder.
