MADISON, Wis. - Lawmakers in Congress have reintroduced a bill they say would ensure access to safe abortions across the country. The move comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a Mississippi law that's viewed as a major threat to its 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.
The Women's Health Protection Act would allow for abortions in every state to happen without restrictions that aren't medically necessary. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - D-Wis. - is leading efforts to gather support for the bill in the upper-chamber.
She said it's a safeguard against politicians who are standing between women and their doctors.
"That is why we must pass our legislation, to protect the provider-patient relationship," said Baldwin. "To protect health-care professionals that provide care, and protect the freedom and right of women to access this care."
In a recent survey from Hart Research Associates, 68% of respondents said they believe the constitutional right to abortion should be protected.
No GOP lawmakers are co-sponsors of the bill. Anti-abortion groups have criticized the plan, describing it as dangerous.
From 2007 to 2016, pregnancy-related deaths were two to three times more prevalent among Black women in the U.S, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Danielle Hurd-Wilson, interim deputy director of field and programs for the group Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, asserted access to reproductive care also is an issue of racial and economic justice.
"Young people - and Black, Indigenous, people of color - should be able to get abortion care free from unnecessary restrictions," said Hurd-Wilson, "such as mandatory ultrasounds, waiting periods and others that shame, stigmatize and deny us timely, confidential abortion care."
In the last decade, almost 500 state laws restricting abortion have passed in legislatures around the country.
While it hasn't been enforced, Wisconsin does have a nearly 200-year-old law that prohibits doctors from performing abortions. At the state level, there have been calls to repeal that ban in light of the Supreme Court case.
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In about a month, the Pennsylvania General Assembly revisits a controversial proposal with five separate amendments to the state Constitution. Groups that oppose Senate Bill 106 are using the next few weeks to rally their forces.
SB 106 could deny the right to abortion care and funding in Pennsylvania without exception. Another potential amendment would tighten rules about voter ID at the ballot box.
Laura Nevitt - executive director of the Keystone Progress Education Fund - said in the meantime, groups like hers are reaching out to voice concerns about SB 106, particularly the prospect of an abortion ban.
"The work now is just about educating people about what this constitutional amendment actually would do," said Nevitt, "why it is not good for the people who live in Pennsylvania, and making every effort and attempt possible to prevent it from getting on the ballot."
Democrats say GOP lawmakers are using the constitutional amendment process because they know the governor would veto standard legislation about these issues.
But this method also means the resolution has to survive two legislative sessions before the amendments could be put on the ballot for a public vote. The second session begins September 12.
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape also strongly opposes SB 106 and predicts if it's passed, it would be used to block individuals' access to abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.
Donna Greco - public policy and legislative affairs director for the coalition - said their view is that it violates bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. But for now, she said, a person still has the right to get an abortion.
"Currently, abortion is still legal and protected in Pennsylvania," said Greco, "as well as the range of reproductive healthcare, contraception, emergency contraception. So right now, those services are still legal here throughout the Commonwealth."
Gov. Tom Wolf already filed a lawsuit to protect reproductive rights in the Commonwealth. He contends the amendments are "constitutionally invalid."
The Senate Republican Caucus countered that Pennsylvania voters should be allowed to decide these issues.
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By Trista Bowser / Broadcast version by Mary Schuermann reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, an Ohio law that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy was allowed to take effect.
A federal judge dissolved an injunction of the state's "heartbeat" bill, on hold since 2019, after Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) filed a motion for emergency relief on June 24, the day of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson. The law bans abortions after the detection of fetal cardiac activity, typically around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they're pregnant.
The "heartbeat" bill was created to outlaw abortions as soon as a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity during a pregnancy. With the bill in effect, the only way an abortion after that date is allowed is if the mother is having complications to her health. The doctor has to show proof that the pregnancy is at risk of harming the mother.
If an illegal abortion is performed, the law makes the doctor criminally liable.
A majority of women don't realize that they are pregnant until their
first missed period, by which time they are already around four weeks pregnant. People with irregular periods may not know until days to weeks later. With the heartbeat bill now in effect, most women will have two weeks or less in which they can get an abortion in Ohio.
Women seeking an abortion after that time will now have to travel outside state lines to a location where the procedure is legal.
State legislatures in Kentucky and West Virginia have outlawed abortion, though Kentucky's ban is currently blocked by the courts. Abortion is still legal in Michigan up to 19.6 weeks into pregnancy, in Indiana up to 22 weeks and in Pennsylvania up to 24 weeks.
Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson, Jessie Hill, associate dean for research and faculty development at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, explained that it will be difficult for Ohio women seeking abortions to go out of state.
"The problem with Ohio is that Ohio borders a lot of states where there's not great access either, like Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, places like that," she said.
Legislators in the Ohio statehouse were working to limit abortion access in the year leading up to the Dobbs decision.
In December 2021, Gov. DeWine signed Senate Bill 157, which banned Ohio physicians who work for the state in some capacity from undertaking contracts with abortion clinics.
The law was blocked in March, but could be allowed to take effect with Roe v. Wade overturned.
Prior to the ruling, Ohio legislators were also working on
HB 598, which would almost completely ban abortion. To qualify for an exception due to complications to the mother's health, doctors would be required to complete intensive paperwork to prove to the Ohio legislators that it was absolutely necessary. The bill contains no exemptions for pregnancy as a result of rape or incest.
Hill said many women are concerned about what they would do if they became pregnant due to sexual assault. "Being forced to carry it and not wanting a pregnancy to term is just sort of a retraumatization for some people," stated Hill.
Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), a co-sponsor of HB 598, said via email that he hopes the Ohio Legislature will call a special session "to align Ohio's laws to reflect the right that every child deserves."
"This is a bright day for the future of the unborn and we should not delay in delivering the American dream to our most vulnerable population one moment longer than necessary," he wrote.
State legislators may continue to pursue further restrictions on abortion in the coming months. On July 11, for instance, Click introduced a bill that would recognize constitutional rights beginning at conception, likely outlawing abortion in Ohio entirely.
As of this writing, there are nine clinics in Ohio still offering abortions up to six weeks, according to Pro-Choice Ohio.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio is still offering abortion services.
"We will keep fighting for legal abortion in Ohio," states a large graphic at the top of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio's website. "We will do everything in our power to ensure every person's right to bodily autonomy is upheld. Our health centers have and will remain trusted health care partners for patients across Ohio."
This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.
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