Tracking State Attacks on Abortion Rights in Donald Trump's America

By Stassa Edwards  |  November 22, 2016 | 9:00pm
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Jezebel is tracking abortion laws across the country, from announcements to legislation and inevitable court battles. If you’re aware of new legislation in your state that we’ve missed, please email [email protected] with the subject line: “State Abortion Law.”

Earlier this year, Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to appointing a Supreme Court Justice who would be willing to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Women, Trump told 60 Minutes, will “have to go to another state.” The problem, of course, is that going to other states isn’t an option for millions of women, particularly for women in vast swaths of the South and Midwest where abortion access has been eroded by a series of state laws. Though Whole Woman’s Health vs. Hellerstedt overturned TRAP laws in Texas and numerous states that had followed Texas’s example, states legislators—many of them perhaps inspired by what they hope is a more friendly climate to anti-choice legislation—continue to find inventive new ways to target reproductive health.

Throughout this legislative year, Jezebel will be following abortion legislation in every state, updating where they are in either the legislative or judicial process. In the process, we hope to identify legislative trends emerging among anti-choice legislators and groups, as well as provide a regularly updated guide to abortion laws in your state.

Hellerstedt was a major victory for reproductive health, but between waiting periods, 20-week bans, and bills that mandate the burial of fetal remains, there are still plenty of laws worth keeping an eye on. We’ll use this space to do so.

Alabama

Heartbeat Bill: Representative Terri Collins said she will sponsor a heartbeat bill, which would effectively make abortion illegal after five weeks of gestation. This is one of the numerous heartbeat bills making its way through legislatures across the country. Abortion is currently banned after the 20 weeks in Alabama.

  • Status: Collins will introduce this bill in the 2017 legislative session.

Constitutional Amendment to Declare Alabama a Pro-Life State: Effectively a trigger amendment that would make abortion immediately illegal if Roe was overturned.

  • Status: Introduced.

Arizona

Senate Bill 1367: This bill, sponsored by Senator Steve Smith, would require clinics that provide abortion beyond 20 weeks to have equipment on site to care for a fetus delivered alive. Arizona Central reports that requires that if the fetus is delivered “breathing, has a heartbeat and is moving, doctors must use all available means and medical skills to save its life.” Medical experts call the bill unnecessary and argue that in its current iteration, it would require doctors to incubate babies with no chance of survival, even in cases of miscarriage.

  • Status: Passed committee and moving to the Senate for a vote.
  • Update, February 24, 2017: The Senate has approved this bill.

Arkansas

Prohibition of Dilation and Evacuation Procedure: State Representative-Elect Andy Mayberry said that he will introduce a bill to outlaw D&E, a common second-trimester abortion procedure. Mayberry, who is the President of Arkansas Right to Life, said that the bill would also rename the procedure “dismemberment” abortion. He told the Associated Press that the ban was Arkansas Right to Life’s “top legislative priority.” Anti-choice groups in the state have also indicated that they will introduce legislation banning sex-selective abortion.

  • Status: Will be introduced in the 2017 session.
  • Update, January 26, 2017: Filed and advanced to the Senate.
  • Update. January 27, 2017: Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed this bill into law.

Sex Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act: Sponsored by Senator Missy Irvin, this bill claims that abortions target female fetuses. Irvin’s bill would make it illegal to have an abortion based on the sex of the fetus.

  • Status: Introduced to House committee.
  • Update: February 15, 2017: This bill has passed the House.

Florida

24-Hour Waiting Period: Florida’s 24-hour waiting period was signed into law in 2015 by Governor Rick Scott. The law was appealed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a Gainesville-based clinic. At first, the ACLU was granted a stay, preventing the law from going into effect while their challenge worked its way through the courts but that was lifted by the 1 District Court of Appeals. ACLU appealed to Florida’s Supreme Court which heard arguments in early November. To be clear, the Florida Supreme Court is not ruling on the legality of the waiting period, they are set to rule on whether or not the temporary stay should be re-extended while the lawsuit winds its way through court.

  • Status: Waiting for a ruling from Florida’s Supreme Court.
  • Update, February 2017: The Court has extended the stay on the waiting period.

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act: Introduced by Reps. Joe Gruters and Don Hahnfeldt, HB 203 makes abortion illegal after 20 weeks. The bill makes performing an abortion after 20 weeks a third-degree felony unless there is there is a serious risk to the mother’s health. In addition, HB 203 mandates that abortion providers give the state’s Department of Health “detailed records containing specified data each time the physician performs or attempts to perform an abortion,” which will be shared with the public. The bill stops short of identifying the woman obtaining an abortion. Lastly, it requires that doctors, “to use an abortion method that provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive the abortion in specified circumstances” if, under HB 203’s definition, the fetus was determined to be able to feel pain.

  • Status: Filed to the Florida House.

HB 19: Sponsored by Representative Erin Grall, HB 19 allows women to sue abortion providers for injury or “emotional distress” up to ten years after the procedure. According to the Miami Herald, abortion advocates are against the bill because it would require abortion providers to pay extra liability insurance.

  • Status: Passed by a House subcommittee in early February 2017.
  • Update, February 24, 2017: This bill passed its second reading and has a Senate sponsor.

Idaho

Classify Abortion as First Degree Murder: A currently unnamed bill that Senator Dan Foreman plans to introduce would make abortion punishable as first-degree murder. Under Foreman’s bill, the woman obtaining and abortion and the doctor performing the procedure would both be criminally liable. There is an exception for when the woman’s life is in danger. “It would be groundbreaking,” Foreman said about the bill.

  • Status: Foreman plans to introduce the bill this session.

Indiana

“Protection at Conception” Bill: Representative Curt Nisly said he will introduce this total abortion ban during the 2017 legislative session.

  • Status: Not yet introduced.

“Abortion Reversal” Measure: Proposed by Republican Ron Bacon, the measure would require abortion providers to give patients having a drug-induced abortion information on stopping the procedure. There is no medical evidence that abortions can be reversed.

  • Status: Introduced and passed a House panel.

Parental Notification Bill: Would require girls under the age of 18 to notify their parents prior to obtaining an abortion. Sponsored by Senator Erin Houchin, the bill would eliminate the judicial waiver that minors can obtain without involving their parents.

  • Status: Introduced and advanced by a Senate panel.

Iowa

Senate File 2: Legislation to block funding to Planned Parenthood.

  • Status: Despite sizable protests at the Iowa Capitol in late January, this bill has advanced to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate File 26: Written by Republican Senator Mark Chelgren, this bill allows women to sue their doctor for “emotional distress they suffered from the procedure, even if that distress occurs years later.” Currently, there is no statute of limitations for a lawsuit, though committee members indicated that the timeframe is likely to be amended.

  • Status: Advanced to Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate File 253: A “personhood bill” that would protect life “from the moment of conception. The bill, which has 21 co-sponsors, would also allow prosecutors to bring two murder charges against a person arrested for killing a pregnant woman.

  • Status: Passed a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in late February 2017.

Senate File 53: A bill to outlaw abortions after the 20-week mark. This bill has no exceptions for fetal anomalies and does not consider survivability outside of the womb.

  • Status: Passed a Senate subcommittee in late February 2017.

Kentucky

20-Week Ban: The ban was introduced on the first day of the legislative session by Republican Senator Brandon Smith. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the bill was put on the “fast track” in the Senate and the ban has strong support among Kentucky’s Republican legislators who hold a supermajority in both Houses. The governor of the state, also a Republican, is likely to sign the bill. In its current incarnation, Smith’s 20-week ban has exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. It also seems to largely be a symbolic bill since Kentucky only has one abortion clinic and it does not offer abortions after 20 weeks.

  • Status: Introduced.
  • Update, January 5, 2017: This bill has passed the Senate.
  • Update, January 8, 2017: The Kentucky legislature passed this bill during a special Saturday session. The bill is waiting on the approval of Governor Matt Bevin.
  • Update, January 9, 2017: Bevin has signed this bill.

House Bill 2: Sponsored by Speaker Jeff Hoover (who is also sponsoring the 20-week ban in the House), this law would require women to have ultrasounds prior to an abortion. It also requires a doctor to show a woman the results of the ultrasound prior to an abortion.

  • Status: Introduced.
  • Update, January 8, 2017: The Kentucky legislature passed HB2 during a special Saturday session. Along with the 20-week ban, it’s headed to the governor’s desk.
  • Update, January 9, 2017: Bevin has signed this bill
  • Update: January 10, 2017: The ACLU has filed suit challenging this law.

Michigan:

Defund Planned Parenthood: A blanket bill to defund Planned Parenthood for any medical services they provide. Reimbursement for abortion services is already illegal in the state. This bill would cover the remaining services that PP provides Michigan women.

  • Status: Filed in House and Senate.

Licenses for Abortion Clinics: This bill would ban abortion clinics from performing the procedure until they are licensed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services under rules that treat clinics as “free-standing surgical centers.”

  • Status: Filed.

Montana

Senate Bill 282: Introduced by Albert Olszewski, SB 282 makes abortion illegal at 24 weeks, the gestational period which, the bill argues, a fetus is viable outside of the womb. The bill makes no exceptions for the woman’s health. The Missoulian reports that in cases where the mother’s health or life was endangered, the “doctor would have to induce labor or deliver the fetus by cesarean section and do everything medically possible to support the fetus.” The bill would make the violation of this law a felony.

  • Status: Introduced and passed through committee.

North Carolina:

House Bill 62: Another “abortion reversal bill,” HB 62 would require abortion providers to tell women who choose a medical abortion that the procedure is reversible. Again, there is no medical evidence suggesting that medical abortions can be safely reversed. The bill has been criticized by the medical community.

  • Status: Introduced.

Ohio

“Heartbeat” Bill: House Bill 69 bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. This bill would effectively outlaw any abortion procedure roughly six weeks after conception. The bill makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

  • Status: Passed the House in 2015. Passed the Senate on December 6, 2016. Will now return to the House.
  • Update, December 7: The bill has passed both chambers and will go to Governor John Kasich.
  • Update: December 13: Kasich vetoed this bill.

20-Week Ban: Senate Bill 127 makes abortion after the 20-week mark illegal. Currently, Ohio limits abortion at 20 weeks.

  • Status: Passed the Senate in 2015. House will likely vote on the bill sometime in December 2016.
  • Update, December 9: The bill has passed both chambers and will go to Governor John Kasich.
  • Update, December 13: Kasich has signed the 20-week ban into law.

Oklahoma

Heartbeat Bill: Introduced by Republican Senator Paul Scott, this is one of the numerous heartbeat bills currently making its way through state legislatures. This bill would effectively ban abortion after the four or five-week mark.

  • Status: Filed.

Abortion as First Degree Murder: Filed by Republican Senator Joseph Silk, this bill would make abortion a criminal act. This bill has floated around the Oklahoma legislature before but it’s never received a committee hearing or been introduced to the chamber.

  • Status: Filed.

Oregon

Senate Bill 541: Sponsored by Republican Representative Kim Thatcher, SB 541 would outlaw sex-selective abortions. According to the bill’s language, sex-selective abortions are “often performed because of personal or cultural preferences for male children over female children, and not because of any clear or imminent danger to the life of the mother.”

  • Status: Filed.

House Bill 3017: This 20-week ban is unlikely to pass since Oregon’s legislature and governor’s office are controlled by Democrats. It’s introduction, however, speaks to how prevalent the 20-week ban is right now. The bill is backed by Oregon Right to Life and includes requirements on how gestational age is determined.

  • Status: Filed.

Pennsylvania

House Bill 1948: This bill, which outlaws abortions past 20 weeks and renames second-trimester abortions “dismemberment abortion,” passed the state’s House in 2015. It failed to get through a special session of the of the Senate in mid-November 2016, but it’s likely to be reintroduced in the 2017 session. Governor Tom Wolf has said that he would veto the bill, but Pennsylvania Republicans will again have a veto-proof majority in 2017.

  • Status: Likely to be reintroduced.
  • Update, February 7, 2016: Senate Republicans have brought this bill back to the Judiciary Committee. Governor Tom Wolf has indicated that he will veto this bill.
  • Update, February 7, 2016: This bill had advanced from committee to the state Senate.

Tennessee

House Bill 101: Introduced by Republican Representative Terri Lynn Weaver, HB 101 would outlaw abortions after the 20 weeks. According to WBIR, there are no abortion clinics in Tennessee that perform abortions after 20 weeks and, in 2104, there were only 31 abortions in the state that took place between 17 and 20 weeks.

  • Status: Filed.

Heartbeat Bill: Backed by Republican Representative Micah Van Huss, the bill would make abortion illegal after the detection of a heartbeat or as early as four to five weeks of gestation.

  • Status: Filed but has yet to find a sponsor in the Senate.
  • Update, March 10, 2017: The bill did not make it past the House health panel and will not be considered.

Texas

House Bill 87: Filed by Representative Matt Schafer, the bill would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion after 20 weeks. The bill has two exceptions, one for the “physical or mental health of the woman,” and another if the fetus is unviable and the pregnancy has not progressed to the third trimester. Language that allowed exceptions for cases of “severe and irreversible abnormality” of the fetus was removed from the bill.

  • Status: Proposal filed for the 2017 legislative session.
  • Update, January 27, 2017: HB 87 has been introduced.

House Bill 201: Filed by Representative Byron Cook, the bill requires the burial or cremation of both aborted and miscarried fetuses. Under the legislation, health care providers that violate the law will be liable for a “civil penalty” of $1,000 for each violation. The Texas Tribune notes that HB 201, “echoes a recent proposal from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, made at the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott.”

  • Status: Proposal filed for the 2017 legislative session.
  • Update, December 1: Texas’s Health and Human Services Commission will put a rule requiring fetal burial into effect on December 19th. The burial requirement does not extend to miscarriages or abortions that occur at home but does include hospitals, abortion clinics, and other healthcare providers. No word on whether or not the legislation will go forward since the rules will effectively put the proposed legislation into law.
  • Update, December 17: A federal judge has granted a temporary stay on the implementation of this Health and Human Services rule.

Ban on Dilation and Evacuation Abortion: Filed by Stephanie Klick and Charles Perry, the bill would make the common dilation and evacuation abortion illegal. If passed, the bill would effectively outlaw abortion in the second trimester.

  • Status: Filed.

Abolition of Abortion in Texas Act: HB 948, sponsored by Representative Tony Tinderholt, bans all abortion regardless of federal law.

  • Status: Filed.

Trigger Law: SJR9, a constitutional amendment written by Republican Senator Bob Hall, this bill bans abortion “to the fullest extent authorized under federal constitutional law as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court.” Like all trigger laws, SJR9 is hoping for the overturn of Roe. If that were to happen (and this bill were to pass) then abortion would be immediately illegal in Texas.

  • Status: Introduced but very unlikely to go anywhere.

Senate Bill 25: This incredibly dumb bill would prevent parents from suing physicians if a baby was born with a disability. The Texas Tribune reports that Brandon Creighton, the author of the bill, “said current law sends the message that “wrongful births” are real and discriminates against children born with disabilities.”

  • Status: This bill passed committee in February 2017 and is heading to the Senate floor.

Utah

“Abortion Reversal” Bill: This bill, which Republican Representative Keven Stratton plans to introduce in the 2017 legislative session, would require doctors to tell women that they could “reverse” a medically induced abortion. There is no medical evidence indicating that such a procedure is possible. Similar laws have been passed in Arkansas and South Dakota.

  • Status: Utah lawmakers will consider the bill in the 2017 session.

Virginia

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act: This 20-week ban with a ridiculous name has been revived by numerous lawmakers in the state. The bill would make abortion after 20 weeks illegal with no exception for rape or incest.

  • Status: Legislators will introduce this bill in the 2017 session.
  • Update, January 4, 2017: Governor Terry McAuliffe has said he will veto this bill.

Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood: Delegate Benjamin L. Cline would prevent the state’s department of health from giving funding to clinics that provide abortion services.

  • Status: This bill has passed the Senate.
  • Update, February 21, 2017: Governor McAuliffe has vetoed this bill.

Washington

Parental Notification Bill: Sponsored by Senator Mike Padden, this bill would require minors to notify a parent or guardian prior to obtaining an abortion. This bill was introduced last year before dying in the House. The Spokane-Review reports that the reintroduced bill is likely to make it out of a Senate committee but is unlikely to pass in the Democratic-controlled legislature.

  • Status: Introduced.

Wisconsin:

Insurance Bill: Introduced Senator David Craig and Representatives André Jacque, Ron Tusler, and Janel Brandtjen, this bill would prevent the state’s group insurance from using a plan that would cover the costs of an abortion procedure. Effectively, this bill would prevent state employees from using their insurance to cover reproductive care. The Cap Times notes that “Wisconsin law currently prohibits payment for abortion through Medicaid and bars state exchanges set up through the Affordable Care Act from covering abortion.”

  • Status: Introduced.

Wyoming

House Bill 116: Sponsored by Representative Cheri Steinmetz, this is a fetal pain bill that would limit abortion to the 20 or 22-week mark (the language of the bill, combined with Wyoming’s current laws, make the exact week hard to determine). There are currently no abortion providers in the state that provide the procedure past 12 weeks. HB 116 also makes it a felony for “anyone to donate or sell tissue or cells from an aborted embryo or fetus for ‘any form of experimentation,’” including embryonic stem cell research and research conducted with fetal tissue.

  • Status: Introduced
  • Update, February 20, 2017: This bill has passed the House and a Senate committee. It now moves to the Senate for a vote.

House Bill 132: Sponsored by Rep. Scott Clem, HB 132 essentially weakens patient privacy. The Casper Star-Tribune reports:

Current law requires doctors to report every abortion they perform to Wyoming health officials but states that no information should be recorded that could “disclose the identity of the individual participating in an abortion.”
House Bill 132 strikes that language and instead requires doctors to report a medical record number for the patient on the form “to enable matching the report to the pregnant woman’s medical records.”

This bill would effectively allow district and state attorneys to identify women who have had an abortion. It also levies fines against doctors who submit mandatory reports late and makes intentionally failing to report a procedure to the state a misdemeanor. Clem argues that these new reporting procedures are necessary to curb the illegal sale of fetal remains.

  • Status: Introduced.

HB 182: Requires that a physician “offer” an ultrasound to every patient prior to performing an abortion.