Abortion debate escalates in US as Congress stalls

Anti-abortion advocates are pushing for an expansion of the ban on abortion and tighter restrictions as the Supreme Court struck down the national right to abortion. But as the debate in Washington has largely stalled, the focus is shifting to states convening their first full legislative sessions since Rowe vs. Wade was overturned.

While some state GOP lawmakers have introduced bills to ban abortion pills or make it harder for women to travel out of state for abortions, others seem to disagree on what their next steps should be. Some are even considering measures to loosen existing bans in their states, especially after a less-than-stellar performance by Republicans in the 2022 midterms and widespread voter support for abortion in the state’s ballot.

Meanwhile, Democratic-led states are seeking to strengthen protections against abortion, including Minnesota and Michigan, where Democrats won legislative majorities in November elections.

Anti-abortion groups have said their goal is to overthrow Rowe vs. Wade should have returned the decision to the states, but now they are making it clear they want a comprehensive national ban on abortion.

“State and federal legislation should provide the greatest possible protection for life in the womb,” says the Post-Row Plan by the anti-abortion group Students for Life.

The new Republican-led House of Representatives showed its anti-abortion good faith on the first day the laws were officially passed, January 11, by passing two anti-abortion bills that are unlikely to become law because the Senate is still controlled by Democrats and President Joe Biden. in the White House.

So, at the federal level, the fight is unfolding in the courts over the abortion pill mifepristone, which has been used for more than two decades as part of a two-component regimen and has recently become the method of most abortions in the United States. are being carried out.

The Biden administration has taken steps to make mifepristone more affordable by allowing its distribution in pharmacies, as well as clarifying that distribution of the pills by US mail is legal. But the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, on behalf of several anti-abortion groups, filed a federal lawsuit in Texas in November, alleging that the FDA never had the authority to approve the drug.

In Texas, some lawmakers are exploring new ways to stop Texans from getting abortions. For example, one proposal bans local governments from using tax dollars to help people access out-of-state abortion services, while another proposal bans tax subsidies for businesses that help their local workers get out-of-state abortions.

These measures could get lost in the turmoil of the state’s frantic 140-day biennial sessions if legislative leaders don’t make them a priority. The state’s law to ban almost all abortions, which went into effect last year, “seems to be working really well,” said Joe Poyman, founder and executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group. Three abortions were reported in the state in August 2022, compared with more than 5,700 reported in the same month a year earlier, according to the latest state data.

The top Republican in the state House of Representatives said his priority is to increase support for new moms, for example by increasing postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months.

This is “an opportunity for the Texas House of Representatives to focus more than ever on supporting mothers and children,” said Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, touched on a similar theme in her Jan. 10 speech, saying she would introduce bills to expand a program for nurses who make home visits to new mothers and help government employees pay for adoptions. Noem has previously said that South Dakota needs to focus “on caring for mothers in crisis and giving them the resources they need to ensure that they and their child are successful.”

Some Texas Republican Party legislators have indicated that they can make exceptions to the abortion ban in cases of rape and incest. And the Republican legislator plans to try to change South Dakota’s ban that allows abortion only for life-threatening pregnancies to clarify when an abortion is medically necessary.

“Part of the problem right now is that doctors and healthcare providers just don’t know what a line is,” said Rep. Taylor Refeldt, a nurse who herself has experienced miscarriages and high-risk pregnancies.

Refeldt wants to restore the old law allowing abortion during pregnancy, which can cause serious irreversible physical harm to “essential bodily function.” Refeldt said she is also working on bills to allow abortions for women who are pregnant or pregnant after rape or incest.

Some anti-abortion activists in Georgia are pushing lawmakers to go beyond the state ban on most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy. They want legislation to ban telemedicine prescriptions for abortion pills and a state constitutional amendment declaring that an embryo or fetus has all legal human rights at any stage of development.

“Caviar it’s off the track,” said Zemmie Fleck, executive director of Right to Life in Georgia. “In our state, there are no longer barriers to what we can do.”

However, Republican leaders are biding their time while Georgia’s Supreme Court considers the legal challenge of the six-week ban. “Our focus remains on the Georgia Supreme Court case and how to see it through,” said Andrew Eisenhor, a spokesman for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

Legislators and abortion rights advocates have little opportunity to advance their initiatives in these Republican-controlled statehouses.

A Georgia Democrat has filed a bill that would require the state to compensate women who cannot terminate their pregnancies due to the state’s ban on abortion. State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick admitted her bill likely won’t go far, but she said she hopes it will draw attention to the issue and get GOP lawmakers to “put their money where they say it” in supporting families.

In Missouri, which currently bans nearly all abortions, abortion rights advocates are mulling the idea of ​​circumventing the Republican-dominated state legislature by asking voters in 2024 to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.

But those efforts could be thwarted by a plethora of bills filed by Republican lawmakers seeking to make it harder for constitutional initiatives to get to the vote, and for those measures that do get on the ballot, requiring at least 60% of voters to pass.

Democrats in Michigan and Minnesota are likely to use their newfound control of both legislative houses and the gubernatorial administration to defend access to abortion. While Michigan’s voters already passed a vote in November entrenching the right to abortion in the state constitution, Democrats are trying to repeal the 1931 abortion law from the books.

In Illinois, Democrats, who control the legislature, recently stepped up protection against abortion amid increased demand from out-of-state residents. New York lawmakers this year may send voters a proposed state constitutional amendment to protect abortion, while New Jersey lawmakers have rejected a similar proposal.

The November election resulted in a split of government in Arizona and Nevada, with Arizona now having a Democratic governor and Nevada having a Republican governor. Any bills relating to abortion passed by the legislatures of these states may be vetoed.

Some Republican-controlled legislatures, including those in Montana, Florida, and Alaska, are also constrained from passing sweeping abortion bans due to court rulings linking access to abortion to privacy rights in those state constitutions.

In Montana, a state judge blocked three anti-abortion laws passed in 2021 on this basis. The state’s state attorneys have petitioned the Montana Supreme Court to overturn the precedent, and a decision has yet to be made.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Keith Reger has filed a bill to remove abortion from the state’s definition of a right to privacy. Regier said he believes the human right to privacy should not extend to abortion because it also involves an unborn child.

Democratic leaders have said Republicans disagree with the people they represent on this issue. In November, Montana voters rejected a “born alive” ballot initiative that required doctors to treat newborns with shortness of breath or palpitations after a failed abortion or any other delivery.

“The people of Montana have made it so clear that they don’t want the government to abuse their health care decisions,” Democratic Rep. Alice Buckley said.

KHN correspondents Renuka Rayasam and Sam Whitehead in Atlanta; Ariel Zionts in Rapid City, South Dakota; Bram Sable-Smith in St. Louis; and Katherine Houghton of Missoula, Montana contributed to this report.