State-Level Attacks on Planned Parenthood
The 2010 elections dramatically changed state legislatures and governors’ offices nationwide, causing a wave of efforts to restrict women’s access to health care. This legislative cycle, state bills targeting women's health are moving swiftly, even before jobs bills.
While some of the state bills mimic recent federal proposals, others go much further. Here are the top trends targeting women’s health on the state level.
Attacks on Planned Parenthood Patients. In states around the country, anti-Planned Parenthood legislators are trying to eliminate funding for family planning health care or block Planned Parenthood’s participation in public health programs, even though Planned Parenthood has played a vital role in these programs designed to keep women and families healthy. Lawmakers have even gone so far as to target Planned Parenthood’s participation in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program.
These bills cynically place political ideology over basic health care, putting the lives of millions of women and families at risk. As we saw during the federal debate, these attacks are bad health policy, bad fiscal policy, and bad politics.
Court decisions in Indiana, Kansas, and now North Carolina have made it abundantly clear that it is unacceptable for states to pass laws that prevent women from going to their trusted health care provider to get primary and preventive care.
20-week abortion bans (ENACTED 2011: AL, ID, IN, KS, OK; ENACTED 2010: NE). Six states now ban abortion as early as 20 weeks gestation based on the disputed premise of so-called fetal pain. A pregnant woman experiencing complications that threaten her health, life, or the viability of her pregnancy should be able to consider all options without government interference or judgment from lawmakers. Some of these bills don’t even allow exceptions for the health of the woman.
These bills are a deliberate attempt by politicians to take the decision about abortion away from women and their doctors, using baseless claims that are not supported by the highly respected American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Insurance coverage bans (ENACTED 2011: FL, ID, IN, KS, NE, OK, UT, VA; ENACTED 2010: AZ, LA, MO, MS, TN). Abortion coverage is currently a standard provision in most private health insurance plans. These new anti-choice laws would effectively prevent insurance companies from participating in state insurance exchanges if they continued to provide comprehensive women’s health coverage. These measures would force most insurers to drop abortion care coverage to avoid being excluded from an important part of the market. And women needing abortions would have to pay the full cost out-of-pocket, even if their health were in danger or they experienced a tragic pregnancy diagnosis.
Other examples of dangerous legislation. Other dangerous legislation recently introduced or enacted include:
- Mandatory ultrasounds for women seeking abortion care: Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a law in June. Courts have blocked similarly dangerous laws in Texas and North Carolina from going into effect.
- A proposal to ban abortion even before a woman may know she is pregnant. This bill was introduced in Ohio, where there are also efforts to ban all abortion and many forms of birth control with a ballot iniaitive.
- A backdoor ban on abortion. Virginia may be adopting the most restrictive abortion regulations in the country, and Pennsylvania is considering a similar proposal.
Connect with your state and local Planned Parenthood organization for the latest in state-level attacks and how you can help.