The Quickie: State-Level Abortion Access Rights to Come in the New Year
For Immediate Release: Dec. 8, 2022
Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: previewing the state-level abortion access fights to come in 2023 and PA repro rights advocates sound the alarm on CPCs.
STATE-LEVEL ABORTION ACCESS FIGHTS TO COME IN THE NEW YEAR: Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal previewed some upcoming fights over abortion access expected during the 2023 state legislative sessions. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, many states enacted highly restrictive abortion bans; but anti-abortion politicians across the country are preparing to go even further, despite midterm results that indicate strong voter support for abortion rights.
Florida has emerged as a major target for anti-abortion activists. While we await a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court on the state’s 15-week ban, anti-abortion activists have been pushing for an even more extreme six-week ban. Florida remains a critical access point for the South, so further restrictions would have far-reaching impacts across the region. Similarly, anti-abortion extremists are attempting to further restrict abortion access in North Carolina where a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy is in effect. Anti-abortion politicians are one seat away from a supermajority that can override the governor’s veto, making access tenuous.
“We staved off that supermajority by one vote but that really underscores how thinly abortion access is hanging on in North Carolina,” Jenny Black, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said.
Anti-abortion politicians in South Carolina, Nebraska, and Ohio are also planning to introduce and rally support for further abortion restrictions once again, after falling short thus far. On the proactive side, some reproductive rights advocates have discussed pursuing ballot initiatives in states like Ohio to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Given the level of support for reproductive freedom, opponents however, have proposed changing the rules of the game for these measures by raising the vote threshold for approval.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal.
PA REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ADVOCATES SOUND THE ALARM ON CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS: Yesterday, Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported on Pennsylvania reproductive rights advocates’ concerns regarding crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), which push anti-abortion propaganda, trick pregnant people through false advertising, and threaten the health of pregnant people through medical misinformation. CPCs are a particularly important issue in Pennsylvania as six of the state’s 67 counties are maternal health deserts, according to March of Dimes, and more than 105,000 women of reproductive age live in counties with little or no obstetric care, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
There are just 17 clinics that provide abortion care (including 14 Planned Parenthood affiliate clinics) in the state compared to 160 anti-abortion CPCs, which received over $7 million in public funds this year. CPCs are not licensed health care facilities and are not staffed by medical professionals, making them unqualified to provide health care. Supplanting health care clinics with CPCs represents real danger for people, especially those with low incomes and living in rural areas who are targeted by CPCs. Addressing the dangers posed by CPCs remains a top issue for Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania Advocates.
Read more at Pennsylvania Capital-Star.