[New state legislative sessions likely to bring fresh efforts to
restrict, penalize or altogether ban the procedure]
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ONSLAUGHT OF NEW ABORTION RESTRICTIONS LOOMS IN REDDEST OF STATES  
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Poppy Noor
December 13, 2022
The Guardian
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_ New state legislative sessions likely to bring fresh efforts to
restrict, penalize or altogether ban the procedure _

In January, state legislatures will reconvene with conservative
lawmakers no longer constrained by a constitutional right to
abortion., Jason Connolly/AFP/Getty Images

 

In Nebraska, a total abortion ban could be on the horizon. In Florida,
the gestational limit for abortions could drop from 15 weeks to 12.
Elsewhere, lawmakers have abortion pills in their sights.

When Roe v Wade fell, most states were no longer in legislative
session, meaning the term during which they usually write and pass
bills had ended. In January, state legislatures will reconvene in an
entirely new reality, one where conservative lawmakers are no longer
constrained by the constitutional right to abortion once assured by
Roe.

The midterm elections brought victories for abortion rights in a
number of states. But in others, politics are on the side of
anti-abortion advocates. In those reddest of states, the new state
legislative sessions are likely to bring a fresh onslaught of efforts
to restrict, penalize or altogether ban abortion.

Katie Glenn, the state policy director at Susan B Anthony Pro-Life
America, confirms the group’s top priority in 2023 will be reducing
the gestational age for legal abortion, alongside bringing new
outright bans. Abortion [[link removed]]
is currently banned in 13 states.

Exactly how restrictive those bans will be remains to be seen, with
conservatives across the country embroiled in conflicts over which
exceptions – if any – should be allowed for abortion.
“Exceptions in the case of rape and incest, we realise, are
sometimes a necessary political reality. And we would not block a bill
or oppose a bill that would prevent 95% of abortions,” explains
Glenn.

In some states, anti-abortion advocates previously stymied by
Democrats now have room to maneuver since the midterms, which brought
some conservative wins. In 2022, progressive members of Nebraska’s
legislature filibustered a ban proposed by Republicans, effectively
killing it
[[link removed]].
But lawmakers say
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that the party no longer has the votes to block an abortion ban.

Meanwhile, in states where abortion bans have been mired in lengthy
court proceedings, Republican majorities could pass more stringent
laws when the session starts.

In Iowa, for example, a six-week ban has been held up in court since
2019. With the legislature reconvening on 9 January, it could choose
to pass a new ban rather than waiting for the courts. That would be
helped by the fact that, just before Roe fell, Iowa’s state supreme
court ruled there is no constitutional
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[[link removed]]right
to abortion in the state
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With the midterms solidifying conservative majorities in both
chambers, that clears the path toward a tougher ban (though
Republicans in the state have said they will discuss next steps only
after
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the court resolves the lawsuit over the six-week ban).

Similarly, a six-week ban in Georgia that was recently reinstated by
the state supreme court could pave the way for new restrictions when
the legislature convenes, considering that Georgia’s governor, state
house and state senate are all under Republican control. And in
Florida, where the GOP clinched supermajorities in both chambers,
legislators have indicated an interest
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in further limiting abortion, lowering the gestational limit from 15
to 12 weeks.

Any legislation in Florida ultimately depends on its Republican
governor, Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has grown quiet on the issue as bans
have increasingly proven unpopular, and since he is weighing up a 2024
presidential bid, he may hold off.

Nor does Republican control over state governments elsewhere
necessarily guarantee new restrictions. In some states, consensus has
been hard to come by in a GOP increasingly mired by internal
divisions.

In South Carolina, for example, several attempts to pass an abortion
ban in special session in 2022 failed despite a strong Republican
majority.

Lawmakers were at odds over how far a ban should go, with some
supporting an exception for young rape victims, or in cases where
there would be no chance of the fetus surviving outside the womb
[[link removed]].
Ultimately, those differences proved insurmountable: neither side
budged, and none of the proposed bans moved forward. A separate
six-week ban is making its way through state courts, and abortion in
the state remains legal up until 22 weeks.

Targeting medication abortion

Since Roe fell, requests for medication that can induce a miscarriage
have shot up,
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medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all abortions,
according to the Guttmacher Institute
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Conservatives are increasingly concerned with how to enforce abortion
bans in a climate where people can access pills online and manage
their own abortions. Medication abortion is approved by the Food and
Drug Administration, and considered very safe in the first trimester.
In Oklahoma, lawmakers
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have asked the state attorney general to clarify whether self-managed
abortion through pills violates the law.

Introducing in-person screening requirements is another way to make
abortion medication harder to access, especially in states without
bans. For example, a Kansas law tried to ban providers from
prescribing for medication abortion through
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[[link removed]]telehealth
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That law was shot down by a judge last month.

Restricting telemedicine is one route anti-abortion advocates will
take to target medication abortion this year, says Glenn, of SBA
Pro-Life America.

Students for Life America, another anti-abortion group, intends to go
after medication abortion through environmental laws, through bills
that would require fetal tissue to be treated as medical waste
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curtailing the ability for people to manage their abortions at home. A
petition to that effect has already been filed at the federal level
with the Food and Drug Administration.

Criminalizing abortion

 
States that ban abortion typically impose criminal penalties on
providers who violate bans, but exempt – at least formally – the
person actually seeking the abortion. Far-right groups have advocated
for an end to that exemption, but their efforts have so far proved
politically untenable: in Louisiana, a bill looking to bring murder
charges
[[link removed].]
against people who end their own pregnancies failed to pass over the
summer, with most Republicans finding it too extreme
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Abortion rights advocates are bracing themselves for further such
efforts, including bills to criminalize out-of-state travel for
abortion – an effort attempted in 2022 by Missouri, without success.

“Over a dozen states that put abortion bans in effect in 2022 are
states with trifectas that are hostile to abortion rights. In those
states that have been the most rabidly anti-abortion, we expect to see
a next generation of measures that either remove the exemptions in the
current law, or increase the penalties or the enforcement
mechanisms” to ban abortions, says Jessica Arons, senior policy
counsel for the ACLU.

They are also watching efforts to widen the net to penalize those
providing assistance to people seeking abortions, including employers.

Other legislation already filed in Texas ahead of the new legislative
sessionincludes a bill that would count a fetus as a person in the HOV
lane
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another that would limit tax subsidies for businesses providing
support for employees seeking abortions
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legislation that would make it harder for prosecutors to refuse to
enforce abortion bans
[[link removed]].

Bolstered protections in blue states

Amid the barrage of restrictions, other states have made moves to
bolster protections for abortion rights. In the midterms, Michigan,
Vermont and California protected abortion in their state
constitutions. And throughout the country, there are moves to pass and
strengthen so-called “shield laws” to protect providers caring for
patients from states with bans.

“People are looking at those shield laws to see if there are any
protections for abortion funds, for example,” explains the
Guttmacher Institutes’ policy expert Elizabeth Nash. “If you’re
an abortion fund in California, and you give money to somebody from
Texas to come to California for an abortion, what kind of protections
do we need [to make sure they’re not legally liable]?”

Since Roe fell, states like California, Maryland and Delaware have
expanded access, including to those from out of state, by passing laws
enabling nurses to perform abortions. Meanwhile, in New York, the
governor, Kathy Hochul, has allocated millions of dollars to abortion
providers and the state is also pursuing efforts to enshrine abortion
rights in the state’s constitution.

These types of efforts are what states hoping to bolster protections
will be looking to. “People are seeing where there are gaps are in
these laws, and trying to fill them basically,” Nash says.

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* Abortion bans; Abortion protections;
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