|
Fast Facts
Abortion Bans After 12 Weeks
Have politicians succeeded in making abortion illegal in some cases? |
YES. In 2003, Congress passed the Federal Abortion Ban, which outlaws certain safe, medically appropriate abortion services often necessary to protect a woman’s health as early as the 12th week of pregnancy. It has no exception when a woman’s health is in danger. In April 2007, the Supreme Court declared the ban constitutional, thereby upholding this ban on a safe abortion method nationwide. The court’s holding is contrary to its decision in 2000 that declared state bans on so-called “partial birth” abortion unconstitutional. The court’s decision also gives the green light to states to enact further bans and other restrictions on abortion that disregard women’s health. All of these bans put politicians’ beliefs above a doctor’s medical judgment and would deny some women the health care their doctors believe is safest for them. |
CURRENT STATE LAWS20 states have unconstitutional and unenforceable bans that could outlaw abortion as early as the 12th week of pregnancy, with no exception to protect a woman's health: AL, AK, FL, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, MI, MS, NE, NJ, ND, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, WV, WI.
6 states ban a safe abortion procedure with no health exception: AZ, AR, LA, MO, UT, VA.
1 state bans a safe abortion procedure with only a narrow health exception: OH. |
CURRENT FEDERAL LAWSIn November 2003, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Federal Abortion Ban, which bans a safe abortion procedure, with no exception to protect a woman’s health. The ban applies nationwide, even in states that have chosen not to enact these types of bans or that have constitutional or statutory protection for the right to choose that exceeds the protection provided by the federal Constitution. In April 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Federal Abortion Ban. |
2009 ENACTED STATE LEGISLATION2 states enacted 2 measures that ban a safe, medically appropriate abortion procedure with no exception to protect a woman's health: AZ, AR. |
2009 NOTABLE CASES
In June 2009, the 11-member Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Virginia's ban on a safe, pre-viability abortion procedure in Richmond Medical Center v. Herring. Ruling on the basis that the Virginia law did not constitute an undue burden on a woman's right to choose under the Supreme Court's new standard, the court reversed an earlier decision issued by a three-member panel that had found the ban's language so vague that it could have outlawed the most common abortion methods as early as the second trimester.
|
2009 NOTABLE DEVELOPMENTS
After the Supreme Court reversed precedent and upheld the Federal Abortion Ban in 2007, observers expected states to rush to enact newly enforceable abortion-procedure bans consistent with the federal law. In 2009, their predictions began to take shape: state legislatures, as well as the courts, approved measures restricting women's access to certain abortion procedures in accordance with the Federal Abortion Ban, as illustrated by the Arizona and Arkansas laws and the Virginia case.
|
| For a map of all states with Abortion Bans After 12 Weeks - click here. | |
