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Fast Facts
Biased Counseling & Mandatory Delays
What are biased-counseling and mandatory-delay laws, and how do they endanger women's health? |
Biased-counseling and mandatory-delay laws prohibit women from receiving abortion care until they are subjected to a state-mandated lecture and/or materials followed by a delay of usually at least 24 hours. A woman considering abortion, like any patient, should receive full and unbiased information from her doctor about her medical options. However, these laws not only represent unnecessary government intrusion into private decisions and the doctor-patient relationship, they often require that women be provided with medically inaccurate information, such as the disproven claim that abortion causes breast cancer. Mandatory delays create additional burdens for women, especially women in rural areas who often have to travel for many hours to reach a health-care provider, and for women who do not have the resources to take extra time off work or pay for childcare. Mandatory-delay laws endanger women’s health by creating unnecessary burdens that can impede earlier, and therefore safer, abortion care. |
CURRENT STATE LAWS32 states have laws that subject women seeking abortion services to biased-counseling requirements and/or mandatory delays: AL, AK, AZ, AR, DE, FL, GA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, ND, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WV, WI.
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8 of these laws have been found fully or partially unconstitutional by courts: AZ, DE, KY, MA, MI, MT, SD, TN. |
2009 ENACTED STATE LEGISLATION3 states enacted 3 measures related to biased counseling and/or mandatory delays: AZ, ND, UT. |
2009 NOTABLE CASES
In August 2009, on remand from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal district court ruled in Planned Parenthood MN, ND, SD v. Rounds that South Dakota's biased-counseling law was partially enforceable and partially unenforceable. The law, passed in 2005, required providers to tell a woman that abortion ends "the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being," that she has a relationship with the "unborn human being," and that abortion increases the likelihood of suicide. The most recent decision upheld the portion of the law forcing providers to tell the woman that abortion ends "the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being," but struck down the portions relating to the relationship with the "unborn human being" and the increased risk of suicide.
In September 2009, in Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc. v. Goddard, a state superior court blocked portions of Arizona's new biased-counseling/mandatory-delay law. The decision allows the state to enforce a new 24-hour mandatory delay before women can access abortion services, but enjoins a provision that the state-mandated counseling and materials be provided in person, thereby blocking enforcement of a two-trip requirement.
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2009 NOTABLE DEVELOPMENTS
Not satisfied with the current biased counseling to which women seeking abortion services are subjected, anti-choice legislators have been pushing to add even more ideological language. The South Dakota law at issue in Planned Parenthood MN, ND, SD v. Rounds requiring providers to tell women that abortion ends "the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being" has become a model for other states. In 2009, North Dakota enacted a law with identical language. Both houses of the Kansas legislature also passed a bill with the same provision; it was blocked only because then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed it.
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| For a map of all states with Biased Counseling & Mandatory Delays - click here. | |
