Abortion Restrictions at an All-Time High; Activists Fight Back

Nineteen Republican-controlled state legislatures passed 97 abortion restrictions by July 2 of this year. Twenty-eight of those were enacted over just four days in April. This is the highest number since the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, according to State Policy Trends at Midyear 2021: Already the Worst Legislative Year Ever for U.S. Abortion Rights, a July report co-authored by Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst at the Guttmacher Institute who has been tracking state legislation on abortion and reproductive health for 22 years. But thanks to tireless efforts by advocates, there were also some states that protected or enhanced access to abortion and reproductive health care.

This flurry of anti-abortion legislative activity — while the country is still struggling with a historic pandemic — is a deliberate attempt by right-wing politicians to rally their base and “keep them ginned up, which also keeps the focus away from other issues like race, education, and unemployment,” said Nash. “This year we’ve seen a couple of pieces come together: The 2020 elections meant that state legislatures shifted to the right, and they appeal to their base by supporting restrictions on abortion, dismantling voting rights, and codifying discrimination against trans youth. And there is the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, making it solidly anti-abortion. This has unleashed state legislatures to adopt more bans on abortion. Many states have so many restrictions that the only thing left is banning abortion.”

A number of the new restrictions prohibit telehealth for medical abortion. Idaho, Oklahoma, and South Carolina passed bans on abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, before many abortion seekers even realize they are pregnant. And not only did Texas adopt a six-week ban, but the law, which is set to go into effect September 1, allows anyone who is opposed to abortion to sue an abortion provider or someone who assists with obtaining an abortion. Advocates are challenging it in court. But even before this bill takes effect, “abortion is already extremely difficult to access in Texas, where restrictions have forced clinics to close and patients face countless hurdles,” said Kamyon Conner, executive director of the Texas Equal Access Fund, which provides assistance to people seeking abortions and works in coalition with many organizations across the state to fight against abortion restrictions. These include a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent requirements, and bans on telemedicine for abortion. But if this new law is allowed to go into effect, “we anticipate having to help all of our callers go out of state for care,” said Conner. This would mean that the average distance to an abortion clinic would increase from 12 miles to 248 miles. “We’ll need more funding to help people travel longer distances, as well as help them with lodging, child care, and other added expenses that come up. Seventy percent of our callers are people of color, and almost half are already parents. All of our callers face some sort of financial barrier that makes abortion inaccessible for them. Because of those intersections, we have already been doing a good amount of cross-movement work. Our callers do not have just one barrier when calling us that vanishes once we fund them.”

Polls consistently show that a majority of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, including a Pew Research Center poll conducted this spring. However, this view is not reflected in many statehouses. “These people who say they support all these things, we need to see them at the state legislatures,” said Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. “We need to see these numbers as people.”

There is also still a lot of “stigma around [abortion], and it’s hard for people to be fully in support publicly,” said Nash. Additionally, “a lot of people don’t think about getting an abortion until they need one, and it’s only then that they realize how many barriers there are — there is an information gap about access.”

In addition to organizing protests, petition drives, and voter outreach to fight statewide restrictions and bans, advocates are anxiously waiting for the outcome of the upcoming Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The justices will be reviewing whether Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, which was blocked by a lower court, is legal, signaling an openness to reversing almost 50 years of precedent on abortion rights.

The Supreme Court is now made up of six justices who are Catholic, and “five of those are right-wing Catholics [and] their fringe interpretation of Catholicism is an exception,” said Jamie L. Manson, president of Catholics for Choice. While 56% of Catholics in the United States support access to abortion in most or all cases and 68% believe that Roe should not be overturned, anti-abortion politicians promulgate this fringe interpretation of Catholicism in their efforts to ban abortion. “It’s essential that people of faith [who support abortion] speak back in the language of faith. We need to educate people about what abortion is and talk about it in terms of personal freedom [and] take back the moral high ground in this fight. The role of the religious left is to link all these justice issues — access to abortion, racism, immigration, and voting rights — together as one struggle for freedom and the defense of democracy. Our democracy is at stake, and the issue of abortion is being exploited to activate a right-wing agenda. This is it — the stakes are as high as they have ever been and the pro-choice religious left has to get loud.”

There are however, success stories this year. New Mexico finally repealed its 1969 abortion ban, which after Roe was declared unconstitutional; it could have been enforced if the Supreme Court overturned Roe. Virginia repealed the abortion coverage ban in its state insurance plan. Colorado passed a new law ensuring that public funds, including Medicaid, pay for any abortion services (previously public funds could be used only in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment). And in Arizona, advocates and activists fought back against an onslaught of anti-choice legislation, defeating all but one out of a dozen bills. The coalition of reproductive health, rights, and justice advocates grew out of years of resource sharing and collaboration on a wide range of social justice issues, said Caroline Mello Roberson, the southwest regional director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “A crucial factor to the anti-choice strategy is targeting our freedom to vote. It’s no coincidence that the same state legislators attacking voting rights also support far-reaching restrictions on reproductive freedom and abortion access. Anti-choice politicians in Arizona know they can’t win on the merits of their unpopular policies, so they’ve attacked the right to vote by creating barriers to accessing the ballot box.”

Advocates in Arkansas filed a lawsuit to fight an abortion ban signed into law in March, which would have made it a felony to perform an abortion, except to save the life of the patient, punishable by up to ten years in prison or a $100,000 fine. On July 20, a judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking it. Advocates also fought 20 anti-abortion measures passed through the state assembly as well as anti-trans bills and voter suppression measures. Bills in Arkansas can be introduced and passed in a little more than a single week, making it even more difficult to mobilize opposition. “This lightning-fast approach to creating legislation and moving it — sometimes with only 24 hours between committees and chambers — is an intentional tactic that is designed to suppress public participation in the process,” said Gloria Pedro, regional manager of public policy for Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “A lot of Arkansans tried to speak out against [the abortion ban] and felt silenced when the committee hearings in the legislature limited comments and testimony.” Pedro pointed out that typically, few candidates for the state legislature support reproductive health care. “However, more and more candidates across the state who care about the health care of all Arkansans, including access to abortion, are starting to run for office. We’re hopeful that’s a trend that will continue.”

Although there are two promising federal bills before Congress — the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would protect the right to access abortion care, and the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act — the state legislatures have so much power and control over access to abortion. “The states are where it’s at in terms of abortion restrictions and protections,” said Nash. “Right now, state legislatures don’t represent the people and most people haven’t figured out their importance. COVID has taken so much from all of us, and it’s a huge effort right now to get people to focus on what they value, and yet state legislators need to hear from their constituents so action can be taken.”

Advocates urge taking action that moves even further than maintaining the limited access that is now available. “Anti-abortion politicians have spent over 40 years chipping away at legal abortion access, even as Roe stands,” said Conner. “Roe is the floor, it is not the ceiling, and we need to stop settling for crumbs from politicians and court cases. We must do more than sustain existing abortion rights, because that alone will not ensure people can get care. It’s going to take all of us, working together and boldly advocating for ourselves, our families, and our communities. Politicians shouldn’t control our destinies — we should.”

Drawing links between issues is key to successful grassroots organizing. “In the last year we have gotten stronger in our coalition work, including around issues of economic justice and environmental justice, and it’s beyond overdue that these issues are seen as integrated with each other,” said Simpson. “We are doing a better job at making the connections between all of our work with reproductive justice. I always believe in the power of the people and when we do come together collectively, we win. There are more people trying to dismantle the patriarchy and white supremacy than trying to keep it going.”