Abortion continues to consume American politics and courts, two years after a Supreme Court bill was leaked.

Policy

Currently, 14 states ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions. Meanwhile, most Democratic-led states have taken steps to preserve or expand access.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL, Associated Press

May 2, 2024 | 8:35 a.m.

Two years after a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court signaled that the nation’s abortion landscape was on the verge of radical change, the issue continues to engage courts, legislatures and political campaigns across the country – and change the course of lives.

On Wednesday, a ban on abortion after the first six weeks of pregnancy, often before women realize they are pregnant, took effect in Florida, echoing laws in two other states. Meanwhile, in Arizona, lawmakers voted to repeal a total ban on abortion dating back to 1864, decades before Arizona became a state. Also this week, the Kansas legislature increased funding for anti-abortion centers, while advocates in South Dakota submitted the required number of signatures for a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution of State.

The status of abortion in states across the country has been constantly changing, with lawmakers passing measures and courts ruling on their challenges. Currently, 14 states ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions. Meanwhile, most Democratic-led states have taken steps to preserve or expand access.

“Some of them are exactly what we knew was going to happen,” said David Cohen, a professor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law who studies abortion policy , “and others were big surprises that put, frankly, the anti-abortion movement on their heels.

Although more than 20 states have begun banning abortion to varying degrees since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, studies found that the number of monthly abortions nationwide is about the same — or higher — than it was before the ruling. . Asked to weigh in on the emotional debate, voters have since supported the position favored by abortion rights advocates on all seven statewide ballot measures.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was officially declared effective June 24, 2022, upending nearly 50 years of legalized abortion across the country. But the world got a glimpse about six weeks earlier, on May 2, after a media outlet published a leaked draft.

“Thanks to the Dobbs decision, the will of the people can now be respected,” said Stephen Billy, vice president of state affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. He said abortion rights supporters have amplified uncertainty in the laws – particularly over whether abortion is allowed in medical emergencies: “They tried to sow political division just to advance their political agenda,” he said.

At the time Politico published the leaked draft, Amanda Zurawski was undergoing fertility treatment and was about to learn that she was finally pregnant in about two weeks.

This woman from Austin, Texas, has always supported abortion rights and was furious that abortion rights were on the verge of disappearing. But she didn’t expect a direct impact on her life.

That changed months later when she was denied an abortion despite premature rupture of membranes, which can lead to dangerous internal bleeding. A few days later, he was diagnosed with sepsis, a potentially life-threatening reaction to infection. Her daughter, Willow, was eventually aborted, but Zurawski nearly died because of the delay.

She emerged from this experience as an activist.

“I thought I would be a new mom with a newborn,” she said in an interview. “Instead, I was in Tallahassee, Florida, to meet with the vice president.”

Zurawski was a plaintiff in a legal challenge seeking to clarify abortion law in Texas and has spoken about her experience before Congress and across the country. She recently left her tech job to spend the next few months supporting abortion rights and President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.

“I’m definitely someone who wants to fight for justice,” she said. “This is not the path I would have imagined.”

Zurawski’s widely publicized experience reflects the central role that abortion has played on the political stage during this highly charged election year.

In Arizona, one of the few states in dispute over who will decide the next president, the state Supreme Court issued a ruling last month saying a near-total ban on abortion passed in 1864 could be enforced now that Roe v. Wade had been canceled. That decision ultimately led to the repeal proposal that passed the House of Representatives last week and the Senate on Wednesday after a vitriolic debate. Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is expected to sign the repeal.

Florida, Maryland and New York will introduce measures in the November elections to protect access to abortion.

“Women are going to find themselves in an impossible situation of not having access to health care, whether it’s in an emergency or just family planning,” said Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party. “Floridians are going to have the opportunity to take back control.”

Billy of Susan B. Anthony said his group is focused on defeating ballot questions in Florida and other states where their passage would overturn bans currently in place.

Arizona is one of at least eight states calling for a similar measure. A few states have also pushed for measures to be written into the state constitution.

The question also weighs heavily during the presidential election.

President Joe Biden blasted his likely opponent, former President Donald Trump, for appointing the Supreme Court justices who influenced the Roe v. Wade decision. Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Florida on Wednesday to denounce the six-week ban enacted in the nation’s third most populous state.

Trump, who said in April that he believed abortion laws should be decided by states, went further this week, telling Time magazine that states should also be able to sue women who seek to abort. So far, proposals to do so have not gained momentum in any state legislature.