Common Legislative Interference
Jump to a section:
Anti-abortion activists have worked to erode access to abortion care through both outright abortion bans and policies that interfere with patients' ability to access legal abortion care. Laws that require extraneous counseling or ultrasounds, waiting periods, and unnecessary regulation of abortion care facilities and providers have effectively reduced abortion care access in places where the procedure is still legal.
TLDR: Common ways legislation interferes with access to abortion care beyond bans
Abortion care regulations have undermined patients' ability to receive safe abortion care in the United States. Patients are having to work increasingly hard to access abortion care, including traveling across state lines, and providers are being forced to make unsafe decisions about care to comply with state regulations.
-
SMFM - Talking Points: Consequences of Legislative Interference of Abortion Care
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - The Unequal Impacts of Abortion Bans
Harvard T.H. Chan - Abortion restrictions have led to negative health impacts, say panelists
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - Abortion Restrictions and the Threat to Women’s Health
Center for American Progress - State Abortion Bans Will Harm Women and Families’ Economic Security Across the U.S.
Institute for Women’s Policy Research - The Economic and Workforce Impact of Restrictive Abortion Laws
TRAP Laws
Even before the fall of Roe, abortion care was heavily legislated through TRAP laws, or targeted regulation of abortion providers. TRAP laws are laws that burden abortion care providers and clinics with unnecessary requirements like redundant reporting and certification requirements, hallway width minimums, etc., with the goal of forcing clinicians to stop providing care.
Many “protective” states still have TRAP laws - meaning access to abortion care is still limited.
-
Guttmacher Institute - Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers
ACLU - Abortion Clinic Regulations
Guttmacher Institute - Abortion Reporting Requirements
Guttmacher Institute - Ultrasound and “Fetal Heartbeat” Test Requirements for Abortion
Reproductive Health - The impact of provider restrictions on abortion-related outcomes: a synthesis of legal and health evidence
Though Roe v. Wade was a landmark Supreme Court decision that enshrined the right to procure an abortion in the United States, it always allowed for states to ban abortion after “fetal viability.” In reality, there is no medically agreed upon gestational age that would constitute “fetal viability,” as the survival of a fetus outside of the womb is dependent on a number of complex factors. This makes “fetal viability” an unreliable legal measure, and yet it continues to dominate the abortion conversation.
Viability Limits and Gestational Bans
Gestational bans and viability limits are harmful at every stage of pregnancy.
-
SMFM - Talking Points: Discussing “Viability” and Abortion Care
Pregnancy Justice - The Role of the Viability Line in Pregnancy Criminalization
Later Abortion Initiative - The science of “viability”
SFP - Science Says: Pregnancy gestational duration limits and bans on abortion are harmful
KFF - Abortion Policy: Gestational Limits and Exceptions
PerryUndem - Exploring the Impact of a Viability Limit on Support for Ballot Measures