In the United States,abortion is a divisive issue in politics and culture wars,though a majority of Americans support access to abortion. Abortion laws vary widely from state to state.
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 is a United States law prohibiting a form of late termination of pregnancy called "partial-birth abortion",referred to in medical literature as intact dilation and extraction. Under this law,any physician "who,in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce,knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years,or both". The law was enacted in 2003,and in 2007 its constitutionality was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Gonzales v. Carhart.
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 is a United States law that recognizes an embryo or fetus in utero as a legal victim,if they are injured or killed during the commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of violence. The law defines "child in utero" as "a member of the species Homo sapiens,at any stage of development,who is carried in the womb."
This is a timeline of reproductive rights legislation,a chronological list of laws and legal decisions affecting human reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are a sub-set of human rights pertaining to issues of reproduction and reproductive health. These rights may include some or all of the following:the right to legal or safe abortion,the right to birth control,the right to access quality reproductive healthcare,and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion,discrimination,and violence. Reproductive rights may also include the right to receive education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections,and freedom from coerced sterilization,abortion,and contraception,and protection from practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).
The legality of abortion in the United States and the various restrictions imposed on the procedure vary significantly,depending on the laws of each state or other jurisdiction,although there is no uniform federal law. Some states prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy,with few exceptions;others permit it up to a certain point in a woman's pregnancy,while some allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy. In states where abortion is legal,several classes of restrictions on the procedure may exist,such as parental consent or notification laws,requirements that patients be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion,mandatory waiting periods,and counseling requirements.
Ron Worley is a former Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives,representing the 30th district. He served from 2007 through 2013,having been defeated in the 2012 Republican primary by Rep. Lance Kinzer of Olathe,after Kinzer and Worley were put in the same district after re-districting. Kinzer then subsequently retired in 2014,endorsing Randy Powell as his successor. Worley challenged Powell for his old seat in the primary,but was subsequently defeated.
The North Carolina Woman's Right to Know Act is a passed North Carolina statute which is referred to as an "informed consent" law. The bill requires practitioners read a state-mandated informational materials,often referred to as counseling scripts,to patients at least 72 hours before the abortion procedure. The patient and physician must certify that the information on informed consent has been provided before the procedure. The law also mandated the creation of a state-maintained website and printed informational materials,containing information about:public and private services available during pregnancy,anatomical and physiological characteristics of gestational development,and possible adverse effects of abortion and pregnancy. A review of twenty-three U.S. states informed consent materials found that North Carolina had the "highest level of inaccuracies," with 36 out of 78 statements rated as inaccurate,or 46%.
A six-week abortion ban,also called a "fetal heartbeat bill" by proponents,is a law in the United States which makes abortion illegal as early as six weeks gestational age,which is when proponents claim that a "fetal heartbeat" can be detected. Medical and reproductive health experts,including the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,say that the reference to a fetal heartbeat is medically inaccurate and misleading,for a conceptus is not called a fetus until eight weeks after fertilization,as well as that at four weeks after fertilization,the embryo has no heart,only a group of cells which will become a heart. Medical professionals advise that a true fetal heartbeat cannot be detected until around 17 to 20 weeks of gestation when the chambers of the heart have become sufficiently developed.
Abortion in Arizona is currently legal up to 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Republican-controlled Arizona Supreme Court ruled on April 9,2024 that the near-total ban on abortion from 1864 is constitutional. Attorney General Kris Mayes has stated that based on court rulings,enforcement of this law can begin from September 26,2024. However,Mayes,a Democrat,has also said that as long as she is in office,then women or doctors will not be prosecuted under this law. This ban has been repealed by the Arizona state legislature and Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs,but the repeal will not take effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends,which is on September 14,2024.
Abortion in Kansas is legal. Kansas law allows for an abortion up to 20 weeks post-fertilization. After that point,only in cases of life or severely compromised physical health may an abortion be performed,with this limit set on the belief that a fetus can feel pain after that point in the pregnancy. In July 2024,the Kansas Supreme Court struck down two abortion restrictions.
Abortion in Ohio is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of abortion rights being placed into the Ohio State Constitution by November 2023 Ohio Issue 1.
Abortion in California is legal up to the point of fetal viability. An abortion ban was in place by 1900,and by 1950,it was a criminal offense for a woman to have an abortion. In 1962,the American Law Institute published their model penal code,as it applied to abortions,with three circumstances where they believed a physician could justifiably perform an abortion,and California adopted a version of this code. In 2002,the California State Legislature passed a law guaranteeing women the right to have an abortion "prior to viability of the fetus,or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman". In 2022,California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 1,which amended the Constitution of California to explicitly protect the right to abortion and contraception by a margin of 33.76%.
Abortion in Florida is generally illegal after six weeks from the woman's last menstrual period,when many women do not yet know they are pregnant. This law came into effect in May 2024,being approved by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis following its passage in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate,with only Republican state legislators supporting and only Democratic state legislators opposing. Additionally,pregnant women are generally required to make two visits to a medical facility 24 hours apart to be able to obtain an abortion,in a law approved by Republican Governor Rick Scott in 2015.
Planned Parenthood v. Rounds,686 F.3d 889,is an Eighth Circuit decision addressing the constitutionality of a South Dakota law which forced doctors to make certain disclosures to patients seeking abortions. The challenged statute required physicians to convey to their abortion-seeking patients a number of state-mandated disclosures,including a statement that abortions caused an "[i]ncreased risk of suicide ideation and suicide." Planned Parenthood of Minnesota,North Dakota,South Dakota,along with its medical director Dr. Carol E. Ball,challenged the South Dakota law,arguing that it violated patients' and physicians' First Amendment free speech rights and Fourteenth Amendment due process rights. After several appeals and remands,the Eighth Circuit,sitting en banc,upheld the South Dakota law,holding that the mandated suicide advisement was not "unconstitutionally misleading or irrelevant," and did "not impose an unconstitutional burden on women seeking abortions or their physicians." This supplemented the Eighth Circuit's earlier rulings in this case,where the court determined that the state was allowed to impose a restrictive emergency exception on abortion procedures and to force physicians to convey disclosures regarding the woman's relationship to the fetus and the humanity of the fetus.
The 2022 Kansas abortion referendum was a rejected legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the Kansas Constitution that appeared on the ballot on August 2,2022,alongside primary elections for statewide offices,with early voting from July 13. If enacted,the amendment would have declared that the Kansas Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion,giving the Kansas state government power to prosecute individuals involved in abortions,and further declared that the Kansas government is not required to fund abortions.
2022 Michigan Proposal 3,the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative,also known as Reproductive Freedom for All,was a citizen-initiated proposed constitutional amendment in the state of Michigan,which was voted on as part of the 2022 Michigan elections. The amendment,which passed,codified reproductive rights,including access to abortion,in the Constitution of Michigan.
Kentucky Amendment 2 was a rejected legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the Kentucky Constitution,which was voted on as part of the 2022 elections. If enacted,the amendment would have declared that nothing in the Kentucky Constitution could be construed to protect a right to an abortion or public funding of an abortion.
The 2022 Vermont reproductive rights initiative,officially titled the "Reproductive Liberty Amendment",and listed on the ballot as Proposition 5,was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that was adopted on November 8,2022,by a majority of 76.8% of voters. It codified reproductive rights in the Constitution of Vermont. It was signed into the constitution by governor Phil Scott on 13 December 2022.
South Dakota Amendment G is a proposed constitutional amendment that will appear on the ballot on November 5,2024. If passed,the amendment would establish a right to abortion in the Constitution of South Dakota up until approximately the second trimester of pregnancy.
Colorado Initiative Measure 89 is a proposed constitutional amendment that will appear on the ballot on November 5,2024. If passed,the amendment would establish a right to abortion in the Constitution of Colorado and repeal Amendment 3,a 1984 constitutional ban on public funding for abortions. A 55% supermajority vote is required for the amendment to be approved.
