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Abortion is banned or severely limited in a number of states. Here’s where things stand

September 8, 2022
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Here are the states that have enacted near-total bans on abortion or face legal challenges over their bans:

Alabama: abortion banned

A federal judge on June 24 lifted an injunction against a 2019 state law that bans abortions, allowing the law to go into effect.

The law allows exceptions to prevent a “serious health risk” to the mother, for ectopic pregnancy and if the “unborn child has a lethal anomaly.”

Arkansas: abortion banned

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge certified the state’s trigger ban, allowing it take effect on June 24. The law bans abortions except in the case of a life-threatening emergency.

Florida: 15-week ban in effect but being challenged in court

In Florida, a law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy took effect on July 1. The law has exemptions involving “serious risk” to the pregnant person and for a fatal fetal abnormality if two physicians confirm the diagnosis in writing.
A state judge on June 30 said he would issue a temporary statewide injunction and signed a written order on July 5. But the state also filed an appeal, a move that automatically stayed the judge’s order that temporarily blocked the ban.

With the appeal, the law remains in effect while litigation continues.

The plaintiffs in the case, Florida abortion providers, asked the state Supreme Court in August to put the 15-week ban back on hold while the appeal plays out.

Georgia: 6-week ban in effect but being challenged in court

A state law that bans abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy took effect on July 20, after a federal appellate court allowed the law to be enforced immediately.
After the Supreme Court ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (which overturned Roe), the Georgia ban remained on hold for several weeks, until the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a lower district court’s order that had blocked the law.

Abortion providers and advocates filed a new challenge against the Georgia law in state court, arguing that it violates the state constitution and cannot be enforced because it went against federal constitutional precedent when it was enacted in 2019 and can’t be revived. The judge, however, declined in August to halt the law’s enforcement while the lawsuit played out, because he concluded he did not have the authority to issue the preliminary order.

Idaho: abortion ban in effect but parts of it blocked by court

Idaho’s trigger law banning most abortions went into effect August 25, but litigation continues around certain aspects.

The ban prohibits abortions unless necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant person, or in situations of rape or incest that have been reported to law enforcement.

The law was designed to take effect 30 days following the US Supreme Court’s transmission of its judgment overturning Roe v. Wade.
A federal judge on August 24, however, blocked enforcement of the ban in certain medical emergencies, after the Biden administration sued the state, arguing that the law opened doctors up to prosecution for abortion care they were obligated to offer under federal law.

The case could be appealed, potentially leading to the Supreme Court being asked to weigh in.

Indiana: abortions ban to take effect on September 15

Indiana’s law banning most abortions takes effect on September 15.

Indiana was the first state to pass a restrictive law against abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned, doing so during a special legislative session.

The new law provides exceptions for when the life of the mother is at risk and for fatal fetal anomalies, up until 20 weeks post-fertilization. It also allows exceptions for some abortions if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest.

Kentucky: abortion bans in effect while court challenge unfolds

A Kentucky state court of appeals on August 1 reinstated the state’s so-called trigger law banning abortion as well as a separate law banning the procedure after roughly six weeks of pregnancy, siding with Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron and allowing the laws to temporarily be enforced while the case proceeds in the courts.

On August 18, the state Supreme Court allowed the laws to remain in effect, as it plans to hear oral arguments on the appeal of the temporary injunction in November.

Louisiana: abortion ban in effect but being challenged in court

Louisiana’s abortion trigger ban went into effect again on August 1 while a legal challenge to the law continues.

The law had been temporarily blocked by a state judge in July but is again in effect after a ruling from a state appellate court allowed the law to be enforced.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is challenging the law, has filed a request with the state Supreme Court to reinstate the temporary order that had blocked the law’s enforcement. The Supreme Court has not acted on that request.

Mississippi: abortion banned

Mississippi’s trigger law went into effect on July 7, after the last abortion clinic in the state was unsuccessful in its attempts to get the law blocked. The trigger ban prohibits abortions in the state with exceptions only in cases of rape or if the pregnant person’s life is endangered.

Missouri: abortion banned

Missouri’s law that bans abortion except in medical emergencies went into effect on June 24.

North Carolina: 20-week ban in effect

A US district court judge in North Carolina on August 17 allowed a state law that bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy to be reinstated, lifting an injunction he had placed on the law prior to the US Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

In 2019, District Judge William Osteen had stopped the law from being enforced and declared the ban unconstitutional based on Supreme Court precedent.

But in his August 17 order, Osteen wrote that “under Dobbs, there is now no constitutional right to a pre-viability abortion, thus depriving the injunction of any constitutional basis from which to enjoin the challenged North Carolina laws regulating abortion.”

Ohio: abortion banned around 6-weeks

The Ohio Supreme Court denied state abortion providers’ request for an emergency hold on the state’s prohibition on abortions performed after early cardiac activity is detected, typically around six weeks into a pregnancy. The court’s ruling means the abortion ban can continue to be enforced as the case plays out.

On September 2, abortion providers filed a new lawsuit against the law, saying they had withdrew their initial challenge that was before the state Supreme Court.

The groups argue that the law violates the state constitution and are asking the court to block enforcement of the ban while the case proceeds. If the Ohio law remains in effect and Indiana’s ban on abortion takes effect in mid-September, Women’s Med Group — which operates the only abortion clinic in the Dayton area — “will have no choice but to close” both its clinics in Ohio and Indiana, plaintiffs said in their lawsuit.

Oklahoma: abortion banned

Abortion had been unavailable in the state since May, after the governor signed bills into law that allowed civil enforcement of abortion restrictions.

After the Supreme Court overruled Roe, Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor said that the state may enforce its 1910 pre-Roe abortion ban, under which abortion is a felony up to five years in prison except to preserve the woman’s life.

The attorney general’s office had said that SB 612, which goes into effect on August 27 and enacts harsher penalties for performing an abortion, would become the primary prohibition on the procedure.

Abortion providers had challenged Oklahoma’s pre-Roe abortion ban and the abortion statutes signed by Stitt, calling the laws overlapping and contradictory.

South Dakota: abortion banned

South Dakota’s trigger law, which makes it illegal to perform an abortion except in life-threatening medical emergencies, went into effect on June 24.

Tennessee: abortion banned

Abortions up to six weeks of pregnancy had been available in Tennessee, but the trigger law that took effect on August 25 bans abortions at all stages of pregnancy, except when necessary to prevent the pregnant woman’s death or serious risk of “substantial and irreversible impairment” of a bodily function. It does not allow for abortions in cases of rape or incest.

Texas: abortion banned

Texas’ trigger law went into effect on August 25, putting in place new criminal penalties for abortion and offering an exemption only for certain health emergencies. The state additionally has a civil enforcement law — authorizing private citizens to bring lawsuits against alleged violators in state court — for abortions performed after around six weeks into the pregnancy.

Wisconsin: pre-Roe ban in effect but being challenged in court

Democratic state officials in Wisconsin have asked a state court to block Wisconsin’s pre-Roe abortion ban, which was allowed to take effect after the high court overturned the federal holding. The 1849 law criminalizes abortion in the state, including in cases of rape and incest.

The lawsuit asks a state court to “clarify that Wisconsin’s 19th century abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest has not gone back into effect,” and to deem it unenforceable.

States where abortion bans or extreme limits are on hold due to court order

Arizona: state seeks to lift hold on pre-Roe abortion ban

Arizona’s Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich is asking a state court to lift a 1973 court injunction against an abortion ban enacted in 1901. The court heard arguments on the request in August, but the judge said that her decision on whether to lift the injunction would not come before September 20. Arizona has a separate law banning abortion at 15 weeks that goes into effect on September 24.

Iowa: GOP governor asks court to revive state’s 6-week abortion ban

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds asked a state court on August 11 to revive a six-week abortion ban that had previously been halted in 2019.

In her brief filed in the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Reynolds pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe in June, as well as the Iowa Supreme Court’s separate reversal earlier that month of its own 2018 decision that had interpreted the state constitution as extending protections for abortion rights.

Michigan: ban blocked

In Michigan, the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban — a 1931 abortion law, which was invalidated by the decision in Roe v. Wade but remained on the state’s books — was deemed unconstitutional by a state court judge in September. The judge’s September 7 order permanently enjoined the Michigan state attorney general, a Democrat, and county prosecutors from enforcing the law.
The court had temporarily put the law on hold in May, before the US Supreme Court decision was handed down. After an appellate court said that order applied only to state officials, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer successfully sought an order from a separate court halting the ban’s enforcement by county officials as well. There are also pending requests before the state Supreme Court asking the court to declare definitively that the pre-Roe ban violates the state’s constitution.

North Dakota: judge blocked trigger ban day before it would take effect

The state’s trigger ban was blocked a day before it was set to go into effect on August 26.

A state judge granted a preliminary injunction on August 25, blocking the law while a legal challenge plays out.

The abortion ban would make it a felony to perform an abortion in the state with exceptions to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.

South Carolina: 6-week abortion ban temporarily blocked

The South Carolina Supreme Court on August 17 temporarily blocked the state’s six-week abortion ban from being enforced, granting a request from state abortion providers for a temporary injunction while their challenge to the law continues.

South Carolina’s law, S.1, had been in effect since June 27, when a judge lifted a federal court’s hold on the ban days after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. A circuit court judge in late July declined to block the ban and recommended the lawsuit move to the state’s high court.

Utah: trigger ban blocked while court challenge continues

Abortion services have remained available in Utah, after a state judge blocked the state’s trigger law while litigation continues.

The law would ban abortions with exceptions for cases of rape or incest, detection of severe birth defects, or prevention of the death or serious injury of the person giving birth.

For now, abortions up until 18 weeks of pregnancy have been able to continue.

West Virginia: pre-Roe ban blocked in court

Abortion, for now, is legal up to 20 weeks in West Virginia, after a state court judge on July 18 indicated that she had decided to block a West Virginia abortion ban dating to the 1800s, according to news releases from both sides of a legal challenge to the law.

The decision was announced from the bench, both sides confirmed. A copy of the order was not immediately available, a court clerk told CNN.

West Virginia’s GOP Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on July 19 filed a motion for a stay of injunction with the state Supreme Court of Appeals.Wyoming’s abortion ban was blocked on July 27, the day it was set to go into effect.

Wyoming: trigger ban blocked while lawsuit continues

A state court judge issued a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit brought by abortion providers, an access fund and two women, who argue that the ban violates Wyoming’s constitution.

The law — which includes exemptions for incest, sexual assault or “serious risk of death or of substantial and irreversible physical impairment” — was a trigger law set in motion by the Dobbs ruling. Under the law, the ban could be implemented five days after certification from the governor, which happened on July 22. The judge has placed a preliminary injunction on the ban while the lawsuit continues.



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