Abortion to be put further out of reach for millions of women as slate of ‘trigger bans’ take effect
Cryptopolytech Public Press Pass
Title: Abortion to be put further out of reach for millions of women as slate of ‘trigger bans’ take effect
Originally reported on www.cnn.com by Veronica Stracqualursi,Tierney Sneed
200000048 – World Newser
•| World |•| Online |•| Media |•| Outlet |•| News |•| World |
Abortion to be put further out of reach for millions of women as slate of ‘trigger bans’ take effect
On Friday, North Dakota’s trigger law that bans abortions in most circumstances is set to take effect. On Saturday, an Oklahoma law enacting higher criminal penalties for performing illegal abortions takes effect, adding to the state’s already tough laws prohibiting the procedure.
While these states had restrictions on abortion prior to this week, North Dakota could perhaps experience the most drastic change.
The state, which currently allows abortion up to 20 weeks or more post-fertilization, will enact a near-total ban on the procedure and medication abortions. North Dakota’s abortion ban, approved in 2007, would make it a felony to perform an abortion in the state with exceptions for the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.
Before Thursday, abortion was already effectively banned in Texas, with clinics ceasing abortions as result of two Texas laws that could open them up to civil suits.
Texas’ trigger law, passed in 2021, makes abortions illegal unless the pregnant woman is at risk of death or “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” It does not provide exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
Abortions up to six weeks of pregnancy had been available in Tennessee, but the law going into effect on Thursday 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. Like Texas, Tennessee would also not allow for abortions in cases of rape or incest.
The Idaho decision came a day after a dueling decision in a Texas case that concerned how that state’s abortion ban interacted with federal law setting standards for emergency room care.
The Biden administration has argued that the federal law — known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act or EMTALA — obligates doctors to offer abortion care to patients who are facing the threat of death or other serious health risks because of a pregnancy. A federal judge in Texas late Tuesday pushed back on that interpretation, granting a request from Texas and a national organization that the judge block the administration from using the law to require that providers offer abortion care for emergency patients in the face of a state ban on the procedure. In Idaho, the judge agreed with the Justice Department arguments that EMTALA preempted state abortion bans when those bans would criminalize procedures for medical emergencies contemplated by the federal law.
Both cases could be appealed, setting up the possibility that the Supreme Court may be asked in the coming weeks to weigh in on the reach of the federal law and whether it preempts state abortion bans in emergency care situations.
Additionally, organizations that offer financial and logistical assistance to people seeking abortions filed a federal lawsuit this week in Texas asking for the court to block the enforcement of its trigger ban and other bans on abortion for conduct that happens out of state.
From an External Source.
First to share? If share image does not populate, please close the share box & re-open or reload page to load the image, Thanks!