Around the country, hostile state legislatures and courts are stripping away abortion rights. Some states have outright banned abortion, while others have restricted care to a certain point in pregnancy -- like Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Utah, which currently all ban abortion after anywhere from 15 to 20 weeks of pregnancy -- and anti-abortion opponents are fighting to go even further.

Throughout the 2023 state legislative session, we’re seeing a domino effect of lawmakers copying other states' extreme and highly restrictive abortion laws.

In Florida, lawmakers are moving to further restrict abortion. On the first day of the state's legislative session, Florida lawmakers introduced a bill that would further narrow the state's abortion ban from 15 weeks to just six weeks of pregnancy. If this six-week ban is enacted, it would ban almost all abortions in Florida at a time before many pregnant people even know they're pregnant.

Some states -- like Utah -- are taking it even further. A newly-enacted Utah law, HB 467, will functionally eliminate abortion access starting on May 3, even though abortion is currently legal in the state up until 18 weeks of pregnancy. The new law mandates that all abortions take place in Utah hospitals, despite the fact that such a restriction is medically unjustified, that most abortions in Utah currently take place in abortion clinics, and that most hospitals in the state offer abortions only in very limited circumstances. In addition, these new restrictions are already causing chaos, confusion, and fear across Utah's health care system. Utah patients will be denied care as hospitals, clinics, and administrators scramble to figure out if, where, and when abortions can be provided in Utah. Banning abortion at health centers means banning up to 99% of abortions in the state.

Abortion is still legal in Arizona up to 15 weeks of pregnancy and in North Carolina up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. And though lawmakers opposed to abortion have said they will try to further restrict access in these states, governors who support abortion are committed to keeping them in check. When we come together, and especially when abortion rights supporters hold important positions of power, we can protect care for those who seek it.

There’s so much more work to be done. As some states roll back care and others seek to end abortion access outright, we must come together to help patients make their own decisions about their own bodies. You can find a way to help in the fight to protect and preserve care at [link removed].

-- Planned Parenthood Action Fund


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