Abortion is still consuming US politics and courts 2 years after Supreme Court bill was leaked

Two years after a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion signaled that the country’s abortion landscape was about to change dramatically, the issue is still consuming the country’s courts, legislatures and political campaigns — and changing the course of lives.

On Wednesday, a ban on abortion after the first six weeks of pregnancy, often before women realize they are pregnant, took effect in Florida, echoing laws in two other states. Meanwhile, in Arizona, lawmakers voted to repeal a total abortion ban that dates back to 1864, decades before Arizona became a state. Also this week, the Kansas Legislature increased funding for anti-abortion centers, while advocates in South Dakota submitted the required number of signatures for a ballot measure to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.

The abortion situation in states across the country has been constantly changing, with lawmakers passing measures and courts ruling on challenges brought to them. Currently, 14 states impose bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions. However, most Democratic-led states have taken steps to preserve or expand access.

“Some of this is exactly what we knew would happen,” said David Cohen, a professor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law who studies abortion policy, “and some of it was big surprises that put, frankly, anti-abortion” . -abortion movement on its heels.”

Although more than 20 states have begun imposing abortion bans of varying degrees since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, studies have found that the number of monthly abortions nationally is about the same – or higher – than it was before the ruling. Asked to weigh in on the emotional debate, voters have supported the position advocated by abortion rights advocates on all seven statewide ballot measures since then.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was officially released on June 24, 2022, overturning nearly 50 years of legal abortion nationwide. But the world got a glimpse of it about six weeks earlier, on May 2, after a media outlet published a leaked draft.

“With Dobbs’ decision, the will of the people can now be fulfilled,” said Stephen Billy, vice president of state affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. He said abortion rights advocates have amplified uncertainty in the laws – especially about whether abortion is allowed in medical emergencies: “They tried to sow political division just to advance their political agenda,” he said.

At the time Politico published the leaked draft, Amanda Zurawski was undergoing fertility treatment and was about two weeks away from learning that she was finally pregnant.

The Austin, Texas, woman had always supported abortion rights and was furious that abortion rights were about to disappear. But she didn’t expect a direct impact on her life.

That changed months later when she was denied an abortion despite premature rupture of the membranes, which can cause dangerous internal bleeding. Days later, she was diagnosed with sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to the infection. Her daughter, Willow, ended up being aborted, but Zurawski almost died in the process because of the delay.

She emerged from the experience as an activist.

“I thought I would be a new mother with a newborn,” she said in an interview. “Instead, I was in Tallahassee, Florida, meeting with the vice president.”

Zurawski was a plaintiff in a court challenge seeking to clarify Texas abortion law and has spoken about his experience before Congress and across the country. She recently left her job in technology to spend the next few months supporting abortion rights and President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.

“I’m definitely someone who wants to fight for justice,” she said. “This is not the path I would have imagined.”

Zurawski’s widely publicized experience is a reflection of the central role that abortion has taken on the political landscape during this highly charged election year.

In Arizona, one of the few swing states that will decide the next president, the state Supreme Court issued a ruling last month saying that a near-total ban on abortion passed in 1864 could be enforced now that Roe v. Wade has passed. That decision ultimately led to the repeal proposal that passed the state House last week and the Senate on Wednesday after a scathing debate. Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is expected to sign the repeal.

Florida, Maryland and New York will have measures on the ballot in November to protect access to abortion.

“Women will be placed in an impossible situation of not having access to health care, whether in an emergency situation or just family planning,” said Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party. “Floridians will have the opportunity to take back control.”

Susan B. Anthony’s Billy said his group was focused on defeating the ballot questions in Florida and other states where passing them would reverse the bans in place now.

Arizona is one of at least eight states pushing a similar measure. Some states are also pushing for measures to enshrine prohibitions in the state constitution.

The issue also weighs heavily on the presidential elections.

President Joe Biden has criticized his likely opponent, former President Donald Trump, for nominating the Supreme Court justices who influenced the Roe v. Wade decision. Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Florida on Wednesday to criticize the six-week ban passed in the country’s third most populous state.

Trump, who said in April that he believed abortion laws should be decided by states, went further this week, telling Time magazine that states should also be able to prosecute women who seek abortions. Proposals to do so have not gained traction in any state legislature so far.