Restrictions on Roe v. Wade

Since 1973, the right to safe, legal, and accessible
abortion for all women has been attacked by the
anti-choice right wing and systematically eroded.

Medicaid Restrictions: Most low-income women who depend on Medicaid for their health care needs cannot afford a first trimester abortion, a $200-400 expense. A second trimester abortion can range from $400-$2,000. Despite this cost, the Hyde Amendment bans the use of federal Medicaid funds to provide abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment. Though states may choose to fund abortions for poor women using state Medicaid dollars, only 13 states currently do. Therefore, the vast majority of poor and low-income women in the United States are denied access to abortion services.

Parental Consent and Notification Laws: Forty-two states have enacted parental consent or notification laws requiring women under the age of 18 to get the permission of, or inform, one or more of their parents. Many young women, fearing their parents' reactions, seek out back-alley abortions instead of telling a parent. States with parental consent and notification laws are required to provide a judicial bypass option that allows minors to bypass parental consent requirements if a judge feels she is mature enough to make the decision, but bypasses can be logistically difficult to obtain and an anti-choice judge may refuse to grant the minor's request.

Shortage of Abortion Providers: Currently, only 12% of ob/gyn residency programs include training in the provision of abortion and over half of abortion providers are over the age of 50. Moreover, 86% of US counties and 95% of rural counties do not have an abortion provider. This means that many women must drive hours and even cross state-lines to obtain an abortion.

Anti-Choice Violence: Last year, one in five clinics experienced some form of severe violence, including arsons, bombings, blockades, invasions, death threats, stalking, and murder. Abortion providers, fearing for their lives, frequently must work behind bullet proof glass, metal detectors, and bullet proof vests. As a result, fewer and fewer doctors are willing to provide abortions. Anti-choice violence endangers the lives of doctors, clinic workers, and the women who turn to clinics for abortion and other reproductive health care services.

Court cases: In the years following Roe v. Wade, though the ruling has not been overturned, subsequent court cases and federal statutes have placed restrictions on a woman's ability to exercise her right to choose.

• In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled in Bellotti v. Baird that states could enact parental consent and notification laws, requiring young women under the age of 18 to get the permission of, or inform, one or more of their parents. As a result, it extremely difficult for young women to access safe and legal abortion.
  
  
• The Hyde Amendment, introduced by US Representative Henry Hyde in 1977 as a rider to an appropriations bill, prohibits federal Medicaid funding of abortions. While Congress has since expanded Medicaid coverage to cover cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment, the majority of poor and low-income women do not have access to affordable abortion services.
  
  
• In 1992, in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the Supreme Court upheld a number of abortion restrictions, including informed consent requirements and 24 hours waiting periods, which require that a woman must wait 24 hour between a state mandated counseling appointment and their abortion. Though the court did not overturn Roe v. Wade, by upholding the right of states to place restrictions on abortion access, the Supreme Court paved the way for right wing organizations and legislators to chip away at a woman's ability to exercise her right to choose.
  
  
• In recent cases, the Supreme Court has upheld a woman's right to choose by just one vote. As recently as June 28, 2000, in Stenberg v. Carhart, the Supreme Court ruled against abortion procedure bans by a razor thin, pro-choice majority of 5-4.

Anti-Choice Congress (Roe v. Wade In Jeopardy)

• Currently, the majority of both houses of Congress are against legal abortion. Under an anti-choice administration, Congress will likely severely restrict or even overturn Roe v. Wade.
  
  
• The president will likely appoint 3-4 Supreme Court Justices. In recent years, the Supreme Court has upheld Roe v. Wade by razor-thin margins (as in the recently decided Stenberg v. Carhart case which affirmed Roe by a margin of 5 to 4.) An anti-choice Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade.
  
  
• The president also appoints the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who has authority over fetal tissue research and family planning funding under Title X (which is currently under a "gag rule" that prohibits federal funds from being used for abortions), issues that directly affect women's reproductive health care In addition, the President nominates the Commissioner of the FDA, the body that recently approved mifepristone for use in the United States. A pro-choice Commissioner is crucial to ensuring the availability of mifepristone

GLOBAL ACCESS | CLINIC VIOLENCE | RESTRICTIONS