January 2013 — recap of 2012:
“New data shows 2012 was another historic year for restrictions on reproductive rights. According to the Guttmacher Institute, U.S. states enacted the second highest number of anti-choice restrictions in history. Last year’s 43 abortion restrictions still marked a drop from the record 92 provisions enacted in 2011. In total, states enacted 122 provisions related to reproductive health and rights in 2012. Not a single one of those laws improved access to abortion, family planning or comprehensive sex education.” (Democracy Now!)
2013 midyear recap from the Guttmacher Institute (more at this link):
In the first six months of 2013, states enacted 106 provisions related to reproductive health and rights; issues related to abortion, family planning funding and sex education were significant flashpoints in several legislatures.
Although initial momentum behind banning abortion early in pregnancy appears to have waned, states nonetheless adopted myriad restrictions on access to abortion. However, this year is notable also for positive action on other reproductive health issues in a few states, including important new provisions enacted to expand access to comprehensive sex education, expedited partner treatment for STIs and emergency contraception for women who have been sexually assaulted.”
So far this year, legislators have enacted 43 provisions aimed at restricting access to abortion. Although this is significantly lower than the record-breaking 80 restrictions that had been enacted by this point in 2011, it is nonetheless a higher number of restrictions than in any year other than 2011 and as many as enacted in all of 2012.
January
Democracy Now! broadcasts live from the Sundance Film Festival during the week of the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and features the documentary After Tiller, which follows the only four doctors left in the United States who are known to provide abortions in the third trimester.
“A new poll coinciding with the anniversary shows a record 70 percent of Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade. For the first time on record, a majority believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.”
February
Federal judge overturns a state law in Arizona barring funding for the reproductive services group Planned Parenthood.
March
Federal judge struck down a 2011 Idaho law banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. It is believed to be the first time a federal court has declared such measures unconstitutional, likely setting a precedent for challenges to similar measures nationwide.
March
Arkansas’ General Assembly voted to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a measure banning abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, the point at which an abdominal ultrasound can detect a fetal heartbeat. Opponents expect the law to be overturned before it can take effect later this year. Federal law gives women the right to abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, double the Arkansas limit.
March
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard extends the state’s waiting period for abortion, which was already one of the longest in the country: weekends and holidays will be excluded from South Dakota’s 72-hour waiting period, meaning some women will have to wait up to six days for an abortion.
March
“North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed into law three bills that could effectively ban abortion in the state and set up a major legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, which 40 years ago legalized abortion — at least in the first three months of pregnancy. [before many women realize they’re expecting]
“One measure blocks abortions after an embryonic heartbeat can be detected, which can happen at six weeks of pregnancy or even earlier. Another bill would make North Dakota the first state to ban abortions based on genetic defects, such as Down’s syndrome. A third bill, aimed at shuttering North Dakota’s only abortion clinic, will require all physicians who perform abortions in the state to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.” (Democracy Now!)
April
Republican Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama has signed into law a measure forcing clinics to have a state-licensed physician present at every abortion. Such doctors would also have to obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital. (see temporary federal injunction below)
April
Virginia Board of Health signs off on new regulations that could force the closure of some of the state’s abortion clinics. A 2011 measure dubbed by critics as a “Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers,” or TRAP law, requires clinics that provide abortions to meet the same building standards as hospitals – a thinly disguised way of closing clinics; similar regulations in other states, but Virginia’s are harshest.
April
Mississippi’s only remaining abortion clinic stays open after a federal judge temporarily blocks the state from revoking its license.
April
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signs into law sweeping new curbs on abortion rights. The law declares that life begins “at fertilization,” blocks tax breaks for abortion providers, and prevents them from taking part in sex education at public schools.
May
North Dakota’s sole abortion clinic files a lawsuit against a new law that could force its closure.
May
Federal judge temporarily blocks a recent Arkansas law banning abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy.
May
Federal appeals court has struck down an Arizona law that bans abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy except in medical emergencies. Abortion rights advocates challenged the measure last year.
May
4th anniversary of George Tiller’s death; at this point in the year his Wichita, Kansas, clinic has finally been reopened for two months.
Julie Burkhart on Democracy Now!, from South Wind Women’s Center, the newly reopened abortion clinic where Tiller worked. She is director and founder of the Trust Women Foundation. “We have had approximately 200 patient visits in just the two short months that we’ve been open. We are just so happy to be back in this community.”
Speaks of death threats received by staff, etc.
June
“The Republican-controlled House has approved a measure that would ban abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy, which anti-choice activists believe marks the point at which a fetus can feel pain. The vote was 228 to 196, mostly on party lines. It is the harshest anti-abortion bill in a decade to come before Congress. President Obama has vowed a veto, and the Senate is unlikely to even bring it up for a vote.” (Democracy Now!)
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, sparked controversy the previous week when he claimed the rate of pregnancies resulting from rape is “very low.”
June
Wendy Davis leads successful (if temporary) filibuster of draconian Texas abortion bill
June/July
Ohio Governor John Kasich signed into law a new budget that includes some of the harshest anti-abortion measures in the country, defunding Planned Parenthood, shifting funds to deceptive crisis pregnancy centers, imposing restrictions that could shut down clinics and requiring providers to detect any fetal heartbeat and then tell the patient about it before an abortion.
July
Federal judge temporarily blocks an Alabama law that stood to shut down most of the state’s abortion clinics, including by forcing clinic’s doctors to get admitting privileges.
July
Thousands descend on Texas state house for public hearing after Republicans revived a bill that would shut down nearly all of the state’s abortion clinics and ban abortion after 20 weeks post-fertilization. Hundreds of people on both sides gave testimony during a state Senate committee hearing that lasted into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Katie Heim delivers “If my vagina was a gun” poem.
July
Federal judge temporarily blocks part of a new law signed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker that would require abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
July
Grassroots movement growing to resist anti-abortion bills.
July
Illinois Court OKs Parental Notification Law for girls under 18, at least 48 hours before an abortion. Thirty-eight other states require some form of parental notification for minors.
July
In Washington D.C., Republicans in a House subcommittee slipped a rider into a general appropriations bill that would ban D.C. from using its own tax revenues to fund abortions for low-income women through Medicaid.
July
Pro-choice activists launch cross-country abortion rights freedom ride.
July
North Carolina governor signs a sweeping package of anti-choice measures tucked into a motorcycle safety bill.
In response to this and other horrendous conservative legislation, ongoing Moral Monday protests were held during the summer in NC, with many arrests, including 100 at the 11th Moral Monday in July.
July
Federal judge delays until next year the enforcement of Alabama’s new anti-choice law, which threatens to close more than half the state’s abortion clinics.
August
North Dakota judge temporarily blocks a law that opponents say would have shut down the state’s only remaining abortion clinic.
August
Federal judge indefinitely blocks part of a new Wisconsin law requiring abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
August
Federal appeals court upholds a lower court ruling that struck down an Arizona law barring funding for the reproductive services group Planned Parenthood.
October
California expands abortion access through allowing nurse practitioners and midwives to perform them.
October
Courts in Oklahoma and Texas rule parts of abortion laws unconstitutional.
November
Then a federal appeals court overruled and reinstated most of the Texas law. SCOTUS refused to hear the Oklahoma appeal, letting the ruling striking it down stand (law forcing viewing of ultrasound was struck down; restrictions on pill form of abortion struck down).
All of that in Texas follows Wendy Davis’ briefly heroic filibuster this summer, running out the clock on a special legislative session that would have passed highly restrictive laws (governor called another special session in July & the laws passed; governor signed them into law in July).
November
SCOTUS announces it will hear claims made by two for-profit corporations (one is Hobby Lobby craft stores) that they have a right to deny their employees birth control under their health insurance plans.
(Planet Waves coverage here)
December
Michigan becomes ninth state to approve a measure requiring insurance companies to charge extra fees for abortion coverage (Planet Waves overage here).
December
Guttmacher Institute shows a surge in women receiving birth control with no copay thanks to the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit.
Read the full headlines and stories of these events via this page of search results on Democracy Now!
Here is a ‘before & after’ Roe v. Wade timeline (ends with 2012).