2013 Was a Rough Year for Abortion Rights

[The Straight Story]

According to a new report by the Guttmacher Institute, 2013 was a tough year for abortion rights. More abortion restricitions were enacted between 2011 and 2013 than in the entire previous decade. From 2001-2010, a total of 189 restrictions were enacted in the United States. From 2011-2013, a total of 205 restrictions were enacted. Seventy of those restrictions occurred in 2013 alone.

The institute classifies restrictions into four categories: those that impact abortion providers, those that limit insurance coverage of abortions, those that ban abortions at 20 weeks, and those that limit medication abortions.

The Huffington Post's Laura Bassett wrote, "The number of states considered 'hostile' to abortion rights, defined by the Guttmacher Institute as having at least four kinds of major abortion restrictions on the books, has also more than doubled since the year 2000, from 13 states to 27." The Huffington Post's infographic below shows the dramatic shift.

The report pointed to four states in particular for the 2013 surge: Arkansas, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Texas. The latter two states together passed 13 restrictions. The bill that Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis filibusterd, but that eventually passed, comes to mind. The legislation criminalized abortions after 20 weeks and imposed harsh regulations on abortion providers, like admitting privileges from local hospitals. According to Al Jazeera America, one-third of the abortion clinics in the state shut their doors when the law was enacted in November 2013.

http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/abortion-rights-2013

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Why is it gender wars threads get a zillion responses and this gets zip?

This is real world stuff, not some tempest in a discussion forum.

[The Straight Story]

2. Because one is about real world issues and one is a rebirth of Meta for some folks

A place where some spent their days complaining about the most important problems in the world - what others on du said or didn't say.

[gollygee]

4. Because everybody here agrees about this

People like the threads where there's disagreement the most, despite their anger during the disagreement and cries that disagreement be silenced.

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. What is to be done about this situation?

It seems like, for starters, there is a whole lot of work to be done with these state legislatures.

[gollygee]

5. Hopefully the 2014 election

will involve some backlash due to this. I hope.

I live in Michigan so this is a headache inducer for me.

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. One keeps hoping the Republicans will pay a price for their actions...

...and maybe that's possible in a state like Michigan. North Dakota or Mississippi, not so much.

I guess on another level, we could use a US Supreme Court that isn't willing to keep shaving away abortion rights.

[The Straight Story]

6. Planned Parenthood has an action center

http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/

Which has a section for getting involved locally:

http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/elections-politics/get-involved-locally/

For Ohio, where I am, then new link is:
http://www.ppao.org/

Don't know of many resources outside of them (at least for here in Ohio where our idiot Kasich is running roughshod over anything he can, except medicad expansion and the ACA oddly enough).

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. And there is NARAL.

I think it used to stand for National Abortion Rights Action League, but it looks like they've rebranded as Pro-Choice America.

http://www.naral.org

They have an action center, too. Click on the button for "Get involved."

[bettyellen]

9. is it 82 0r 86% of all counties in the USA where abortion is unavailable

yet I hear over and over again here at DU that feminism has achieved it's aims and just quietly go away.
Jeeze fellas, I don't think so.