• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Politics
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Gay Pride
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Men
  • Space
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Monkeypox
  • Film/TV

Fearing end of Roe v. Wade, liberal U.S. states rush to protect abortion rights

Towleroad May 11, 2022 Leave a Comment

Published by
Reuters
517470 origin 1

By Sharon Bernstein

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) -In New York, lawmakers have introduced a bill to expand funding for abortion care. California legislators will soon vote on measures aimed at increasing the number of abortion providers. And Connecticut just enacted a law intended to protect providers from lawsuits in states where abortion is banned.

With new urgency, Democratic lawmakers are moving to preserve abortion access in their states after a leaked draft last week showed the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

“There is no more critical issue,” said California Senate Leader Toni Atkins, a Democrat who ran reproductive health clinics before entering politics. “I hope it becomes a key issue of importance to everyone.”

The efforts to shore up abortion rights contrast sharply with those in conservative states, where lawmakers are vowing to pursue further restrictions. Abortion will be banned or restricted in an estimated 26 Republican-led states should the Supreme Court reverse federal constitutional protections in a decision expected by the end of June.

As expected, legislation to make abortion legal throughout the United States was defeated in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday. All 50 Republicans and one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin, voted to block the bill.

At the state level, however, liberal and moderate politicians have succeeded in enacting laws to expand and protect abortion access in anticipation of the court’s ruling.

In Connecticut last week, Democratic Governor Ned Lamont signed a law aimed at protecting providers who perform abortions for patients who travel from states where the procedure has been banned or restricted, as well as the patients themselves.

A constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights will go before Vermont voters in November, and similar constitutional proposals are being considered in Washington state and California.

Some of the most aggressive steps to protect abortion rights have come in New York and California, both Democratic strongholds.

On Monday, Democratic lawmakers in New York announced a bill to set up a program that would fund abortion care not covered by insurance and award grants to groups that help women travel from other states to obtain abortions.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, on Tuesday directed the state’s Department of Health to create a $25 million fund to support abortion providers. The Division of Criminal Justice would offer another $10 million for security grants for reproductive health centers, she said.

Next week, California’s legislature will hear a slate of abortion bills that include a measure that would protect providers and patients from civil actions and financial retaliation for obtaining a legal procedure in the state.

The legislation also would allow nurse practitioners to perform some abortions, expanding the ranks of providers at a time when thousands of women are expected to travel to California from other states seeking care.

But the actions to increase abortion protections in Democratic-led states have been dwarfed by new restrictions passed in states controlled by Republicans, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy group.

Conservative lawmakers passed 37 bills to restrict abortion access in 10 states this year, while just 14 measures to protect abortion were approved in eight states, Guttmacher’s data showed. Restrictive measures also far outweighed protective laws in 2021, the institute said.

Some conservative lawmakers and anti-abortion activists have said they want to go further – eliminating medication abortions via pills often obtained online, and finding ways to extend abortion bans to states where the procedure remains legal.

Not all Republicans oppose abortion rights. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a moderate Republican, said last week he was “open” to discussing protections for women who come to his state from others to seek abortions.

Sue Dunlap, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles, said policymakers need to move beyond broad-brush state laws to consider the details of how women will actually be able to access abortion if they live in states where it is outlawed.

Much of that will come at the local level, she said, as city officials find themselves called upon to provide services such as police protection for patients and providers.

“California and Los Angeles and others across the country have taken very important first steps,” Dunlap said, “but I don’t feel we have really grappled with what is around the corner.”

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; additional reporting by Maria Caspani; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Rosalba O’Brien and Cynthia Osterman)

Topics: A News, Aaon, Health, Supreme Court More Posts About: Charlie Baker, Joe Manchin, Kathy Hochul, Roe v Wade

Related Posts
  • New York subway shooting suspect charged with second-degree murder
  • Explainer-How could abortion be prosecuted in the U.S.?
  • Three takeaways from Tuesday’s U.S. primary elections
  • Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

    Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender. The 28-year-old rap star – whose real name is Benito Ocasio – is unsure what defines “masculine” or “feminine” and cannot discriminate clothing …Read More »
  • Biden to issue policing order on George Floyd death anniversary -media reports

    Biden to issue policing order on George Floyd death anniversary -media reports

    Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order on Wednesday directing federal agencies to revise use-of-force policies as the United States marks the two-year anniversary of the police …Read More »
  • Ellen DeGeneres starts her ‘career pause’ in Africa

    Ellen DeGeneres starts her ‘career pause’ in Africa

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Ellen DeGeneres’ “career pause” will begin with a luxury African vacation. The final episode of ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ will air later this week, and Ellen and her wife Portia de …Read More »
  • ‘The Kids in the Hall’ review: Sketch comedy is a young person’s game — yet here are older guys just ripping into the form as if they never left

    ‘The Kids in the Hall’ review: Sketch comedy is a young person’s game — yet here are older guys just ripping into the form as if they never left

      Published by Chicago Tribune   The TV landscape tends to feel pretty dismal when “Saturday Night Live” is the only sketch comedy game in town. And often that’s the case. Over its four-plus decade run, …Read More »
Previous Post: « Spider-Man: No Way Home and ‘Euphoria’ lead the nominations at the MTV Movie and TV Awards
Next Post: Exclusive-Biden eyes new ways to bar China from scooping up U.S. data »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Pelosi hits back at San Francisco archbishop for banning her from Communion over pro-choice stance

    Pelosi hits back at San Francisco archbishop for banning her from Communion over pro-choice stance

  • Mick Jagger Cuts Harry Style Down To Size, Says He ‘Doesn’t Have A Voice Like Mine Or Move On Stage Like Me’

    Mick Jagger Cuts Harry Style Down To Size, Says He ‘Doesn’t Have A Voice Like Mine Or Move On Stage Like Me’

  • Summer Love? Rosie O’Donnell Teases Possible New Girlfriend With PDA Moment

    Summer Love? Rosie O’Donnell Teases Possible New Girlfriend With PDA Moment

  • U.S. commission recommends renaming nine Army bases to strip Confederate legacy

    U.S. commission recommends renaming nine Army bases to strip Confederate legacy

Break

  • Keanu Reeves hailed one of world’s nicest men

    Keanu Reeves hailed one of world’s nicest men

  • Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo and Noami Ackie join ‘Parasite’ Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s new movie And it Sounds Mind Blowing

    Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo and Noami Ackie join ‘Parasite’ Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s new movie And it Sounds Mind Blowing

  • Starbucks to completely exit Russia after Ukraine invasion

    Starbucks to completely exit Russia after Ukraine invasion

  • Evan Spiegel & Miranda Kerr Pay Off $10 Million In Loans Of Otis College’s Graduating Class

    Evan Spiegel & Miranda Kerr Pay Off $10 Million In Loans Of Otis College’s Graduating Class

RSS Partner Links

  • Morning Wood
  • “The latest ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ trailer finally reveals the villain” links
  • Duchess Meghan kissed Harry, then wiped her lipstick off of his mouth
  • Kristen Stewart, Scott Speedman & Tom Sturridge Match In Sharp Sunglasses For Cannes 75th Anniversary Event
  • Diane Kruger & Norman Reedus Are Couple Goals at Cannes Film Festival 2022
  • Jennifer Connelly Recalls Meeting Princess Diana When She Was A Teenager
  • CBS Pulls 'FBI' Season Finale After Elementary School Shooting in Texas
  • Scenes from Greg Berlanti’s 50th birthday!
  • Texas: 14 Children, 1 Teacher Shot Dead In Uvalde Elementary School; Shooter Dead

Most Recent

  • NC Republicans push ban on teachers discussing LGBTQ issues, other rules for schools

    NC Republicans push ban on teachers discussing LGBTQ issues, other rules for schools

  • Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

    Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

  • Biden to issue policing order on George Floyd death anniversary -media reports

    Biden to issue policing order on George Floyd death anniversary -media reports

  • Ellen DeGeneres starts her ‘career pause’ in Africa

    Ellen DeGeneres starts her ‘career pause’ in Africa

  • ‘The Kids in the Hall’ review: Sketch comedy is a young person’s game — yet here are older guys just ripping into the form as if they never left

    ‘The Kids in the Hall’ review: Sketch comedy is a young person’s game — yet here are older guys just ripping into the form as if they never left

  • Opinion: The Right-Wing Airing of Imaginary Grievances Like Sex Ed Is Not and Never Has Been Used To Groom

    Opinion: The Right-Wing Airing of Imaginary Grievances Like Sex Ed Is Not and Never Has Been Used To Groom

  • Tan France gets parenting advice from Gigi Hadid

    Tan France gets parenting advice from Gigi Hadid

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Log in