Less than one year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade the state of abortion in America is — fractured.
Piecemeal laws creating a patchwork of access and blockades around the nation look to be continually changing in 2023.
"The crisis continues and is continuing to get worse," said Morgan Hopkins, president of All* Above All.
"After 50 years of federal judicial micromanagement, Dobbs returned the abortion issue to the states, resulting in the enactment of Senate Bill One," said Tom Fisher, Indiana's Solicitor General.
On the local level, Republican-led states are taking wide-ranging approaches to stripping access and creating punishment.
A Tennessee billwould jail women for at least to three years who make "false" statements to police to get abortions that in the same legislation would allow abortion in cases or rape and incest. A Texas law would fine district attorneys who don’t prosecute abortion cases. Oklahoma and Arkansas have bills that would criminalize women seeking abortion care.
"It's completely out of touch with where Americans are, and we're the majority of people in this country want to go. You're seeing really amazing, bold action at the local level with cities funding travel for abortion, care, or setting up funds to pay for abortion care directly," Hopkins said.
But the next frontier of the fight on both sides looks to be medication abortion. The issue crept up during the pandemic and has only ballooned since.
Sen. Kaine discusses President's address, economy, reelection and more
Sen. Kaine speaks with Scripps News ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address.
Senate Democrats are urging abortion pill manufacturers to add miscarriage management to its approved label.
Abortion pill manufacturer GenBioPro is suing to allow the FDA approved medication to be sent to West Virginia where it is basically banned. The FDA has the power to regulate which drugs are sold in the U.S. and no state has been allowed to overrule it.
Republican attorneys general are warning pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens not to mail prescriptions to their states after the Department of Justice said abortion pills can be mailed under federal law.
Abortion rights advocates say they need to hear more from the president on this.
"We want to hear from the President what actions the administration is prepared to take, and what bold and creative solutions and commitments they are making in the executive branch, and in the other agencies. They need to continue to explore as many creative avenues as possible — especially, you know, with the pending threat to medication abortion. HHS potentially has a huge role to play here as does DOJ," Hopkins said.
President Joe Biden’s departments of Justice and Health and Human Services have filed various suits. The administration promised to protect women who have to travel for abortions, in addition to protecting access for veterans and their families no matter which state they’re living in.
