State governments have enacted a record number of abortion restrictions this year, including bans by six states on the lethal procedure during the last half of pregnancy.
States have adopted 80 abortion restrictions in their 2011 legislative sessions, far exceeding the previous record of 34 from 2005, according to a July report by the Guttmacher Institute.
Of this unprecedented number, four states — Alabama, Idaho, Kansas and Oklahoma — enacted bans on abortions at 20 weeks’ gestation based on evidence a baby in the womb experiences pain by that point. Another two states — Missouri and Ohio — approved prohibitions at 20 weeks or later based on fetal viability, which is the ability of the unborn child to live outside the womb.
Indiana also adopted a pain-capable abortion ban, as it is known, but it includes language providing discretion to abortion doctors that the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) considers a potential loophole.
The four states that enacted solid, pain-capable abortion bans followed the precedent set by Nebraska, which became in 2010 the first state to approve such a law. The legislation is typically named the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
The Missouri and Ohio bans enacted in July and based on the unborn child’s viability take effect 20 weeks into pregnancy.
Among many other types of abortion restrictions enacted by states this year are laws that:
• Prohibit “telemedicine,” or webcam, abortions, which occur when doctors at remote sites counsel by means of videoconferencing women seeking abortions and dispense the two-drug abortion method RU 486 to them without being in their physical presence.
• Mandate new regulations for abortion clinics.
• Ban state-controlled funding of Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.
The Guttmacher Institute formerly was affiliated with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. (BP)
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