Democratic, Republican state leaders in glaring contrast on abortion pills, reproductive rights

Many states led by Democratic governors are limiting the dosage of drugs used in medical abortions, amid concerns that a court ruling last week could limit access to the most commonly used abortion method in the US.

The movement more generally is a reflection of the changes at the state level that resulted after Dobbs v. Jackson ruled last year overturning the epochal 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which established the right to abortion. These changes often reflect how far Democratic and Republican-led states have progressed on reproductive health.

Massachusetts said there had been purchased enough doses of the drug mifepristone – one of two drugs used in combination to end pregnancy – for more than a year.

California has secured an emergency stockpile of up to two million misoprostol pills, another drug used to treat abortions, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom announced, while Washington Democratic Governor Jay Inslee announced last week that the state is buying 30,000 doses of the generic drug. version of mifepristone, enough to last a citizen for three years.

The action comes as US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a federal judge in Texas appointed by former president Donald Trump, rejected the scientific consensus on Friday and withheld federal approval of mifepristone.

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said Kacsmaryk’s decision threatens access to the drug even in states that support abortion rights like hers, Massachusetts.

“It harms patients, it harms medical expertise, and it takes away freedom. It’s an attempt to punish, to shame, to marginalize women. It’s unnecessary,” Healey said.

Ban on interstate travel in so-called ‘uncharted territory’

The Biden administration on Monday appealed Kacsmaryk’s decision, saying it would interfere with the U.S. Food and Drug administration’s scientific decisions and “severely harm women.”

The court’s ruling even upset some Republicans in Congress.

“I agree with the lack of attention at this point … this thing just needs to be thrown out, frankly,” said the South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace is in a CNN interview.

But at the state level, many Republican officials have gone further to restrict reproductive rights before.

Idaho is one of 13 states that has banned abortions at all stages of pregnancy since last year. Legal restrictions on abortion-related travel are the focus of the new law, with Idaho Governor Brad Little signing a bill that makes it illegal for adults to help minors get abortions without parental consent.

The new law “human trafficking abortion” signed on April 5 is the first of its kind in the US It makes it illegal to either take abortion pills for minors or to help them leave the country for abortion without the parents’ knowledge and consent. Anyone found guilty faces two to five years in prison and can also be prosecuted by the minor’s parent or guardian.

LISTENING | Reproductive law expert Mary Ziegler spoke to CBC’s Front Burner:

There is no legal precedent that provides good guidance on whether states can influence citizens to have abortions outside their borders.

“If red states pass laws that say, ‘We can go after people for X, Y and Z,’ and blue states say, ‘You can’t,’ we’re in uncharted territory,” said Mary Ziegler, legal historian at the University of California, Davis School of Law.

The scenario is somewhat similar to the situation before the country’s top court recognized the right to same-sex marriage in 2015. Some countries do not recognize legal marriages elsewhere, and all the protections that come with it. Federal rulings generally resolve these legal conflicts.

Neighboring Idaho is pushing for a new law

Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, which supports abortion rights, said the laws between states are unclear.

“This hope will be seen as an extreme overreach,” he said, “but one would think that overturning Roe v. Wade would have been an extreme overreach, too.”

Inslee, from neighboring Washington, in a letter to Little, expressed his objections to the bill which he said has “unacceptable consequences.”

“Just as we did during COVID, we will care for your citizens in ways that meet their health care needs as determined by trained medical professionals, not politicians,” Inslee wrote.

Texas took a step toward limiting states in a 2021 law that allows civil lawsuits against people who “aid or support the performance or induction of an abortion.” The ex-husband of a Galveston-area woman who ended her pregnancy last year with drugs is suing three women who helped him get the pills, alleging wrongful death. The lawsuit says the woman terminated the pregnancy in July 2022 and the couple divorced in February.

Tennessee’s Republican-dominated legislature last week approved a measure that would ban cities and counties from using funds to help people get out-of-state abortions — including banning coverage of out-of-state abortions under government employee health insurance plans.

In a concurring opinion in last year’s decision that overturned Roe, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh considered whether states can restrict citizens from having abortions in other states.

“In my view, the answer is not based on the constitutional right to interstate travel,” Kavanaugh wrote.

‘Unconscionable’: Iowa changes for crash victims

Meanwhile, Iowa said last week it had paused the practice of paying for emergency contraception — and in rare cases, abortions — for victims of sexual assault.

Federal regulations and state law require Iowa to cover many costs for sexual assault victims who seek medical help, such as the cost of forensic exams and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Iowa’s victim compensation fund has so far also paid for Plan B, the so-called morning after pill, as well as other treatments to prevent pregnancy.

“As part of a top-down, bottom-up audit for victim assistance, the Attorney General [Brenna] Bird is carefully evaluating whether this is an appropriate use of public funds,” an Iowa government spokeswoman said in a statement.

The Iowa chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union called for a reversal, characterizing the decision as “beyond cruel” and “unconscionable.”

“Being sexually assaulted is traumatic for survivors and the State of Iowa just needs to do the right thing,” the ACLU said. “This includes helping victims get back on their feet and helping them on the road to recovery.