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The Big Story
Florida, Arizona illustrate complicated abortion landscape
Since the end of Roe v. Wade, abortion access has been a state-by-state patchwork of laws that’s almost constantly in flux. That dynamic was on full display Wednesday on opposite sides of the country.
© AP
Florida’s six-week abortion ban took effect Wednesday, cutting off access to legal abortion across much of the South.
There were 84,000 abortions performed in Florida last year, including more than 9,000 for women who needed to travel from out of state after many Southern states banned or severely restricted abortion.
But now those women will need to travel hundreds of miles farther to reach a clinic. Women in Miami will need to travel more than 700 miles to the closest clinic in Charlotte — if they are less than 12 weeks pregnant and have the time and money to afford two separate clinic visits over three days.
Florida’s new law will be one of the most restrictive in the country and effectively amount to a complete ban: Six weeks gestation is before many women know they are pregnant, and the state still requires two in-person visits with the abortion provider 24 hours apart.
At the same time, Arizona’s GOP-controlled Senate voted to repeal a Civil War-era law that would ban almost all abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Two GOP senators voted with Democrats to pass the repeal bill, after realizing the political consequences: Backlash against the territorial ban could upend Arizona’s conservative majorities and potentially hurt former President Trump’s campaign in the crucial swing state.
They also want to try to curtail the momentum behind a likely ballot measure that would constitutionally legalize abortion up to fetal viability, with medical exceptions for women who are further along.
Despite the vote Wednesday, the repeal won’t take effect for months, meaning an abortion ban originally passed before Arizona was even a state could still happen. Even if Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signs it quickly, the repeal can’t take effect until 90 days after the legislature adjourns from its annual session. Lawmakers still need to pass a budget, and there’s no end date in sight.
Once that happens, the state will revert to a 15-week ban passed in 2022.
The end of Roe allowed states under Republican control to impose abortion bans or severe limitations, a long-sought goal for many GOP anti-abortion lawmakers. Abortion is almost completely banned in 16 states and is restricted by gestational age in three more.
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Essential Reads
How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:
Arizona lawmakers on Wednesday voted to repeal a Civil War-era law that banned nearly all abortions, after a pair of Republican senators joined with all Democrats. The Republican-controlled Senate had enough votes to pass legislation repealing the 1864 law by a razor-thin margin, 16-14. All 14 Democrats were joined by two Republicans: state Sens. Shawnna Bolick and T.J. Shope. The bill next heads to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), …
Vice President Harris bashed former President Trump on Wednesday in Florida, a state the Biden campaign is trying to flip to blue, as the state’s 6-week abortion ban went into effect. “As of this morning, 4 million women in this state woke up with fewer reproductive freedoms than they had last night. This is the new reality under a Trump abortion ban,” Harris said during a campaign rally. “Starting this morning, women in Florida …
More than half of the domestic cats on a Texas dairy farm that were fed unpasteurized milk from cows infected with the bird flu got sick and died, according to a preliminary report released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report focused on early findings in the CDC investigation into the spread of bird flu through the cattle industry this year. Scientists reported that in mid-March, about …
In Other News
Branch out with a different read:
At least 9 dead, dozens treated in Texas capital after unusual spike in overdoses
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Authorities in Texas are investigating at least nine deaths this week in connection with an unusual spike of opioid overdoses in Austin that health officials are calling the city’s worst overdose outbreak in nearly a decade. Emergency responders in the Texas capital typically field only two to three calls per …
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Around the Nation
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What We’re Reading
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