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courts don't even believe women who are raped when nothing is on the line. Why would they believe women when they're trying to access a restricted medical procedure?
It's impossible to place such restrictions on abortion and have it work. Abortion on demand is the only answer.

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Twenty-two states have abortion bans that would become law almost immediately if a leaked Supreme Court decision on abortion rights goes into effect. Many of these state bans contain no exceptions for rape or incest survivors. Not so long ago, such exceptions were regularly included in proposed abortion bans, in part because they're popular: For decades, about 75 percent of Americans have consistently told pollsters that abortion should be legal in cases of rape and incest. But many of the measures now set to take effect do away with such exceptions.

President Ronald Reagan detested abortion but endorsed exceptions for rape in the 1980s; George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump all also indicated their support for the measures. The National Right to Life Committee supported legislation that included exceptions in the 1990s. Even the Hyde Amendment, the federal law that prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, has long contained these exceptions.

In the past few years, though, the anti-abortion movement has moved in a different direction. In 2019, Alabama legislators passed an abortion ban that lacked rape and incest exceptions. Nine other states-Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas-have passed similar laws. Courts blocked all the laws but Texas's; if Roe is overturned, it will be a felony for any Texas doctor to perform an abortion for a woman who was raped or impregnated by a family member. In March, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed an early-abortion ban without rape or incest exemptions.
Michele Goodwin and Mary Ziegler: Whatever happened to the rape and incest exceptions?
It's rare that a majority of Americans agree on anything, and parties cut against popular opinion at their own risk. Even some Republicans with anti-abortion views might feel squeamish about laws that take such a rigid stance when it comes to cases of rape and incest. Laws like these "probably [have] a cost," former Republican Representative Tom Davis of Virginia told me. "On the margins, that probably is not the politically wisest course." But Republicans have plowed ahead anyway, confident that they're on the right side of this issue not only morally, but politically. Maybe a lack of exceptions for rape is not the poison pill it once was. "We've seen state legislatures adopt restriction after restriction and ban after ban, and these legislators remain in power," Elizabeth Nash, a policy analyst at the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, told me. "It doesn't feel like there are any consequences for them."

Some abortion-rights proponents argue that to focus on rape and incest exceptions in abortion bans is to miss the point. Obtaining an abortion under a rape or incest exception is difficult. Many states require rape survivors to file a police report to qualify. "These exceptions don't do the job that people think they're going to do," Nash said. But the trend toward blanket abortion bans signals a clear shift in the anti-abortion movement. Banning all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, is ideologically consistent, the bans' proponents argue: If abortion is murder, why would murder be acceptable in any instance? "We don't issue birth certificates in the United States with a ratings system based on how someone was conceived," Kristi Hamrick, a spokesperson for the anti-abortion group Students for Life, told me. "Clearly crimes must be fully prosecuted, and women [must be] helped. But we mourn as well for the preborn, who also suffer."
Caitlin Flanagan: The dishonesty of the abortion debate
Forcing rape and incest survivors to carry pregnancies to term is unpopular, but it's no longer an unusual proposal. One taboo, though, has endured: The anti-abortion-rights movement still seeks to portray itself as advocating for pregnant women, rather than seeking to punish them, and leaps into damage-control mode if its allies suggest otherwise. During his primary campaign in 2016, for example, Donald Trump suggested in a town-hall interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews that women should face "some sort of punishment" for obtaining an abortion. Republicans and leaders of the anti-abortion movement pushed back immediately. "No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion," said Jeanne Mancini, the president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund. "We invite a woman who has gone down this route to consider paths to healing, not punishment." Trump, realizing that he had entered politically iffy territory, retracted his statement. So far, all of the abortion bans that would take effect under the leaked SCOTUS decision seek to punish providers, rather than people who seek out the procedure. But this political third rail may be losing its charge too. Several women have recently been arrested and jailed in cases involving self-induced abortions. "If abortion is murder, then women are hiring the hitmen," Carol Sanger, a professor at Columbia Law School who studies reproductive rights, told me. "It's not logically impossible to get to that position."

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The GOP's Strange Turn Against Rape Exceptions

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Twenty-two states have abortion bans that would become law almost immediately if a leaked Supreme Court decision on abortion rights goes into effect. Many of these state bans contain no exceptions for rape or incest survivors.

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overturning Roe v Wade will not make abortion illegal federally. Instead, it will give states the legal right to ban abortion if they so choose. Many red states will attempt to ban abortion if roe v wade is overturned, but as of now, no such decision has been made.

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At the federal level, the Hyde Amendment and a federal abortion ban both limit abortion access nationwide. Federal-level attacks on abortion access also include attempted 20-week bans.

Learn about federal bans and restrictions on abortion here - and read on to understand abortion bans and restrictions at the state level.

The Hyde Amendment withholds federal Medicaid funding from abortion nationwide, with extremely narrow exceptions. It's an intrusive and unfair restriction on insurance coverage for millions of people with low incomes, and it is an example of politicians interfering with access to safe and legal abortion.

Federal Abortion Ban

On April 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the first-ever federal law banning abortion procedures and gave politicians the green light to interfere in people's reproductive health care decisions. The federal abortion ban criminalizes abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy that doctors say are often the safest and best way to protect a pregnant person's health.

This federal restriction on abortion affects more than the patients who need second-trimester abortions and the doctors who care for them: The Supreme Court's decision abandoned more than 30 years of precedent that put patients' health first when it came to laws that restrict access to abortion. We must stand up to politicians who want to restrict Americans' ability to make their own health care decisions in consultation with their doctors.

For years, anti-abortion politicians have been pushing an unconstitutional, nationwide 20-week abortion ban.

Meanwhile, states that passed 20-week bans have forced people into heartbreaking and tragic situations - some needing to end a pregnancy for serious medical reasons, but unable to do so.

Politics has no place preventing doctors and other health professionals from informing patients about all their health care options, and doctors should not be criminalized for providing constitutionally protected care.

While a majority of abortions in the U.S. occur in the first trimester, it is important that patients and their doctors have every medical option available. Laws banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy would take a deeply personal decision out of the hands of a patient and their doctor.

States with Abortion Bans and Restrictions

Attempts to restrict and even ban abortion at the state level are part of an ongoing effort to deny people their right to make their own personal medical decisions. Laws that restrict access to abortion hurt people's health and endanger their safety.

Abortion bans and restrictions vary state-by-state, but they're all part of an ongoing effort to outlaw abortion completely in the United States. State legislatures' unprecedented and dangerous attacks on access to abortion include:

Restricting insurance coverage of abortion - and, in turn, taking away the comprehensive insurance coverage most people currently have

TRAP laws, which are targeted restrictions against abortion providers

Abortion bans, including unconstitutional bans at specific weeks of pregnancy and non-surgical abortion bans

Mandatory ultrasounds, waiting periods (of up to 3 days), and biased counseling before getting an abortion - all of which can entail multiple trips to the provider

You can stay up to date on abortion bans by state - including restrictions within your own state - using our Abortion Access Tool.
Fighting State and Federal Abortion Bans

As state politicians across the country succeed in restricting access to abortion, real people are paying the price - particularly people with low incomes, who might not have the resources to drive long distances, arrange for lodging, and jump through all the other hoops that anti-abortion laws foist on them.

Planned Parenthood is committed to helping people avoid unintended pregnancies, but they do occur. For anyone facing an unintended pregnancy, prompt access to safe, legal abortion is imperative.

Planned Parenthood knows the only way to reduce the need for abortion is to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. The real solution is to increase - not decrease - access to sex education and affordable birth control.

Help us fight unconstitutional federal bans on abortion. Take action today.

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Federal and State Bans and Restrictions on Abortion

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At the federal level, the Hyde Amendment and a federal abortion ban both limit abortion access nationwide. Federal-level attacks on abortion access also include attempted 20-week bans. Learn about federal bans and restrictions on abortion here - and read on to understand abortion bans and restrictions at the state level.

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the reaction of an institution confident that is reflecting the will of the people- ridiculous

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Fencing, Barricades Erected Around Supreme Court After Roe Draft Leak

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