Conservatives push to end abortion exceptions
Some make no allowance for rape, incest, mother’s life
Angela Housley was halfway through her pregnancy when she learned the fetus was developing without parts of its brain and skull and would likely die within hours or days of birth, if it survived that long.
The news came during her 20-week ultrasound.
“The technician got a really horrible look on her face,” Housley said. “We got the really sad news our baby was anencephalic.”
It was 1992 and abortion was legal in Idaho, though she had to dodge antiabortion protesters outside the Boise hospital after the procedure. If the scenario were to happen later this year, she would likely be forced to carry to term.
That's because Idaho, which bans abortion after six weeks, is one of at least 22 states with laws banning abortion before the 15th week, many of them lacking exceptions for fetal viability, rape or incest, or even the health of the woman. Several of those bans would take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, as a leaked draft of the opinion suggests.
Such exceptions were once regularly included in even the most conservative anti-abortion proposals. But as the battle over abortion access heats up, experts on both sides of the issue say the exceptions were a temporary stepping stone intended to make anti-abortion laws more palatable.
Many of the current abortion bans are designed as “trigger laws,” automatically going into effect if the high court overturns the nationwide right to abortion. That ruling is expected to be released by late June or early July.
Alabama and Oklahoma have enacted bans with no exceptions. Alabama's 2019 law is blocked in federal court but could be reinstated based on the Supreme Court's ruling. The Republican sponsors envisioned the legislation as a vehicle to challenge Roe in court, and said they could add rape and incest exceptions if Roe is overturned.
“They're basically using people — in this particular situation, women — as collateral damage,” said Democratic Rep. Chris England, the chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party. “In the debate, we tried to talk reasonably to them and say, ‘What happens if you win? This is the law, You're not going to have the opportunity to change it before people get hurt.'”
Several other states, including Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, also have bans or trigger laws in place that lack exceptions for rape or incest, according to the Guttmacher Institute and Associated Press reporting.
Idaho and Utah have exceptions for rape or incest, but require the pregnant woman to first file a police report and then prove to the abortion provider the report was made. Only about a third of sexual assaults are reported to police, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
Texas and Idaho allow exceptions for “medical emergencies” but leave that interpretation up to physicians, making some critics fear doctors will wait to intervene until a woman is near death.
Public support for total abortion bans appears to be low, based on a Pew Research Center survey released Friday and conducted in March. The survey showed just 10 percent of U.S. adults say abortion should be illegal in all cases.