Friday, 19 August 2022
Meet the JournalistsPremiumAucklandWellingtonCanterbury/South Island
CrimePoliticsHealthEducationEnvironment and ClimateNZ Herald FocusData journalismKāhu, Māori ContentPropertyWeather
Small BusinessOpinionPersonal FinanceEconomyBusiness TravelCapital Markets
Politics
Premium SportRugbyCricketRacingNetballBoxingLeagueFootballSuper RugbyAthleticsBasketballMotorsportTennisCyclingGolfAmerican SportsHockeyUFC
NZH Local FocusThe Northern AdvocateThe Northland AgeThe AucklanderWaikato HeraldBay of Plenty TimesHawke's Bay TodayRotorua Daily PostWhanganui ChronicleStratford PressManawatu GuardianKapiti NewsHorowhenua ChronicleTe Awamutu Courier
Covid-19
Te Rito
Te Rito
OneRoof PropertyCommercial Property
Open JusticeVideoPodcastsTechnologyWorldOpinion
SpyTVMoviesBooksMusicCultureSideswipeCompetitions
Fashion & BeautyFood & DrinkRoyalsRelationshipsWellbeingPets & AnimalsVivaCanvasEat WellCompetitionsRestaurants & Menus
New Zealand TravelAustralia TravelInternational Travel
Our Green FutureRuralOneRoof Property
Career AdviceCorporate News
Driven MotoringPhotos
SudokuCodecrackerCrosswordsWordsearchDaily quizzes
Classifieds
KaitaiaWhangareiDargavilleAucklandThamesTaurangaHamiltonWhakataneRotoruaTokoroaTe KuitiTaumarunuiTaupoGisborneNew PlymouthNapierHastingsDannevirkeWhanganuiPalmerston NorthLevinParaparaumuMastertonWellingtonMotuekaNelsonBlenheimWestportReeftonKaikouraGreymouthHokitikaChristchurchAshburtonTimaruWanakaOamaruQueenstownDunedinGoreInvercargill
NZ HeraldThe Northern AdvocateThe Northland AgeThe AucklanderWaikato HeraldBay Of Plenty TimesRotorua Daily PostHawke's Bay TodayWhanganui ChronicleThe Stratford PressManawatu GuardianKapiti NewsHorowhenua ChronicleTe Awamutu CourierVivaEat WellOneRoofDriven MotoringThe CountryPhoto SalesNZ Herald InsightsWatchMeGrabOneiHeart RadioRestaurant Hub

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
World

Democrats create 'sanctuary states' for abortion as legal battles loom

27 Jun, 2022 11:23 PM6 minutes to read
An abortion-rights protest at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on June 24, 2022. Photo / AP

An abortion-rights protest at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on June 24, 2022. Photo / AP

Financial Times
By Antoine Gara and Hannah Murphy

Democratic lawmakers in the US are stepping up efforts to establish "sanctuary states" for reproductive rights in response to the Supreme Court ruling that ended nearly half a century of federal legal protection for abortion.

The overturning of Roe v Wade on Friday triggered automatic abortion bans in 13 Republican states, with a further 13 expected to pass their own bans in the coming weeks.

However, pro-choice legislators had been preparing for the Supreme Court's decision by proposing or passing legislation to codify abortion rights and legal protections in America's Democratic-run states.

The moves add to an increasingly complex patchwork of abortion rules across the US based on party lines, opening the door to legal wrangling between states and the federal government.

"I can envision major clashes between the federal government and states," said Neal Katyal, former US solicitor general and partner at law firm Hogan Lovells.

Katyal cited potential litigation over whether anti-abortion states can criminalise anyone who helps a woman terminate a pregnancy in another jurisdiction. "That would be a clear violation of the right to travel but it will require litigation and messy court cases," he said.

Some Republican state lawmakers are also exploring clamping down on out-of-state telemedicine providers to prevent them from providing advice and abortion medication to their citizens, according to Katie Keith, associate research professor at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

"The [legal and practical] challenges here are unprecedented in scope," Keith said. "This is going to be pretty untested going forward."

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
Abortion opponents protest outside the Jackson Women's Health Organisation clinic in Mississippi on June 25, 2022. Photo / AP
Abortion opponents protest outside the Jackson Women's Health Organisation clinic in Mississippi on June 25, 2022. Photo / AP

In May, Connecticut signed the Reproductive Freedom Defence Act into law, providing new legal protections for patients seeking abortion care in the state arriving from jurisdictions that have outlawed the procedure.

The law expanded abortion access in Connecticut by increasing the types of practitioner eligible to perform certain abortion-related care. It also created legal protections for citizens against extradition to states where abortion is now illegal, even offering legal defence services and financing for anyone being sued.

Related articles

New Zealand

Ex-senior MP warns caucus over abortion issue position

27 Jun 10:18 PM
World

Abortion battleground shifts to US courthouses

27 Jun 06:10 PM
New Zealand

How to channel your Roe v Wade rage from Aotearoa

27 Jun 04:24 AM
New Zealand|Politics

Deputy PM says Luxon 'spinning' abortion issue; $4.5m support for Ukraine announced

27 Jun 02:42 AM

Read More

  • New Zealand health sector may see influx of US doctors ...
  • National MP Simon O'Connor speaks about removing anti-abortion ...
  • Cecilia Robinson: Roe v Wade tests Christopher Luxon's ...
  • Roe v Wade: Ominous sentence buried deep in US Supreme ...

"Undoing Roe will set off an unprecedented amount of uncertainty and put states in legal battles with each other in a way that is similar to the darkest days in our country's history," Matthew Blumenthal, a Connecticut representative who sponsored the legislation, told the Financial Times.

Blumenthal was referring to the fugitive slave laws, where southern states fought northern states to return those who had escaped slavery. In response, northern states passed "liberty laws", to ward off extradition.

Blumenthal said Connecticut's law was designed specifically to thwart lawsuits, extradition requests and even bounties emanating from states where abortion is now illegal.

Bounty laws

Texas, Missouri and Idaho have passed bounty laws that offer financial incentives to citizens bringing lawsuits against healthcare providers conducting abortions.

Connecticut's new law, however, makes it easier to countersue, an effort Blumenthal said was meant to deter people in those states from bringing the suits forward.

"It is not where I expected us to be as a country," said Blumenthal. "The idea that we are passing these laws is shocking, but they are purely defensive."

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Many other blue states have been taking measures since early May, when a draft of the Supreme Court ruling was leaked to the Politico news site. In cities from Washington to Chicago and Seattle, similar sanctuary legislation is making its way through state legislatures.

California governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Friday designed to protect both patients and local healthcare providers from civil lawsuits based on other states' laws. He was joined by the governors of Oregon and Washington state in signing a commitment to enshrine abortion rights across the West Coast.

According to the commitment, the three states will not comply with out-of-state investigations or arrests based on external abortion laws, and refuse extradition of those who have travelled to the states for legal reproductive healthcare services, for example. The states also vowed to expand access to abortion medication and telehealth for reproductive services.

Newsom has previously proposed a US$125 million (about NZ$198m) package to expand access to abortion healthcare.

'It's going to be crushing'

In New York, assemblyman Charles Lavine has proposed the Geraldine Santoro Act to offer travel and medical care for out-of-state travellers seeking an abortion and a US$15m fund to support such services. The act, named after a woman who died in 1964 from an unsafe abortion, seeks to mitigate the impact of the Supreme Court ruling, particularly on poor and minority populations.

"This is all a start. We anticipated what [Supreme Court justice Samuel] Alito was going to do and took whatever steps we could in short order to provide protections," said Lavine. "Never before in our history has our Supreme Court stolen a constitutional right of Americans."

Nevertheless, experts warn that abortion providers may struggle to cope with the influx of women coming from other states seeking care if the flurry of Republican state legislation is passed. "The existing clinics and providers are already underfunded and under-resourced even in a protected state," said Keith. "It's going to be crushing."

Organisations such as Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organisation that is the largest provider of abortion care in the US, are also now preparing legal challenges to forestall immediate abortion bans.

On Saturday, Planned Parenthood of Utah filed a restraining order against the state's abortion ban, which was passed in 2020 and took effect this week. Without the appeal, the organisation said, more than 50 women in the state would not be able to obtain abortions this week.

"Should the trigger ban remain in effect, thousands of Utahns will be forced to either carry an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy to term or travel out of state to obtain abortion care," said the organisation.

"This is deeply personal," New York governor Kathy Hochul told MSNBC on Sunday. New York has budgeted US$35m to expand abortion access.

"There is strong anger out there," Hochul added. "It is not a Democratic issue . . . Women just want to make their own decisions. To have the government tell them that they cannot is shocking."

Written by: Antoine Gara and Hannah Murphy
© Financial Times

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

World

Female teacher's alleged sex acts on boys

19 Aug 06:44 AM
Premium
World

The bloody uprising against the Taliban led by one of their own

19 Aug 06:00 AM
World

US judges who profited jailing children ordered to pay US$200m in damages

19 Aug 04:53 AM
World

Indian gang ran fake police station out of hotel for eight months

19 Aug 02:26 AM
World

High-level talks in Ukraine don't break stalemate

19 Aug 01:29 AM

Most Popular

Ombudsman sends PM 'please explain' over Sharma allegations
New Zealand|Politics

Ombudsman sends PM 'please explain' over Sharma allegations

19 Aug 07:04 AM
Kawhia shooting: Mum haunted by frightening escape into darkness with children
New Zealand|Crime

Kawhia shooting: Mum haunted by frightening escape into darkness with children

19 Aug 04:04 AM
Premium
Cecilia Robinson rejoins My Food Bag board amid 'deeply disappointing' share price
Business

Cecilia Robinson rejoins My Food Bag board amid 'deeply disappointing' share price

19 Aug 05:32 AM

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
About NZMEHelp & SupportContact UsSubscribe to NZ HeraldHouse Rules
Manage Your Print SubscriptionNZ Herald E-EditionAdvertise with NZMEBook Your AdPrivacy Policy
Terms of UseCompetition Terms & ConditionsSubscriptions Terms & Conditions
© Copyright 2022 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP