Delaware saw one of the highest increases in legal abortions in 2023 so far: Press Room
Welcome to The Press Room, a weekly roundup of the major stories and happenings in Delaware politics.
This week’s edition focuses on abortion in Delaware, NAACP’s reaction to a recent fatal officer-involved shooting and the candidates running for the General Assembly.
As always, send story tips, feedback, ideas or gossip to me at mnewman@delawareonline.com.
In a post-Roe America, Delaware sees significant increase in legal abortions
Delaware likely saw the highest jump in legal abortions among East Coast states in the first half of 2023 compared with the same time period in 2020, according to a new analysis.
The Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, published research that found abortions will likely increase across the country at a time when more states are restricting and banning abortions.
Delaware, where abortion is protected by state law, saw an increase of 86% from January to June 2023 compared with that same time period in 2020, according to the data. It was the sixth-highest increase in the country, with New Mexico seeing the highest change with 220%.
Many of the states with the highest percentage border areas where abortion is severely restricted or totally banned, the data shows.
The First State significantly outpaced its neighboring states, which all saw varying increases under 30%.
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Delaware was one of the few states that had abortion access codified as state law. Lawmakers have also recently passed legislation to add further protections.
Because of this, Delaware was expected to see a rise in people crossing state lines in order to terminate a pregnancy. But access is still limited: Planned Parenthood, the predominant abortion provider in Delaware, has three clinics in the state.
Federal data previously showed that in 2019, nearly 1 in 7 women who received an abortion in Delaware lived out of state. They mostly came from Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Delaware had at the time the second-highest percentage in 2019 of nonresidents receiving abortions among all East Coast states that publicly report this information.
NAACP calls on Delaware to release video of fatal officer-involved shooting
The Delaware NAACP put further pressure on the state last week to release any available video of a recent fatal officer-involved shooting of Tremaine Jackson.
Black people, NAACP officials said, are not safe in Delaware.
"What I say to people when they come to Delaware," NAACP Delaware State Conference of Branches President Richard Smith said. "If you're Black, watch yourself in the state of Delaware because the police will kill you."
The family’s lawyers are calling on the state to recuse itself from the investigation and, with the NAACP’s support, to have an outside agency conduct the investigation.
A state police spokesperson asked for the public to be patient as the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing.
"We ask for the public’s patience as that investigation proceeds and anticipate details being shared with the public at the conclusion of the investigation,” the spokesperson said.
Read my colleague Esteban Parra’s reporting on Jackson’s death.
Who (so far) is running for the Legislature in 2024?
With the state primary officially less than a year away, a handful of hopefuls have announced their candidacy for the General Assembly.
Democrats are expected to hold their majority in both chambers. The real question is by how much. The party was successful in flipping two Republican-held seats in Sussex County in 2022.
So far, the most notable race will be in Representative District 21, which includes Pike Creek. It’s the district of House Minority Leader Mike Ramone, who has represented the area for more than a decade.
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He now has two Democratic challengers. Michael Smith, a former legislative aide and substitute teacher, and Frank Burns, a climate activist and biotech entrepreneur. Burns lost to Ramone in 2022 by a margin of just 41 votes.
Monica Beard, who works for Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, is attempting to flip a seat in the neighboring 22nd District of Pike Creek Valley, represented by Republican Rep. Mike Smith. He has easily won reelection in recent years.
Branden Fletcher Dominguez is seeking to be the youngest and first Afro-Latino elected into the General Assembly. He is running for a Wilmington House seat, currently occupied by Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker. The representative is running for lieutenant governor.
And Marty Rendon, commissioner of the Delaware Human and Civil Rights Commission, is looking to win the seat held by longtime former House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, who will retire at the end of this term. He announced in June that he was stepping down as speaker. It’s unclear if Schwartzkopf will endorse anyone for his seat, which represents the Delaware beaches.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware reports big jump in legal abortions in 2023. What we know
