Gov. David Ige's executive order adds abortion protections

Oct. 12—Ige's executive order prohibits state agencies from cooperating with any state that seeks to prosecute or sue women who receive an abortion in Hawaii.

Out-of-state residents who obtain abortions in Hawaii, as well as anyone who assists them, are provided with greater protections from civil and criminal penalties that their home states may try to impose under an issued by Gov. David Ige on Tuesday. The order also protects health care providers who perform surgical abortions or provide abortion pills to non-Hawaii residents.

Abortion remains legal in Hawaii following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. But lawmakers in some Republican-led states that have enacted strict abortion bans have sought to penalize their residents who travel to another state for an abortion, and their health care providers, creating a new legal battleground in the fight over abortion.

Lawmakers in Missouri, for example, pushed legislation earlier this year that would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helped a Missouri resident obtain an abortion. The measure failed, but anti-abortion groups have been working with lawmakers in red states to introduce similar measures.

Ige's executive order, which takes effect immediately, prohibits state agencies from cooperating with any state that seeks to prosecute or sue women who receive an abortion in Hawaii, as well as with states seeking to sanction doctors who provide abortions in Hawaii. The protections also extend to anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion, including friends and family.

Specifically, it bars executive departments and agencies from providing information, medical records, data or billing information to another state seeking to penalize a patient or health care provider for providing reproductive services. State agencies are also barred from expending resources to further an inquiry or investigation initiated by another state seeking to impose civil, criminal or professional liability on an abortion provider, patient, or their support system.

"I am proud that we were able to execute this executive order to ensure that we continue to have access to reproductive health care services here in the islands and that our service providers, our doctors, will not have to worry about other states getting overzealous about imposing their laws on our citizens, " Ige said during a news conference.

A new governor will take office in December after Ige wraps up his last term, but his executive order will remain in place unless it is repealed or superseded. Lt. Gov. Josh Green, the Democratic nominee and leading candidate for governor told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser last month he supported an executive order protecting abortion in Hawaii, saying he would "not allow extreme laws from other states to threaten reproductive heath care rights in our state."

Since the Roe decision, 14 states now have total bans, or near total bans, on abortion, and another 10 states are poised to implement their own bans or restrictions. As a result, women seeking to end pregnancies have flooded clinics in states where it is still legal.

Hawaii hasn't been among the states that have been overwhelmed with patients due to the long travel time. But Dr. Reni Soon, an obstetrician and gynecologist, said that she and her colleagues who provide abortions have taken care of patients from such states as Georgia, Texas and Louisiana. Hawaii also has high numbers of visitors and students from out-of-state.

Hawaii was the first state to decriminalize abortion when the Legislature passed Act 1 in 1970 and there have been no indications that abortion rights are in jeopardy in Hawaii. When the Supreme Court overturned the Roe decision earlier this year, Hawaii's political leaders vehemently condemned the decision and vowed to protect women's right to terminate a pregnancy.

But that hasn't completely shielded Hawaii from an invigorated anti-abortion movement that has sought to create a chilling effect in states where abortion remains legal.

Rep. Linda Ichiyama (D, Salt Lake-Moanalua Valley ) said that in some states, political leaders are going after the licenses of health care providers who assist or provide abortions.

As an example, she pointed to the case of a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim who traveled out of state to obtain an abortion after her home state implemented a ban. The Indiana attorney general subsequently announced he would be looking into the license of the doctor who provided the girl with abortion services.

Ichiyama said Ige's executive order protects providers who are licensed in more states than Hawaii in the event that they are disciplined in another state for providing reproductive health care.

"So that is the trend we see across the country and it is creating a chilling effect for doctors who want to practice freely within the accordance of the laws of the state of Hawaii, but are worried about what could happen, about potential sanctions or repercussions on the mainland, " said Ichiyama.