Top stories of 2022; No. 2: Abortion issues

Dec. 30—As the year draws to a close, the Journal Inquirer has compiled a list of the Top 10 Stories of 2022 for north-central Connecticut. This is the ninth in that series, which concludes on Saturday.

It seemed unthinkable to many when the U.S. Supreme Court in June stripped away women's constitutional protections for abortion after almost a century under Roe v. Wade.

Soon after the decision, Connecticut Democrats and health care professionals quickly vowed to continue doing everything in their power to provide a full range of health services to anyone who was denied them, and abortion rights became a hot-button issue nationally during the midterm elections.

Bans went into effect in several states, but officials in other states enacted new protections for abortion.

Controversial rulings

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was a landmark decision addressing whether the Constitution protects the right to an abortion. In Dobbs, the Supreme Court reviewed the constitutionality of Mississippi's Gestational Age Act, a law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for medical emergencies and fetal abnormalities.

In a divided opinion, the court upheld the Mississippi law and overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, concluding that the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion.

The rulings meant abortion policy would now be determined at the state level rather than the federal level.

Reactions

In June, many Connecticut residents said that they were grateful that the state had the foresight to enact Public Act 22-19, a first-in-the-nation law that protects medical providers and patients seeking abortion care who may be traveling from other states that have outlawed abortion. Known as the "safe harbor" law, it also expands the type of medical providers that provide reproductive health care consistent with their training.

At the same time, politicians and health care professionals expressed concern for women across the country.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said it is time that other states step up and do the same as Connecticut and stop letting anti-abortion rhetoric dismantle decades of progress.

"This ruling demolishes almost a half-century of settled law ensuring women's reproductive freedom, and the right to have an abortion is an integral part of a women's reproductive freedom," Bysiewicz said.

Janee Weber, executive director of Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund, said the Supreme Court's decision will disproportionately affect the poor, indigenous, and women of color.

"We are deeply angered and we are outraged, even though we expected this day would be coming," she said when the ruling was announced on June 24. "Today's decision is a violation of our human rights."

Midterm elections

President Joe Biden urged voters to make abortion access a defining issue in the November elections, and said the decision "must not be the final word."

In a half-dozen statewide ballot measures last month, voters sided with abortion rights.

Voters in California, Michigan, and Vermont approved ballot measures to declare that the right to abortion is protected by the state constitutions.

Voters in Kansas and Kentucky rejected measures this year that would have done the opposite, and instead preserved the states' original abortion legislation.

Montana voters rejected a ballot measure that would have forced medical workers to intercede in the rare case of a baby born after an attempted abortion.

In December, New Jersey officials announced a grant to train more medical professionals to provide abortions.

Bans

Abortion is currently considered illegal at all stages of pregnancy, with various exceptions, in 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

In Georgia, abortion is banned once cardiac activity can be detected — around six weeks, which is before women often realize they're pregnant.

Some of the bans are included in "trigger laws" that were passed years ago in anticipation of a ruling like Dobbs. Some are in laws that predate Roe v. Wade.

Lawmakers in Indiana and West Virginia adopted new bans after this year's ruling. Enforcement of the Indiana ban is on hold because of a legal challenge.

In both states, there was little question about whether bans would be adopted, but there were emotional debates over whether to include exceptions in the cases of rape and incest. Both states ultimately included those exceptions and for abortions in the case of medical emergencies.

Bans in Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming are also not in effect, at least for now, as courts decide whether they can be enforced in the future.

Even in states where lawmakers favor bans, debates remain about which exceptions should be included. So far, states have been allowing later abortions to protect the woman's physical health but not always her mental health.

Impact

It will take time to assess the full impact of the Dobbs ruling through data, including the number of abortions and births.

The number of abortions has dropped nearly to zero in states with bans and risen in neighboring states, according to a survey conducted for the Society of Family Planning.

Overall, the study found, the number of abortions fell.

However, the survey does not include medically induced abortions received outside of clinics, medical offices, hospitals, and virtual providers.

Doctors and researchers say that the number of requests for abortion pills increased dramatically after a draft version of the Dobbs ruling was leaked in May.

It won't be clear for at least several months, though, whether the number of births has changed since the ruling.

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A report from the Associated Press was included in this story.

For more coverage of Somers and Enfield, follow Susan Danseyar on Twitter: @susandanseyar, Facebook: Susan Danseyar, reporter.