Rachel Benson Gold joined the staff of the Guttmacher Institute in 1979 and is currently Director of Policy Analysis in the Institute's Public Policy Division. Her expertise is on the delivery and financing of publicly funded family planning services in the United States. She is the author of several reports and articles in the field of reproductive health services and financing, and recently completed a comprehensive analysis of the national family planning effort and its role in an evolving health care system. Ms. Gold serves on the Board of Directors of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and is a Lecturer in Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Ms. Gold earned a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University and a Master of Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Unlike in recent years, when the thrust of legislative activity was on regulating abortion, this year legislators seem to be focusing on banning abortion outright.
Reproductive health and rights were once again the subject of extensive debate in state capitols in 2012. Over the course of the year, 42 states and the District of Columbia enacted 122 provisions related to reproductive health and rights. One-third of these new provisions, 43 in 19 states, sought to restrict access to abortion services.
In the first half of 2012, states enacted 95 new provisions related to reproductive health and rights. As was the case in 2011, issues related to abortion, family planning funding and sex education once again were significant flashpoints in many legislatures .
So far, 75 abortion restrictions have been approved by at least one legislative chamber, and nine have been enacted. Here’s a breakdown of the measures that legislators are focused on this year.
