Oklahoma’s governor has signed into law a bill that will make getting an abortion much more difficult for teens, while in Louisiana a new bill would make it possible to charge parents with child abuse for “coercing” daughters into abortion.
A bill that would curb minors’ access to certain medical procedures has gone back to committee, but the North Carolina legislature remains intent on codifying anti-choice ideology.
Two bills that could radically change how teens access abortion are nearly on their way to the governor for her approval.
The North Carolina legislature would rather see teens face unplanned pregnancies, untreated STIs, and chemical dependency issues than allow them to receive any form of health care without a parent’s approval.
The governor may have refused to sign the bill into law, but a much stricter parental consent law may be going into effect anyway.
Anti-choice Oklahoma legislators are already working to make abortion as physically invasive as possible. Now they are upping their game by making it personally invasive, too.
Both bills aim to make judicial bypass a thing of the past for Oklahoma teens.
Now all minors would have to get parental permission prior to an abortion.
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.
The right to choose is becoming an issue all the way down to the judiciary.
