Abortion bans that were put on the books in some states in the event Roe v. Wade was overturned started automatically going into effect Friday, while clinics elsewhere — including Alabama, Texas and West Virginia — stopped performing abortions for fear of prosecution, sending women away in tears.
“Some patients broke down and could not speak through their sobbing,” said Katie Quinonez, executive director of West Virginia’s lone abortion clinic, whose staff spent the day calling dozens of patients to cancel their appointments. “Some patients were stunned and didn’t know what to say. Some patients did not understand what was happening.”
In eliminating the constitutional right to abortion that has stood for a half-century, the high court left the politically charged issue up to the states, about half of which are now likely to ban the procedure.
Some states, including Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri, had “trigger law” bans on the books that went into effect as soon as Roe fell.
ALABAMA
In Alabama, the state’s three abortion clinics stopped performing the procedure for fear providers would now be prosecuted under a law dating to 1951.
At the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville, the staff had to tell women in the waiting room Friday morning that they could not perform any more abortions that day. Some had come from as far away as Texas for an appointment.
“A lot of them just started breaking down crying. Can you imagine if you had driven 12 hours to receive this care in this state and you are not able to?” clinic owner Dalton Johnson said. Patients were given a list of out-of-state places still doing abortions.
ARIZONA
Abortion providers across Arizona likewise stopped doing procedures while they try to determine if a law dating to pre-statehood days — before 1912 — means doctors and nurses will face prison time now.
ARKANSAS
The Arkansas Department of Health on Friday notified the state’s two abortion providers that its ban on the procedure had taken effect under a law triggered by the Supreme Court ruling. The law bans abortions except to protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency.
The notices advise the facilities that performing an abortion in violation of the law is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Planned Parenthood said it would no longer be able to offer abortions at its Little Rock facility. Before the ban took effect, Planned Parenthood offered medication abortion but not surgical abortions at the facility. Another clinic, Little Rock Family Planning Services, offered surgical abortions at its facility.
LOUISIANA
Louisiana has a trigger law that immediately outlaws abortions. There is no exception for rape or incest. The only exception is if there is substantial risk of death or impairment to the woman.
Earlier this week, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, signed a bill updating various aspects of the law and subjecting abortion providers to up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $100,000. Edwards’ office said the bill allows the use of emergency contraception “for victims of rape and incest prior to when a pregnancy can be clinically diagnosed.
Edwards signed another bill that would require the doctor to certify that a drug used for abortion was being prescribed for another medical reason. The bill makes it illegal to deliver abortion medication to a state resident “by mail-order, courier, or as a result of a sale made via the internet.”
It’s unclear if Louisiana’s three abortion clinics — in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport — must close their doors immediately.
Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2020 stating that “a right to abortion and the funding of abortion shall not be found in the Louisiana Constitution.” Of the about 2 million people who voted, 62% approved the amendment. Abortion had been legal in Louisiana through the 19th week of pregnancy. After that, it was legal only if the fetus would die anyway or if continuing the pregnancy would threaten the mother’s life or health.
MISSOURI
The state of Missouri is acting quickly to enforce a state law banning abortion in the wake of a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits abortion rights for millions of women.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he was acting immediately to enforce a state law banning abortion except in “cases of medical emergency”
The 2019 Missouri law included a trigger provision making effective upon notification by the attorney general that the U.S. Supreme Court had overruled Roe v. Wade in whole or in part. The court issued a ruling Friday that ended nearly 50 years of constitutional protection for abortion.
“With this attorney general opinion, my office has effectively ended abortion in Missouri, ” said Schmitt, a Republican who also is running for U.S. Senate.
TEXAS
In Texas, providers wondered which law they had to follow: a 1925 ban, a 2021 law that limits abortions to the first six weeks of pregnancy, or a trigger law that bans the procedure outright, but wouldn’t take effect for a month or more. The confusion led them to suspend abortions while they seek legal advice.
Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton warned they could face immediate prosecution for performing abortions under the Prohibition-era ban, which carries two to five years in prison.
It was the risk of prosecution under a 19th-century abortion ban punishable by prison that led the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia to stop performing the procedure.
WEST VIRGINIA
The only abortion clinic in West Virginia is no longer performing abortions as of Friday.
Katie Quinonez, executive director of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, said the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling issued Friday that allows states to ban abortion is making an immediate, hard-felt impact.
The state has an abortion ban law on the books that makes providing abortions a felony carrying three to 10 years of prison time. It’s unclear how the state will proceed on enforcement.
“Roe has never been enough, but in states like West Virginia, it was the only thing protecting abortion access,” she said.
She says West Virginians will be forced to travel hundreds or thousands of miles away from home to access health care and that marginalized communities will be hurt the most.
WISCONSIN
Doctors across Wisconsin have stopped providing abortions, even as questions remain about the enforceability of a 173-year-old state ban. The state’s abortion providers took the step Friday immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed the right to abortion nationwide.
Wisconsin has an 1849 law that bans abortion, except to save the life of the mother, but whether that law is enforceable is expected to be challenged in court.
Planned Parenthood Wisconsin Medical Director Kathy King says nearly 70 women had abortion procedures scheduled for Friday and Saturday, but that the group instead helped those women make appointments for abortions in states where it’s legal.