All but seven state legislatures are affected now in sessionand bills related to abortion continue to be introduced, particularly in states where the procedure is already banned. It can be challenging to monitor them all, so in a biweekly legislative roundup, the States Newsroom’s Reproductive Rights Today team will track specific bills that could become law in their respective states. Depending on the partisan makeup of a state’s legislature and other state government officials, some bills have a higher chance of passing and becoming law than others.
Iowa
Abortion is legal in Iowa after a court blocked a six-week abortion ban from taking effect in July 2023. A bill that would allow the exploit of material from an anti-abortion group in Iowa public school curricula has not advanced since overdue January. Since then, another abortion-related bill has surfaced.
Home Study Bill 621: Iowa Capital Shipping reports that this bill would make terminating a pregnancy without the pregnant person’s consent a more earnest crime if it was caused during a “violent felony” such as murder, assault or sexual abuse. The wording of the law would also be changed so that the crime ranges from termination of a human pregnancy to “death of an unborn person.” Some who testified in favor of the bill argued that it was not about abortion, but organizations that testified against it all spoke of unintended consequences of such a change, including opening the door to further legal penalties and potentially restricting access to contraception and other reproductive care.
Status: Passed by the House Judiciary Committee, subject to consideration by the full House
Sponsor: House Judiciary Subcommittee
House file 2031: The bill would require health classes in Iowa schools to show a video showing fetal development. Iowa Capital Shipping Reported earlier this month. Teachers would be required to show students a video showing an ultrasound and fetal development, and the bill cited the “Meet Baby Olivia” video as an example. This video was produced by Live actionan anti-abortion organization.
Status: Adopted by the Education Committee and can be examined by the plenary session
Sponsor: Republican Rep. Luana Stoltenberg
Kansas
Republican lawmakers in Kansas continue to introduce abortion-related bills, even though Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected abortion bans in a referendum shortly after the Dobbs decision in 2022. Abortion is legal in Kansas and six clinics offer in-clinic services. Senate Bill 354 And House Bill 2515which excluded facilities that provide abortions from the state’s Health Stabilization Fund and created a civil cause of action against abortion providers were not heard. But other bills were also introduced.
House Bill 2749: Kansas reflector This bill would reportedly require abortion providers to ask their patients why they are terminating their pregnancies, including a ranking of the “main reasons” for attempting an abortion, such as financial problems, health problems resulting from the pregnancy, or the fact that the pregnancy is a consequence of which is rape or incest as well as several demographic information. The bill was proposed by Kansans for Life, the main group that pushed the 2022 abortion ban referendum. This would also apply to minors.
Status: Adopted by the Committee on Health and Human Services
Sponsor: Requested on behalf of Kansans for Life by Republican Representative Ron Bryce
Maine
Maine Democratic lawmakers outnumbered Republicans by one man on the committee that recommended a proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution earlier this month. Legislative document 780 would have to be passed by two-thirds of lawmakers, and then voters would decide whether to approve the law in the November general election, Maine Morning Star Reports. The House is split between 80 Democrats and 68 Republicans, and the Senate is split 22 Democrats and 13 Republicans, meaning the resolution needs Republican support to pass.
Status: Waiting for the vote in plenary
Sponsor: The resolution is supported by nine Democrats and one independent
Missouri
Almost all abortions are banned in Missouri, but lawmakers continue to try to deny Planned Parenthood reimbursements under the state’s Medicaid program. Missouri Independent reported last week that the state Supreme Court has ruled for the second time in four years that efforts to defund Planned Parenthood through the state budget process are unconstitutional. However, lawmakers have continued to push legislation that would instead achieve the goal.
Senate Bill 1168: Prohibits the issuance of public funds to an abortion facility or its affiliates or affiliates, including Medicaid through the MO HealthNet program. Without directly naming Planned Parenthood, the bill mentions any provider “founded by a person who advocates eugenics,” an oft-repeated anti-abortion talking point about Planned Parenthood’s founder Margaret Singer.
During debate on the bill on February 7, Democratic Sen. Tracy McCreery attempted to add two amendments that would add rape and incest as exceptions to the state’s abortion ban, which currently only includes an exception to save the pregnant person’s life. Republicans rejected the amendments for partisan reasons after the debate. Sen. Sandy Crawford said that while rape is a “mental burden on anyone,” it doesn’t justify abortion because “God doesn’t make mistakes. And for some reason he allows it.”
Status: Waiting for the full Senate to vote
Sponsor: Republican Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman
Oklahoma
Oklahoma has a near-total ban on abortion, and lawmakers filed bills before the Feb. 5 session began. Some have already advanced, while others are still awaiting a hearing Senate Act 1729 And Senate Act 1778which we detailed in the previous update.
House Bill 3216: Oklahoma Voice This bill, drafted with the conservative religious group Alliance Defending Freedom, reportedly creates a civil rights mechanism for those who assist someone with an abortion and creates a requirement for doctors to report every abortion performed in the state, including one “unique patient identifier” that is registered with the state health department. When concerns were raised that these identifiers could create some kind of tracking system, the sponsor stated that it was willing to change it so that this was not possible. Republicans and Democrats on the committee also fear the bill could ban some forms of contraception, such as IUDs.
Status: Approved by committee on Feb. 15, awaiting consideration by the full House
Sponsor: Republican Rep. Kevin West
House Bill 3013: “Trafficking” abortion pills would become a felony, punishable by a $100,000 fine, 10 years in prison, or both. It does not apply to pharmacists or manufacturers who lawfully sell abortion drugs.
Status: Approved by committee on Feb. 15, awaiting consideration by the full House
Sponsor: Republican Reps. Jim Olsen and John Talley
South Dakota
As activists continue to collect signatures for a ballot initiative to add abortion rights to the state constitution, the South Dakota Legislature has approved it House Concurrent Resolution 6008by voicing their opposition to the ballot measure, arguing that it would make women, children and health care providers less sheltered if passed. The House and Senate approved the resolution by enormous majorities last week after passing it in committee earlier this month, sources said South Dakota searchlight.
House Bill 1224: The Searchlight It is also reported that this bill would require the state health department to produce an informational video describing the state’s abortion law, including what acts are and are not considered abortions, the most common medical conditions that end the life of a pregnant person can endanger, and the applicable standards of care for the treatment of pregnant people, among other things.
Status: Has passed the House and is awaiting a Senate committee hearing
Sponsor: Republican Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, 27 other Republicans and one Democrat
Tennessee
House Law 1729presented in the last update was withdrawn by the sponsor after a similar bill, HB 1884, failed to pass in the subcommittee. The bill would have clarified that criminal abortion does not include an abortion that is performed during a medical emergency that affects the physical or mental health of the pregnant person or that is performed on a patient whose pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.
House Act 1895: This bill is similar to the Idaho law, but does not follow the same text as the Oklahoma proposal. This includes obtaining abortion pills for minors, regardless of where the pills were purchased. This does not apply to parents or guardians, but all other violations are subject to a Class C felony, punishable by three to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. It also includes a civil cause of action.
Status: The Health Committee hearing is scheduled for February 21st
Sponsor: Republican Rep. Jason Zachary and Republican Sen. Paul Rose
