Acadiana residents seeking an abortion would likely have to travel 750 miles to Kansas or 1,000 miles to New Mexico to have an abortion if Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The US Supreme Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark case that secured abortion rights for Americans in 1973. If that happens, Louisiana and other states have laws that will go into effect immediately that either severely restrict or effectively ban abortion.
Abortion would become illegal in Louisiana immediately if the leaked draft of a US Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing women the right to abortion, as when it was officially released in June.
Tougher penalties:Louisiana House of Representatives passes bill criminalizing abortion without exceptions for rape and incest
That’s because the 2006 “trigger law” devised by former Democratic Senator Ben Nevers and signed by former Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco is set to go into effect under the scenario.
A bill outlawing abortion in Louisiana with no exceptions for rape or incest if the US Supreme Court overturns its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, approached in its final passage in June after the House passed a bipartisan vote.
Monroe Democratic Senator Katrina Jackson’s bill specifically exempts pregnant women from prosecution, but doubles 2006 penalties for doctors or others who terminate a pregnancy to a maximum of $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.
Other southern states such as Georgia have a near-total ban that makes abortion illegal after six weeks of pregnancy.
Florida will be the closest option for Louisiana residents, but the state’s future of access is unclear. Florida recently passed a law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, making it a relatively non-restrictive state among those with partial bans, most of whom do not allow abortions after six weeks.
It remains to be seen if Florida officials limit access further if Roe capsizes.
New Mexico has some of the most accessible abortion laws in the country. No waiting periods or parental involvement required. The state has clinics in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Santa Fe, all of which are about 1,000 miles — 14 hours’ drive — from Lafayette.
Although flights to Wichita or Kansas City will be shorter — about 750 miles — Kansas has more restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute:
- The patient should receive state-directed advice that includes information designed to discourage him from a miscarriage, then wait 24 hours before having the procedure.
- Private insurance policies cover abortion only in life-threatening situations, unless individuals purchase an optional rider at an additional cost.
- The use of telemedicine for the management of medical abortion is prohibited.
- The minor’s parents must consent before an abortion is offered.
- The patient should undergo an ultrasound examination before performing the abortion; The provider should offer the patient the option to view the image.
- Abortion at 20 weeks or more after fertilization (22 weeks after the last menstrual period) can only be performed in severely compromised life or physical health situations.
Charlotte, North Carolina is another option – closer than New Mexico but has barriers similar to Kansas.
Travel costs to other countries to perform an abortion and associated medical bills will disproportionately affect low-income individuals.
In 2014, 49% of abortion patients had a family income below the federal poverty level, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
abortion pills
Although medical clinics have stopped offering abortion procedures, there is another increasingly popular way to perform an abortion. Taking pills accounts for more than half of all miscarriages in the United States, according to 2020 data from the Guttmacher Institute.
This means that more people from Louisiana and other states where abortion bans are in place will likely rely on the pills, which can be mailed to Louisiana homes from other states — interstate commerce that can only be regulated by the federal government.
However, the Louisiana legislature has its sights set on restricting access to it as well.
Senate Bill 388, introduced by Republican Senator Slidell Sharon Hewitt in early June, would make it illegal for companies to deliver the two drugs — mifepristone and misoprostol — through the mail with criminal penalties as criminal penalties.
The percentage of people using the abortion pill has grown rapidly since the process became easier to access in 2016 and during the coronavirus pandemic and is expected to rise further if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Two tablets, mifepristone and misoprostol, are taken for about two days. In many areas, only a telemedicine visit is required to get it from the pharmacy. The pill is cheaper and less invasive than an abortion procedure, and when used during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, it safely terminates 99.6% of pregnancies with very low complication rates.
more:Louisiana legislature passes bill to ban abortion drugs by mail
Hewitt stressed that criminal penalties would not apply to women who order or take drugs, only to companies that ship them. The bill does not ban emergency contraceptives such as the so-called “morning after” pill.
Louisiana law already requires that abortion medications be dispensed and taken only in the presence of a physical doctor, but Hewitt said the current law “is not clear enough.”
Hewitt’s bill now goes to the office of Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards and will become law on August 1 unless he vetoes the legislation.