Conservative lawmakers around country have introduced legislation that would not only limit women’s access to abortion services, but also severely interfere with their reproductive health decisions. The bills — ranging from requiring women to hear ultrasounds before undergoing an abortion to significantly limiting when physicians can perform the procedures — would significantly expand state government regulations and, in some instances, severely interfere in the woman-doctor relationship.
ThinkProgress has created an interactive map of the most restrictive measures moving through state houses around the country and has broken down the legislation into five categories:
— ULTRASOUND: Requires women to submit to or be offered ultrasounds before undergoing an abortion.
— REFUSAL: Allows health care providers to refuse to perform abortions and other medical procedures they may find morally objectionable.
— PERSONHOOD: Declares that life begins “at the moment of conception” and that zygotes have all the rights of citizens, effectively outlawing all abortions and even some methods of birth control.
— PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Targets and defunds Planned Parenthood by limiting funds to the organization.
— 20 WEEK BAN: Outlaws abortions after 20 weeks gestation and punishes providers with prison sentences and fines for failing to uphold the ban.
Move the mouse over the map for short summaries of the bills, click on each state within the categories to read the legislation. We will update the map in the coming days and weeks, which you’ll be able to find HERE:
Kerry Mitchell, Amanda Peterson Beadle, Jessica Arons, and Fatima Najiy contributed to the creation of this map.