Record-breaking 536 abortion restrictions introduced since January

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – According to data supplied by the Guttmacher Institute, this year has so far already seen an unprecedented 536 abortion restrictions introduced across 46 states. Sixty-one of these restrictions have become law across 13 states.

Guttmacher found that 89% of the 61 abortion restrictions enacted since January were in states that are generally considered to be anti-abortion. “Arkansas has now enacted 20 restrictions in 2021, tying Louisiana’s 1978 record for the most restrictions in a single year,” the Guttmacher said in its report.

Twenty-eight new restrictions became law across seven states between April 26 and April 29. Constituting almost half of the restrictions passed this year, these measures include an almost complete ban on abortion in Oklahoma, heart-beat bans in Idaho and Oklahoma, a 20-week ban in Montana, and a prohibition on abortion for non-fatal genetic anomalies in Arizona.

In Texas, 17 restrictions have passed at least one chamber and Oklahoma is considering further restrictions on medical abortion. Meanwhile, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma enacted restrictions on abortion clinics.

“The year 2021 is well on its way to being a defining one in abortion rights history,” the Guttmacher Institute said in its report.

That count includes multiple abortion bans that directly challenge Roe: a near-total ban on abortion in Oklahoma, six-week abortion bans in Idaho and Oklahoma, a 20-week ban in Montana, and a ban on abortion for non-lethal genetic anomalies in Arizona.

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