Abortion
Abortion is a legal medical procedure that is
increasingly being put out of reach of many women in the US by a series of
state and federal prohibitions, laws, and restrictions, and by threats,
violence, and obstruction.
• In 2005, 87% of all US counties and 98% of rural countries
had no abortion services.
• The number of abortion providers has dropped from 2,680 in
1985 to 1,787 in 2005.
• 44% of medical schools offered no formal preclinical
elective abortion education.
• Between 1995 and 2009, states enacted 610 anti-choice
measures, including 29 in 2009 alone.
• 32 states have laws that subject women seeking abortion
services to biased counseling requirements and/or mandatory delay.
• Military personnel are prohibited from obtaining coverage
for abortion care through military health plans, even if a pregnancy resulted
from an act of rape or incest.
• The Hyde Amendment bars access to abortion care for
low-income women who rely on the federal government for their healthcare.
• 8 states have laws that require a woman to obtain written
consent from, or give notice to, her husband prior to receiving abortion care.
• More than 4,000 acts of violence have been aimed at abortion
clinics nationwide since 1977, including murder, arson, bombs and stalking harassment
of nurses, doctors and patients.
Source: Reproduced from The Real State of America Atlas by
Cynthia Enloe and
Joni Seager, Penguin and
University of California Press, 2011 ©
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