Viewpoint: Children Continue to Die Fifty-one Years After Roe v. Wade

The 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court decision was on January 22. For years, that date was a time marked by rallies, protests and political pledges opposed to abortion.

   Because of the overthrow of Roe v. Wade on June 24. 2022, anniversary 51 was instead marked by a flurry of activity to protect and increase the number of abortions.

   At least a hundred people gathered on the steps of the Colorado Capitol recently to launch a signature campaign for a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. A cardboard sign read, “Someone you love has had an abortion,” as state lawmakers and the Colorado attorney general bunched around a microphone and the crowd cheered.

   Colorado’s legislature passed abortion protections last year, but “if we don’t enshrine it in the constitution, we will be at the whim of lawmakers,” said Nicole Hensel, executive director of New Era Colorado, one of the coalition of groups behind the Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom campaign.

   Colorado has become an island of abortion protections as surrounding states installed restrictions after Roe was overturned. The Cobalt Abortion Fund based in Colorado spent six times the amount helping people get abortions in 2023 as they did in 2021.

   A September 11, 2023 story in CPR (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) News reports that nearly 30 percent of abortions in Colorado were patients that crossed state lines.  That is double figures in 2021.

   The president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said, “About two out of every five of our abortion care patients don't live in Colorado.”

   Colorado has recorded more than 3,100 out-of-state patients coming for an abortion so far in 2023. The number was about 2,000 as of the same time last year. A third of all terminated pregnancies in 2023 so far have been for non-Colorado patients. That compares with nearly 28 percent for all of 2022.

  According to research from the Guttmacher Institute, legal abortions most likely increased in the United States in the first six months of 2023 compared to 2020.

   It is estimated that around 511,000 abortions across 36 states and in Washington D.C. were performed in the first six months of 2023.  Around 465,000 abortions were recorded across 50 states and Washington D.C. in the first six months of 2020.

   The Democratic party is planning to make abortion a key component of the 2024 general election.

   On the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President Biden and Vice-President Harris announced new rules and guidance about contraceptives and abortion and a national tour by Harris to call attention to the issue. The new rules expand access to contraceptives for federal employees and offer a broader range of approved medications at no cost under the Affordable Care Act.

   In addition, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra plans to issue a letter to state Medicaid and Medicare programs as well as private health insurers informing them of their obligation to cover contraception at no cost. And HHS will issue guidance to help Americans better understand their rights under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires emergency rooms to provide medically necessary care – including abortions – in urgent cases.

  After spending almost half a century fighting to overturn Roe, opponents were prepared to take advantage when the moment finally came. Thirteen states had passed "trigger bills" that enabled them to begin the process of banning abortion immediately after the Dobbs decision.

   A year on, 14 states, including most of the South, have enacted near-total bans from the moment of conception. Georgia banned abortion after six weeks, which is before most women know they are pregnant.

   So, what does the future hold?  A political football, kicked around from state to state that will not be resolved until the key issue is recognized:  Murdering children is wrong.

   Period.