‘No exceptions’: New abortion laws across the US will force victims of rape and incest to give birth

One of America’s political leaders has been confronted on live TV over a staggering detail in her anti-abortion law.

Many of the abortion bans being imposed across the United States in the wake of Friday’s landmark Supreme Court ruling include no exceptions for women who are victims of rape or incest.

And some opponents of abortion want to go even further by eliminating exceptions for cases in which the mother’s health is at risk.

Late last week, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned its 1973 ruling in Roe vs Wade, which had protected abortion rights in the United States for almost five decades.

Under the precedent set by Roe, state governments could only ban abortion from the point of “viability” onwards, i.e. the time at which a foetus can realistically survive outside the womb. That threshold is reached at about 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Friday’s ruling scrapped that precedent, meaning state governments are now able to restrict abortion far earlier in a woman’s pregnancy, or ban it altogether.

Many have done so immediately.

More than a dozen states, mainly in the nation’s South and Midwest, already had “trigger laws” on their books, which were designed to come into effect if Roe was overturned.

Some of these laws started to operate as soon as the Supreme Court’s decision was revealed. Others required a quick sign-off from state officials. A few will begin to be enforced a month from now.

All of them are appreciably stricter than the laws that applied when Roe still stood.

Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas have all imposed bans with no exception for cases of rape or incest.

Florida’s law is subject to a challenge in the state court system. Should it survive that challenge, it will also exclude such exceptions.

Idaho, Mississippi and Utah do exempt women who are victims of rape or incest – but only if they have filed a police report, which is something a majority of victims don’t do.

The aforementioned states have a combined population of about 95 million. Assume about half of those people are women. That means more than 40 million American women will now be living under significantly tougher abortion restrictions.

And most of the bans in question apply to all pregnancies, no matter how early.

A protester flies an upside-down American flag outside the US Supreme Court. Picture: Samuel Corum/AFP

‘No exceptions’: Anti-abortion governor confronted

South Dakota is one of the states whose trigger law has gone into effect immediately.

Under the law, anyone who provides or attempts to provide an abortion service will be charged with a class 6 felony, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, a $US4000 fine, or both.

There is an exception for mothers whose lives are at risk, but no such relief for victims of rape or incest.

The state’s Governor Kristi Noem, a Republican, stood by that stance during an interview with CBS News program Face the Nation on Sunday.

“Are you open to exceptions for rape and incest?” host Margaret Brennan asked.

“My heart goes out to every single woman who’s had to go through that situation. I don’t know what that’s like,” Ms Noem responded.

“What I would say is that I believe every life is precious. Our trigger law does reflect that if it’s to save the life of a mother, then an abortion is still illegal.”

(She actually misspoke there, as South Dakota’s law does include an exception if the woman’s life is in danger.)

“And we know so much more using technology and science than we did even 10 or 15 years ago about what these babies go through, the pain they feel in the womb, and we’ll continue to make sure that those lives are protected.

“I’ve never believed that having a tragedy or tragic situation happen to someone is a reason to have another tragedy occur.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem does not say whether she would support abortion exemptions for rape or incest but says, “having a tragedy or tragic situation happen to someone is a reason to have another tragedy occur.” pic.twitter.com/otJzh4yvjP

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 26, 2022

“So no exceptions for rape or incest?” Brennan interjected.

“I prefer that we continue to make sure to go forward, and that we’re putting resources in front of these women and walking alongside them, getting them the healthcare, the care, the mental health counselling and services that they need to make sure that we can continue to support them and build stronger families far into the future,” said Ms Noem.

“So no exceptions?” Brennan pressed again.

“No, this is a debate that is going to continue to happen from state to state, Margaret, and I think that’s what is unique about the United States of America. I love that about this nation. We have a very limited federal government,” the Governor said.

“The Supreme Court did its job. It fixed a wrong decision it made many years ago, and returned this power back to the states, which is how our Constitution and the founders intended it.

“So the fear tactics I hear coming out of so many people, from pundits and those in the media, scaring women, saying they’re going to have a bigger risk of death because of this decision – what this is going to do is give them the ability to weigh in with their local elected officials to make sure that their state laws reflect what they need to have their healthcare and their options and their babies here into the future.”

The nine Supreme Court justices. The court’s conservative majority voted to overturn Roe vs Wade. Picture: AFP

At present, every statewide abortion ban in the US does at least contain some protection for mothers whose lives are threatened. Some anti-abortion activists want to change that.

Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor, Tom Wolf, is currently preventing the state’s Republican legislature from enacting stricter abortion laws.

His term ends in January, and the Republican nominee running to replace him, Doug Mastriano, believes abortion should be banned with no exceptions. None. That means no abortions even if the purpose is to protect the mother’s life.

In Wisconsin, a pro-life group has argued there are no situations in which an abortion is medically necessary. In a medical emergency, it would want the doctor to work equally to save the mother and the baby.

“If one or the other inadvertently dies, that’s not an abortion, that’s in God’s hands,” the group’s legislative director Matt Sande told USA Today.

Even Mr Sande, however, supports abortions for ectopic pregnancies, which do not result in a viable foetus and can kill the woman.

That isn’t the case for Warren Hamilton, a state Senator in Oklahoma. He has argued the state’s ban – which has no exceptions for rape or incest – does not go far enough.

He feels abortion should be barred even for ectopic pregnancies, in which the fertilised egg develops outside the uterus.

“I just don’t understand why we allow those children to be murdered but not the others,” Mr Hamilton said on the floor of the state Senate.

His stance alarmed medical experts.

“The fallopian tube and other places a pregnancy can implant cannot support a pregnancy,” Dr Iman Alsaden, an obstetrician-gynaecologist and a director at Planned Parenthood, told a news conference last month.

“If you continue to let these pregnancies happen, there will be no viable baby afterwards. What will happen is that they will burst and people will bleed to death.”

In the United States, it’s estimated that between 0.6 and 2 per cent of all pregnancies are ectopic. It is the most common cause of pregnancy-related death in the first trimester.

Abortion rights activists march past the Washington Monument. Picture: Samuel Corum/AFP

Writing for Kaiser Health News on Friday, journalism professor Joanne Faryon opened up about her own ectopic pregnancies, saying she feared the consequences of Roe’s demise.

“A few years ago, I saw a tweet about an Ohio politician who introduced a bill that would require doctors to implant an ectopic pregnancy inside a woman’s uterus or face charges of ‘abortion murder’,” she wrote.

(This was a real bill, though it didn’t pass.)

“Such a procedure is medically impossible. How dare he. And it sent me down a rabbit hole where I discovered a world of anti-abortion advocates questioning the need to end an ectopic pregnancy.

She noted that ectopic pregnancies can “lead to death”, and argued her odds of surviving would have been “substantially lower” without Roe’s protection.

Of course, the lack of protection for victims of rape and incest is outrageous enough for many women, including Missouri state Representative Betsy Fogle.

“Abortion is now illegal in Missouri. No exceptions for rape or incest,” Ms Fogle fumed after the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“Right before I was elected, I met a pregnant 11-year-old who had been raped by her uncle. What about her rights?”

The states where abortion rights are fading

In Alabama, abortions are now illegal unless the mother’s health is in danger. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors who breach the law can be jailed for up to 99 years.

Arizona passed a ban on abortion from 15 weeks of pregnancy onwards in March. It will not take effect for at least another 90 days. There is also a total abortion ban on its books, though the state’s Governor has indicated that will not be enforced.

Arkansas has enacted its trigger law banning all abortions, with an exception for cases in which the mother’s health is at risk.

The situation is a bit more complicated in Florida. The state legislature has passed a 15-week ban, which goes into effect at the start of July. It will, however, face a challenge in court for allegedly violating the state’s constitution.

Should Florida’s ban survive that legal challenge, it will not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Georgia has a six-week ban that was being challenged in the courts, but as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling will likely come into effect soon. The six-week threshold is significant because many women don’t even realise they’re pregnant at that point.

Idaho’s trigger law won’t be activated for a month, but when it does come into effect it will ban all abortions. This state does have exceptions for rape and incest, provided the crime has been reported to police. There is also an exception for doctors who accidentally end a pregnancy while performing a procedure.

The law is more lenient in Indiana, where abortion is allowed until 20 weeks into pregnancy. The Republicans are in power, however, and have indicated they want to make things stricter. We have yet to learn how much stricter they’ll go.

Kentucky’s trigger law bans all abortions unless one is required to save the mother’s life. All abortion services in the state stopped earlier this year.

Another trigger law in Louisiana also bans all abortions unless the mother is at risk. It has some of the most strident punishments for abortion providers, who can face 10 years in jail for breaching the law.

Michigan is a curious case. A law from 1931 banning most abortions has been blocked by the courts and will not go into effect yet. The state’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney-General Dana Nessel are both Democrats who support abortion rights – but they face tough re-election fights later this year.

Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks is the one that triggered Friday’s ruling from the Supreme Court, but in 2007 it passed a separate law barring practically all abortions, and that is the one which will go into effect within weeks. It contains exceptions for cases in which the mother is in danger, and for pregnancies caused by rape, as long as the rape was reported to law enforcement.

A ban on all abortions, with a narrow exception for medical emergencies only, has already gone into effect in Missouri.

A trigger law in North Dakota carries a five-year prison term for abortion providers, though it does contain exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s health. The state only has one abortion clinic, which could now close.

Ohio has immediately imposed a law that bans most abortions after the point at which a foetal heartbeat can be detected.

Oklahoma has a complete abortion ban in place unless the mother’s life is in danger. It has adopted a strange enforcement system, with private citizens empowered to sue each other if they suspect an illegal abortion has occurred. There are no abortion services in the state.

For now, abortion is safe in Pennsylvania, which has a Democratic Governor. But his term ends in January, and one of the candidates running to replace him – Republican Doug Mastriano – wants to ban abortion with no exceptions whatsoever.

Given Republicans control the state legislature, the election for governor will likely decide the fate of abortion rights.

In South Carolina, a law banning most abortions after the detection of a foetal heartbeat is likely to come into effect. It has exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s health.

We discussed South Dakota earlier. The only exception to its total abortion ban is if the mother’s life is at risk.

Tennessee’s trigger law banning all abortions unless the woman’s health is at risk will start to operate a month from now.

Like Oklahoma, Texas has an anti-abortion law that empowers private citizens to sue each other. Under that law, abortions are banned after six weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The woman’s health must be in serious danger.

Utah requires mothers to have reported their alleged rape to police, and also has the standard exception for their health. Otherwise abortion is banned completely.