This is among the latest in a long string of government measures aimed at chipping away at the right to abortion. This piecemeal approach has been dictated by the fact that opponents of women’s rights have failed to push back the widespread support among the U.S. population for a woman’s right to choose.

Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision there has been a steady, bipartisan effort by capitalist politicians and the wealthy employers they represent to impose curbs on this right. The impact of these restrictions has fallen overwhelmingly on working people.

One of the opening salvos in this reactionary campaign was the 1976 Hyde Amendment, a law banning most federal funding for abortions under Medicaid, a program for the most impoverished layers of working-class women. Today only 21 states provide government financing for abortion through state programs.

Access to abortion has been restricted in different ways over the past two decades.

In the years following Roe there was a steady increase in the number of abortion providers, with the total peaking in the early 1980s at close to 3,000. In 1980 nearly half of that total were hospitals.

Today, however, under pressure from capitalist politicians on the state and local levels, the total number has dropped to just over 1,800. The number of hospitals providing abortions has dropped to almost a third its former level—just above 500.

Twenty-seven states have laws that require women seeking an abortion to undergo special “counseling”—21 of those states require a mandatory waiting period, usually 24 hours. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, an organization that conducts research on sexual and reproductive health, “Counseling provisions vary from state to state, but they often include information designed to discourage women from obtaining abortion, such as telling them that the father of the fetus is liable for child support, providing a list of abortion-alternative and adoption agencies, or offering to show photographs of fetuses at various stages of development.”

The impact of these waiting periods comes down disproportionately on working-class women—especially workers and farmers living in rural areas.

Some 87 percent of U.S. counties have no health facilities or doctors that provide abortions.

Nearly one-fourth of all women who obtain abortions must travel more than 50 miles to the nearest provider. Having to wait 24 hours and undergo “counseling” often means two long trips, lost time at work, and increased expenses.

Like the cost of health care in general, the medical costs of abortion itself have risen steadily, and the overwhelming majority—close to three-fourths—are paid for out-of-pocket. Thirteen percent are covered by insurance policies. Four states have laws prohibiting private insurance from covering abortion except as an optional rider to the policy at additional cost. The average cost is $364, but the range of charges is very wide—from $150 to $4,000.

Young women, particularly young working-class women, face added obstacles. Thirty-two states require parental notification for women under age 18 seeking abortion. Only one-third of all public schools include discussion on abortion in their curricula. A 1999 survey of middle school and high school teachers reported that 23 percent taught abstinence as the only means of reducing risk of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy.

Despite these barriers, an estimated one in every three women will have an abortion before reaching the age of 45. A firm majority of women defend access to abortion and view it as their right, regardless of the continuing effort by opponents of women’s rights to whittle away at it.
 
 
Related articles:
All out for April 25 march!
Building of April 25 march on Washington picks up momentum
Thousands march in Argentina for a woman’s right to choose abortion  
 
 
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