WASHINGTON (AP) — CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The only abortion clinic in West Virginia is no longer performing abortions as of Friday.
Katie Quinonez, executive director of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, said the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling issued Friday that allows states to ban abortion is making an immediate, hard-felt impact.
The state has an abortion ban law on the books that makes providing abortions a felony carrying three to 10 years of prison time.
“Roe has never been enough, but in states like West Virginia, it was the only thing protecting abortion access,”
She says West Virginians will be forced to travel hundreds or thousands of miles away from home to access health care and that marginalized communities will be hurt the most.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Republican Gov. Jim Justice applauded the high court’s decision Friday. Justice said he “will not hesitate” to call the Legislature into a special session if the state abortion law needs to be clarified.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
— The U.S. Supreme Court ends nearly 50 years o f constitutional protection for abortion.
— ‘Heightened alert’: Abortion providers brace for ruling
— Harris discusses abortion laws with state attorneys general
— Some clinics halting abortions while bracing for Roe’s fall
— If Roe falls, some DAs won’t enforce abortion bans
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Follow AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortions: https://apnews.com/hub/abortion
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department will work to protect and advance reproductive freedom.”
He made the statement Friday, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion constitutionally legal. The high court’s ruling means states will be able to ban abortion, and about half are expected to do so.
Merrick said in a statement that the agency would protect providers and those seeking abortions in states where it is legal. He also said he would stand by the approved use by the Food and Drug Administration of the drug Mifepristone for medication abortions.
More than 90% of abortions take place in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and more than half are now done with pills, not surgery, according to data compiled by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.
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Former President Donald Trump praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overruling a woman’s right to an abortion. He said in an interview with Fox News that the decision “will work out for everybody.”
The Supreme Court on Friday voted 5-3 to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. Three of the justices voting in favor were Trump appointees: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett.
“This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago,” Trump said, according to the channel. “I think, in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody.”
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BOSTON — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed an executive order in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on abortion that he said is intended to protect access to reproductive health care services in Massachusetts.
The order prohibits state agencies from assisting another state’s investigation into a person or business for receiving or delivering reproductive health services that are legal in Massachusetts. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in about half the states.
The order also protects Massachusetts providers who deliver reproductive health care services from losing their professional licenses or receiving other professional discipline based on potential out-of-state charges.
Under the executive order, the state will not cooperate with extradition requests from other states pursuing criminal charges against individuals who received, assisted with, or performed reproductive health services that are legal in Massachusetts.
“In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v Wade, it is especially important to ensure that Massachusetts providers can continue to provide reproductive health care services without concern that the laws of other states may be used to interfere with those services or sanction them for providing services that are lawful in the Commonwealth,” Baker said in a written statement.
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WASHINGTON – Police in the nation’s capital are bringing in additional officers and mobilizing in anticipation of growing protests outside the U.S. Supreme Court. The court issued a highly charged decision that ends constitutionally protection to abortion nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wade made abortion legal.
U.S. Capitol Police says it has been working closely with other law enforcement agencies in order to prepare for demonstrations. A law enforcement official says the department is mobilizing its civil disturbance unit and also bringing on additional officers Friday.
The official could not publicly discuss details of the internal security procedures and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Hundreds of people had already descended outside the court after the ruling was handed down on Friday.
— Mike Balsamo reported from New York City.
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RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is an abortion rights supporter and this year’s chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. He said Friday, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sharply limits abortion, that North Carolina women will still be able to obtain reproductive health care in the state.
“For 50 years, women have relied on their constitutional right to make their own medical decisions, but today that right has been tragically ripped away,” Cooper said in a news release.
The North Carolina legislature is controlled by Republicans, but they lack veto-proof majorities should they attempt to pass additional abortion restrictions now. Cooper put out a fundraising appeal Friday citing the decision in urging assistance to prevent the GOP from obtaining veto-proof majorities in November.
All 170 legislative seats are on the fall ballot. Cooper urged donors to contribute to campaigns to help elect Democrats.
“Democratic governors are the last line of defense against these types of extreme bills,” he said in a separate fundraising email. “What it comes down to is this: Reproductive rights are fundamental, and we will not go back.”
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who in 2019 signed into law a near total ban on abortion, said the state will ask a judge to lift an injunction and clear the way for the state to enforce the ban.
At the time, the Alabama law was the nation’s most stringent abortion ban, making it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exemption for pregnancies caused by rape and incest.
“Today is a giant step forward for our country as, after decades, Roe is finally overturned. Folks, after almost 50 years of standing up for unborn babies, our prayers have been answered,” Ivey said in a statement, adding “now that Roe is overturned, the state will immediately ask the court to strike down any legal barriers to enforcing this law.”
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The state of Missouri is acting quickly to enforce a state law banning abortion in the wake of a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits abortion rights for millions of women.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he was acting immediately to enforce a state law banning abortion except in “cases of medical emergency”
The 2019 Missouri law included a trigger provision making effective upon notification by the attorney general that the U.S. Supreme Court had overruled Roe v. Wade in whole or in part. The court issued a ruling Friday that ended nearly 50 years of constitutional protection for abortion.
“With this attorney general opinion, my office has effectively ended abortion in Missouri, ” said Schmitt, a Republican who also is running for U.S. Senate.
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Former President Barack Obama has condemned the U.S. Supreme Court ending constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years.
Obama said on Twitter that the decision is tantamount to an attack on freedoms for millions of Americans. The court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday. The decision is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
Three of the court’s liberal justices wrote in a joint dissent that the decision would bring “sorrow” for the many millions of American women who will be losing a “fundamental constitutional protection.”
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WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years.
The decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step.
Three of the court’s liberal justices wrote in a joint dissent that the decision would bring “sorrow” for the many millions of American women who will be losing a “fundamental constitutional protection.”
