Abortion in Alaska

Abortion in Alaska is legal. 63% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Alaska was one of only four states to make abortion legal between 1967 and 1970, a few years before the US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling. Alaska had consent requirements for women seeking abortions by 2007 that required abortion providers to warn patients of a link between abortion and breast cancer, and to issue other scientifically unsupported warnings. A bill was introduced in 2017 that would have banned abortion in Alaska, but it never made it out of committee. The legislation co-sponsor Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla tried again in 2019.

The number of abortion clinics in Alaska has been declining, going from fourteen in 1982 to thirteen in 1992 to three in 2014. 1,547 abortions took place in Alaska in 2014 and 1,459 took place in 2015. For poor women, there is state funding for abortions. Both abortion rights activists and anti-abortion rights activists are present in the state, and have held protests in 2019.

Terminology
Main article: Abortion

The abortion debate most commonly relates to the "induced abortion" of an embryo or fetus at some point in a pregnancy, which is also how the term is used in a legal sense.[note 1] Some also use the term "elective abortion", which is used in relation to a claim to an unrestricted right of a woman to an abortion, whether or not she chooses to have one. The term elective abortion or voluntary abortion describes the interruption of pregnancy before viability at the request of the woman, but not for medical reasons.[1]

Anti-abortion advocates tend to use terms such as "unborn baby", "unborn child", or "pre-born child",[2][3] and see the medical terms "embryo", "zygote", and "fetus" as dehumanizing.[4][5] Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of terms labeled as political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. "Pro-choice" implies that the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life".[6] The Associated Press encourages journalists to use the terms "abortion rights" and "anti-abortion".[7]

Context
See also: Abortion in the United States

Free birth control correlates to teenage girls having a fewer pregnancies and fewer abortions. A 2014 New England Journal of Medicine study found such a link. At the same time, a 2011 study by Center for Reproductive Rights and Ibis Reproductive Health also found that states with more abortion restrictions have higher rates of maternal death, higher rates of uninsured pregnant women, higher rates of infant and child deaths, higher rates of teen drug and alcohol abuse, and lower rates of cancer screening.[8]

According to a 2017 report from the Center for Reproductive Rights and Ibis Reproductive Health, states that tried to pass additional constraints on a women's ability to access legal abortions had fewer policies supporting women's health, maternal health and children's health. These states also tended to resist expanding Medicaid, family leave, medical leave, and sex education in public schools.[9] According to Megan Donovan, a senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, states have legislation seeking to protect a woman's right to access abortion services have the lowest rates of infant mortality in the United States.[9]

Poor women in the United States had problems paying for menstrual pads and tampons in 2018 and 2019. Almost two-thirds of American women could not pay for them. These were not available through the federal Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC).[10] Lack of menstrual supplies has an economic impact on poor women. A study in St. Louis found that 36% had to miss days of work because they lacked adequate menstrual hygiene supplies during their period. This was on top of the fact that many had other menstrual issues including bleeding, cramps and other menstrual induced health issues.[10] As of November 2018, states did not have a state sales tax and so menstrual items were not taxed.[11][12][13][14]

History

Alaska, California, and New Hampshire did not voluntarily provide the Center for Disease Control with abortion related data in 2000 or 2001.[15][16] In 2014, 63% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.[17]

Legislative history

Alaska, Hawaii, California and New York were the only four states that made abortion legal between 1967 and 1970 that did not require a reason to request an abortion.[18] In 1970, the state repealed some of its abortion laws along with Hawaii, New York, Alaska and Washington.[19] The following year, Alaska repealed its statute that said inducing an abortion was a criminal offense.[20] State law still required in 1971 that any woman getting a legal abortion in the state needed to be a resident for some specific period between 30 and 90 days.[20]

Some states, such as Alaska, Mississippi, West Virginia, Texas, and Kansas, have passed laws requiring abortion providers to warn patients of a link between abortion and breast cancer, and to issue other scientifically unsupported warnings.[21][22] The state was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement.[23] Alaska and Minnesota both require that women seeking abortions after 20-weeks be informed that, while experts disagree on the issue of whether or not a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks, it is possible. This expert confusion written into the law is there despite a Journal of the American Medical Association conclusion that pain sensors do not develop in the fetus until between weeks 23 and 30.[24]

House Bill 250 was introduced 2017 by Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla. The bill was called the Life at Conception Act and it never made it out of committee in Alaska's House.[25] In 2017, Washington State, New Mexico, Illinois, Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey allow by state law qualified non-physicians to prescribe drugs for medical abortions only.[26] In May 2019, Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla introduced House Bill 178. It defines abortion as "murder of an unborn child." The bill will not be addressed until the Alaska Legislature reconvenes in January 2020. House Health and Social Services Committee co-chair Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, D-Anchorage, said she had no interest in having the bill heard before her committee.[25][27]

Judicial history

The US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester.[28]

Clinic history
Number of abortion clinics in Alaska by year.

Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state decreased by 1, going from 14 in 1982 to 13 in 1992.[29] In 2014, there were 3 abortion clinics in the state.[30] 90% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 37% of women in the state aged 15 – 44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic.[31] In March 2016, there were 4 Planned Parenthood clinics in the state.[32] There were still 4 Planned Parenthood clinics the following year, all of which offered abortion services in a state with a population of 167,815 women aged 15 – 49.[33]

Statistics

In 1990, 69,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy.[29] In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were abortions 130, 10 abortions for black women aged 15–19, 20 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 70 abortions for women of all other races.[34] In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.[9]

Number of reported abortions, abortion rate and percentage change in rate by geographic region and state in 1992, 1995 and 1996[35]
Census division and stateNumberRate% change 1992–1996
199219951996199219951996
US Total1,528,9301,363,6901,365,73025.922.922.9–12
Pacific368,040290,520288,19038.730.530.1–22
Alaska2,3701,9902,04016.514.214.6–11
California304,230240,240237,83042.133.433–22
Hawaii12,1907,5106,9304629.327.3–41
Oregon16,06015,59015,05023.922.621.6–10
Washington33,19025,19026,34027.720.220.9–24
Number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions, by reporting area of residence and occurrence and by percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-state residents, US CDC estimates
Location Residence Occurrence % obtained by

out-of-state residents

 Year Ref
No. Rate^ Ratio^^ No. Rate^ Ratio^^
Alaska 1,990 16.5 1992 [35]
Alaska 2,040 14.2 1995 [35]
Alaska 16.5 14.6 1996 [35]
Alaska1,64711.21451,51810.31331.02014[36]
Alaska 1,459 10 129 1,334 9.1 118 0.5 2015 [37]
Alaska 1,408 9.6 126 1,260 8.5 112 0.6 2016 [38]
^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births


Abortion financing

17 states including this one use their own funds to cover all or most "medically necessary" abortions sought by low-income women under Medicaid, 13 of which are required by State court orders to do so.[39][25] In 2010, the state had 835 publicly funded abortions, of which were zero federally and 835 were state funded.[40]

Women's abortion experiences

Anchorage's Angela Jenkins, said of her experience, "I got pregnant with my daughter when I was 20 years old. [...] I found myself in an abusive relationship. I faced a difficult decision, but what I decided was best for me and my child was to get an abortion. I couldn't imagine raising two children -- alone, or with this man."[27]

Abortion rights views and activities

Protests

Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019.[41][27] Hundreds of women attended a rally in Anchorage at Town Square Park to protest legislation proposed in Alaska's House to restrict abortion rights. The event was organized by Planned Parenthood Votes and Alaska ACLU.[27] There was another rally at the Alaska Capitol in Juneau in May 2019 in opposition to the bill proposed by Republican Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla.[42]

Anti-abortion views and activism

Views

Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla was censored by the Alaska Legislature in 2017 after he said women used Medicaid support for abortion to a "free trip to the city".[25]

Protests

A small counter protest was organized by anti-abortion rights activists at the Alaska Capitol in Juneau in May 2019 in support of proposed restrictions on women's ability to access legal abortions in the state.[42]

Footnotes
  1. According to the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade:
    (a) For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgement of the pregnant woman's attending physician. (b) For the stage subsequent to approximately the end of the first trimester, the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health. (c) For the stage subsequent to viability, the State in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life may, if it chooses, regulate, and even proscribe, abortion except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgement, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother.
    Likewise, Black's Law Dictionary defines abortion as "knowing destruction" or "intentional expulsion or removal".

References
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  2. Chamberlain, Pam; Hardisty, Jean (2007). "The Importance of the Political 'Framing' of Abortion". The Public Eye Magazine. 14 (1).
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  4. Brennan 'Dehumanizing the vulnerable' 2000
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  7. Goldstein, Norm, ed. The Associated Press Stylebook. Philadelphia: Basic Books, 2007.
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  9. "States pushing abortion bans have highest infant mortality rates". NBC News. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
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