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This map shows just how many states impose significant infringements on reproductive choices. The map only highlights a few select issues, but there have been over 700 choice-related measures filed in state legislatures in the first part of 2009. Regardless of what is happening in your state, we all have severe cause for concern. The extremists are using state legislation to put in place legal challenges and test potential federal actions that would directly challenge the right to medical privacy for each and every family.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\"\"Look at all the “red” states. These states could ban all abortions if the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision was overturned. It would take just one state passing “personhood” legislation, which all the “yellow” states are attempting to do, for the chips to start to fall. The extremists are using ploys like personhood to directly challenge Roe at the Supreme Court level. If Roe was to be overturned, it would affect reproductive choices for every family in America, no matter what state you live in.
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\nNow look at the “blue” states. There are only 5 states that guarantee a woman’s access to birth control. In every other state, a woman can walk into a pharmacy and be denied her prescription, even though it was written by a doctor. People might say, “Well, she can go to another pharmacy.” Please do not be fooled by this tactic. We know there are still many places in this country where options are few and far between. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The “orange” states, which are a majority of the country, require a woman to wait, usually 24 hours, and\/or go through highly manipulative “counseling” before an abortion is performed. State legislators clearly do not respect that a woman, with the counsel of her loved ones and her doctor, can make this very important decision without the government’s interference. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The map only highlights a few laws, but there are countless incremental impediments to personal freedom, like requiring a patient to view an image from an ultrasound, be informed of fetal pain, another intrusive regulations on abortion clinics—all aimed at chipping away YOUR legal rights. This map tells us the REAL state of choices in America and why we all need to keep fighting for the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. We can do better as a country.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We have an obligation to our young people, but the facts below show we are not doing enough. These are areas we can make a difference TODAY: <\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

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  • Federal and state governments have wasted $1.5 billion to fund abstinence only-until-marriage programs.
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  • The U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in any industrialized nation with 750,000 teenagers becoming pregnant each year.
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  • The teenage pregnancy rates in the U.S. increased 5% between 2005 and 2007, reversing 14 years of consistent decline. A CDC study estimates that one in four young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the U.S. is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    Progress in the Protection of Choices<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/u><\/p>\n

    Together we have made strides passing legislation in states across the country to protect reproductive choices. We should celebrate these successes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    17<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/u> states now require hospitals to give sexual assault victims information on emergency contraception: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    27<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/u> states require insurance providers to cover contraception prescriptions equally: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Source: Guttmacher Institute<\/span>
    \nUpdated: May 2009 <\/span><\/span>
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