{"id":258389,"date":"2021-12-28T16:44:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T22:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=258389"},"modified":"2022-03-15T17:04:56","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T22:04:56","slug":"2021-worst-year-abortion-rights-half-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/2021-worst-year-abortion-rights-half-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Why 2021 was dubbed the ‘Worst Year for Abortion Rights in Almost Half a Century’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The year 2021 has been dubbed<\/a>\u00a0the “Worst Year for Abortion Rights in Almost Half a Century” by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. The former research arm of Planned Parenthood wrote,\u00a0“As of December 1,\u00a0108 abortion restrictions<\/a>\u00a0[Editor’s Note: updated 3\/14\/22 with January 2022 statistics<\/a><\/em>] had been enacted in 19 states. This is the highest total in any year since abortion rights were affirmed by the US Supreme Court in 1973,” stating that this year brought “profound” damage to “abortion rights.”<\/p>\n

“The 106 abortion restrictions enacted in 2021 far surpasses the previous post-Roe<\/em>\u00a0record of 89, set in 2011,” Guttmacher added. “A total of 1,336 abortion restrictions have been enacted since\u00a0Roe v. Wade<\/em>\u00a0was handed down in 1973\u201444% of these in the past decade alone. In addition to abortion bans of all types, restrictions on medication abortion were passed by many state legislatures.\u00a0If the Court overturns that landmark 1973 decision guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion, our recent analysis shows that\u00a026 states are certain or likely to ban abortion.”<\/p>\n

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Guttmacher<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite record pro-life legislation, censorship of the pro-life message continued<\/a>\u00a0in 2021 as\u00a0Google suppressed<\/a> life-saving advertisements promoting the abortion Pill reversal hotline on its platform. Letters from Senators<\/a>\u00a0as well as members of Congress<\/a>\u00a0were subsequently sent to Google in defense of free speech.\u00a0Live Action News continues to expose<\/a> those behind some of these efforts.<\/p>\n

Court Cases in 2021<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization<\/em>:<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Weeks ago, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Dobbs<\/em>,<\/a>\u00a0which challenged a ban on abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy in the state of Mississippi. Noah Brandt, Live Action’s Director of Government Affairs,\u00a0analyzed<\/a> the arguments and concluded, “The oral arguments went extremely well for the pro-life side. The Justices\u2019s questions made clear that six lean strongly toward upholding the constitutionality of Mississippi\u2019s law.”<\/p>\n

The Court’s decision is expected to be published in the summer of 2022.<\/p>\n

Whole Woman\u2019s Health v. Jackson<\/em><\/a>:\u00a0The Supreme Court recently allowed a Texas heartbeat ban to remain<\/a> in effect while abortionists continue to challenge the law at the lower court level. The decision could mean that at any moment, the law could be blocked by a lower court.\u00a0The Texas Heartbeat Act took effect on September 1, 2021. It restricts abortion once a preborn child\u2019s heartbeat can be detected.<\/p>\n