Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday will introduced a bill that would prevent states from creating standards for abortion clinics that would make it more difficult for women to obtain an abortion, according to the Huffington Post.
The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2013 would keep states from passing Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws — legislation that makes it more expensive or harder to provide or obtain an abortion.
Bill co-sponsors include Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Reps. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Judy Chu (D-CA) and Lois Frankel (D-FL).
Multiple states have passed TRAP laws the Blumenthal bill is meant to prohibit. Texas passed a bill in July that bans abortions after 20 weeks, requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting rights at a local hospital and restricts prescription of abortion-inducing drugs. In October, a federal judge in Texas blocked parts of the law, but courts are allowing the state to enforce it while the state government appeals the ruling.
Oklahoma passed a law in 2010 that required women to receive a ultrasound before obtaining an abortion. The state supreme court ruled in December that the law is unconstitutional, and the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review the case, deferring to the former ruling.
Oklahoma also passed a law in 2011 that banned the use of certain abortion drugs. The state supreme court ruled that law unconstitutional, and the U.S. Supreme Court earlier in November declined to review the case.
