Limits imposed on access to abortion in Arizona and Illinois

Really awful news out of Arizona and Illinois this week.
On Monday Arizona’s new Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a group of anti-choice bills. This includes a 24-hour waiting period, meaning women must consult with their doctor, who has to tell them about “risks and alternatives, and the fetus’ probable characteristics,” and then wait until the next day to have the procedure. Health care workers, including pharmacists, will be able to refuse to dispense emergency contraception. A ban on late-term abortions was revised. And a parental consent law that forces minors to get approval before having an abortion has been made even stricter. Former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who left that position to become President Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, vetoed all anti-abortion legislation that was sent to her.
On Tuesday a federal appeals court revived a parental consentnotification law in Illinois. A ban on enforcement was issued in 2007 – this new decision overturns that ruling. From the Court’s opinion:

Abortion, no matter how it is confronted, may present intimidating choices to the minor woman who faces it.

OK, sure. But explain to me how this is any different from choosing to carry a pregnancy to term. Both can pose “intimidating choices” for anyone, but apparently the Court doesn’t care about how “intimidating” it might be to have a child. Or have what must be a pretty “intimidating” conversation with one’s parents if it has to be legally mandated.
You can read more about waiting periods here, conscience clause laws here, the true stories behind late-term abortion here, and parental consent and notification laws here.
The bottom line is that legal abortion is useless if it is inaccessible. The new laws in Arizona and the return of parental consent in Illinois are part of a larger attempt by abortion opponents to make abortions harder and harder to come by until the procedure is completely out of reach for everyone. Policy that limits access most directly impacts those who are already the most vulnerable. The more laws like these are enacted, the larger that group becomes. Roe v. Wade is simply not enough – safe and legal abortion needs to be a real option for all women regardless of age, class, race, geography, or any other mitigating factors.