By Maya Dusenbery • @mayadusenbery • 10 years ago

More abortion restrictions were enacted in the last 3 years than the entire previous decade

I suppose this isn’t exactly surprising, but, holy shit, that’s a pretty mind-blowing fact from Guttmacher’s year-end report. 2013 was second only to 2011 for the highest number of abortion restrictions enacted in a single year–ever. And from 2011 to 2013, we saw 205 new restrictions, compared to 189 during the entire previous decade.

abortion restrictions over timeCheck out the rest of the report for more on the kinds of anti-choice laws passed–TRAP laws, insurance coverage restrictions, 20-week bans, and limitations on medication abortion were popular–and the states that have been hardest hit (the Midwest and South especially).

Maya DusenberyMaya Dusenbery is hoping we turn it around in 2014.

St. Paul, MN

Maya Dusenbery is executive director in charge of editorial at Feministing. She is the author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick (HarperOne, March 2018). She has been a fellow at Mother Jones magazine and a columnist at Pacific Standard magazine. Her work has appeared in publications like Cosmopolitan.com, TheAtlantic.com, Bitch Magazine, as well as the anthology The Feminist Utopia Project. Before become a full-time journalist, she worked at the National Institute for Reproductive Health. A Minnesota native, she received her B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. After living in Brooklyn, Oakland, and Atlanta, she is currently based in the Twin Cities.

Maya Dusenbery is an executive director of Feministing and author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm on sexism in medicine.

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