Overview:
People who have decided to have an abortion must schedule an extra, medically unnecessary appointment to hear a state-mandated script, and then wait 24 hours before obtaining care. This tactic is mandated for political reasons, not medical reasons, and is an attempt to create enough delays to push patients later into pregnancy and push abortion out of reach.
Signed into law: 2003
Impact:
The 24-hour waiting period fails to recognize the reality of people’s lives and responsibilities and is designed to make abortion care difficult to access. In practice, scheduled patients must receive a phone call from a doctor who will read them a script. If this phone call is missed, for whatever reason (whether you’re a minor who couldn’t get out of class in time or an hourly worker who is unable to clock out and answer the phone), both the phone call and abortion appointment must be rescheduled. This process regularly forces patients to push back their appointments by days and even weeks – prolonging the pregnancy and increasing the cost of the appointment.