by: Diana Belanger
As we steel ourselves for a new administration, a conservative legislature, and a conservative
judiciary, the abortion laws in Washington, D.C. could be at significant risk. Currently, D.C. has
the authority through city council to create its own laws - including the city’s abortion policies
and protections. However, due to the increasing momentum among conservative lawmakers
and judicial appointments aimed at restricting abortion access, there’s the potential for federal
intervention in restricting abortion access or banning abortion care altogether.
Although Dobbs outright overturned federal protections for abortions and returned the power to
the states, the ruling did not address the unique status that D.C. has. Without Statehood, and
given that D.C. law is subject to federal oversight as a result, a new conservative congress
could attempt to impose restrictions in the capital. Congress has restricted access to abortion
care in D.C. before by imposing provisions like the “Hyde Amendment” which prohibits federal
of the mother.
D.C. has served as an abortion care haven for states with severe restrictions or all-out bans,
especially for those seeking care from the US’s southern states. Washington, D.C. currently has
the one of the highest number of non-residents seeking abortion care at over 50%, with the
second and first highest being Texas-neighboring states Kansas and New Mexico at 69% and
71%, respectively. In 2023 alone, over 170,000 individuals had to travel to receive abortion care.
This Congressional oversight possibility has local advocacy groups ringing alarm bells. Melissa
Wasser, who serves as policy council for ACLU of D.C., stating, “Congress does get to review
all of our legislation, and if they so choose, and if they have the numbers, they could restrict or
even ban abortion in D.C., and local legislators would just kind of have to go with it unless we're
made a state”.
Given the makeup of the Supreme Court, the upcoming administration, our shift to a
conservative congress, and the broader political agenda to restrict abortion access, abortion
rights in the District remain precarious.
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