Strengthen Statutory Protections for Abortion in Hawaiʻi (HB 2210/SB 2282)

Last year, we saw the culmination of a nationwide strategy to end abortion access in this country when the Supreme Court allowed Texas to effectively ban all abortion care in the state. Now, with the Supreme Court set decide a case to render Roe v. Wade meaningless, Hawaiʻi cannot afford to have statutory gaps in state laws that put access to abortion at risk.

 

What happens to access in abortion in Hawaiʻi if Roe v. Wade falls?

• If Roe is overturned or gutted, Hawaiʻi law will continue to protect the right to abortion. However, lawmakers must take steps to safeguard equitable abortion access for all pregnant people.
• Every person should be able to make their own decisions about their health and their bodies — including abortion. No one's most personal medical decisions should be restricted due to statutory gaps.
• The impact of not getting wanted abortion care can be devastating:
  • A pregnant person who is denied a wanted abortion and is forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term experiences four times greater odds of living below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
  • They are more likely to experience pregnancy complications from the end of pregnancy, including eclampsia and death.
  • They are also more likely to stay in a relationship with an abusive partner and to suffer anxiety and loss of self-esteem after being denied wanted abortion care.
• Let’s be clear who is harmed the most by gaps in abortion access: people with means will always be able to access the care they need. It is people with low incomes or without savings – who are more likely to be Black, Latinx, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander due to generations of racist public policies – and people who face substantial barriers to health care, including LGBTQ communities, people in rural areas or on outer islands, and young people, who will be unable to get the care they need.

 

Lawmakers Must Pass This Housekeeping Bill to Safeguard Abortion Access in Hawaiʻi

Access to abortion care ensures people have the freedom and power to control their own body, decisions, and lives. We cannot allow the reality of Texas to become the reality of this country, and we need Hawaiʻi lawmakers to do everything in their power to strengthen statutory protections for abortion.

Pass HB 2210/SB 2282 to protect abortion access and ensure that all pregnant people in Hawai’i – including transgender and gender nonbinary people – have the right to abortion.