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Waiting Periods and Counseling Requirements

States limit access by passing laws requiring that women receive biased counseling and endure a mandatory delay before receiving an abortion. The type of information required by these laws goes beyond regular informed consent and often is medically inaccurate. Mandatory delays typically require a 24 hour wait between the time a woman receives state-mandated biased counseling and the abortion. These delays create unnecessary burdens and may increase the risk of complications.

The Affordable Care Act expressly does not pre-empt state laws regarding procedural requirements on abortions.

Does the state allow women to receive abortions without a mandatory delay or biased counseling?

States receive a "meets policy" if they have no mandatory delay or biased counseling requirements and a "harmful policy" if they impose such requirements.

The way in which this indicator is evaluated has changed from the 2007 Report Card and therefore there is no comparison to 2007. In an effort to more fairly assess the scope of state abortion access laws, the categories were expanded to reflect biased counseling requirements.

State Strength of Policy Change from 2007
Alabama Harmful Policy N/A
Alaska Harmful Policy N/A
Arizona Harmful Policy N/A
Arkansas Harmful Policy N/A
California Meets Policy N/A
Colorado Meets Policy N/A
Connecticut Meets Policy N/A
Delaware Meets Policy N/A
District of Columbia Meets Policy N/A
Florida Meets Policy N/A
Georgia Harmful Policy N/A
Hawaii Meets Policy N/A
Idaho Harmful Policy N/A
Illinois Meets Policy N/A
Indiana Harmful Policy N/A
Iowa Meets Policy N/A
Kansas Harmful Policy N/A
Kentucky Harmful Policy N/A
Louisiana Harmful Policy N/A
Maine Meets Policy N/A
Maryland Meets Policy N/A
Massachusetts Meets Policy N/A
Michigan Harmful Policy N/A
Minnesota Harmful Policy N/A
Mississippi Harmful Policy N/A
Missouri Harmful Policy N/A
Montana Meets Policy N/A
Nebraska Harmful Policy N/A
Nevada Meets Policy N/A
New Hampshire Meets Policy N/A
New Jersey Meets Policy N/A
New Mexico Meets Policy N/A
New York Meets Policy N/A
North Carolina Meets Policy N/A
North Dakota Harmful Policy N/A
Ohio Harmful Policy N/A
Oklahoma Harmful Policy N/A
Oregon Meets Policy N/A
Pennsylvania Harmful Policy N/A
Rhode Island Meets Policy N/A
South Carolina Harmful Policy N/A
South Dakota Harmful Policy N/A
Tennessee Meets Policy N/A
Texas Harmful Policy N/A
Utah Harmful Policy N/A
Vermont Meets Policy N/A
Virginia Harmful Policy N/A
Washington Meets Policy N/A
West Virginia Harmful Policy N/A
Wisconsin Harmful Policy N/A
Wyoming Meets Policy N/A

Policy Indicator Counts
Meets Policy: 
25
Limited Policy: 
0
Weak Policy: 
0
No/Harmful Policy: 
26
Better: 
0
Same: 
0
Worse: 
0

Data Source: Guttmacher Institute, "State Policies in Brief: Mandatory Counseling and Waiting Periods for Abortion," September 2010, available at http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_MWPA.pdf, September 8, 2010.

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