The Democratic-controlled Maryland legislature on Saturday overrode a veto Republican Gov. Larry Hogan had imposed on a measure expanding abortion access in the state.
The state will end a restriction that authorized only doctors to perform abortions. The new law will allow nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants to perform abortions once they receive the appropriate training. It also creates a training program for abortion care and will have an annual state funding of 3.5 million dollars. It also requires that most insurance plans cover the termination of pregnancy free of charge.
Democratic state Rep. Emily Shetty said she supports the local House measure as a mother who experienced a high-risk pregnancy. She also described surviving a sexual assault when she was in college and the difficulties she faced “because of the weight of what happened following that incident.”
“And fortunately, the incident did not result in a pregnancy but if it had it would have dramatically changed my life if I had not been able to access the care I needed back then,” Shetty said.
Hogan wrote in his veto letter that the bill “endangers women’s health and lives by allowing non-physicians to perform abortions.”
The initiative is promoted at a time when the conservative majority of the federal Supreme Court is considering whether to reverse the historic 1973 ruling in the Roe V. Wade case that prohibited states from outlawing abortions.
If that ruling is overturned, at least 26 states might ban abortion outright or severely restrict access, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that supports abortion rights.
“In this context, it is very important that we keep in mind that the strategies in this bill is to guarantee that people can access the care they need when they need it, regardless of what happens to the rest of the country, regardless of whatever happens on the Supreme Court,” said Democratic state Rep. Ariana Kelly, the main proponent of the proposal.