CT Insider | Opinion: We will not stop protecting abortion in CT

By Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and Liz Gustafson | Originally Published on CT Insider

Two years ago this month, our nation’s highest court decided in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, overturning the federal right to abortion. Since then, we’ve watched continued, coordinated extremist attacks on reproductive freedom in courtrooms and legislatures, and on ballots across the country.

Today, 28 million women of reproductive age are living in states that have banned or severely restricted abortions, according to Planned Parenthood Action Fund. As a result of these restrictions, the Guttmacher Institute found that last year, 171,000 people had to travel to another state to receive an abortion. In Connecticut, we’ve seen a 23% increase since 2019 in the number of abortions performed — in part, presumably because of patients from other states traveling to Connecticut to receive care.

For years, our state’s advocates have warned us that the overturning of Roe was only the floor, and since the Dobbs decision, we’ve watched attacks that have not been limited to just abortion — almost every corner of reproductive choice has been a target.

Over the last year, we’ve followed a case that would have restricted access to Mifepristone, a drug that has been safely used by more than 5 million patients over the last 20 years for abortion care as well as miscarriage management. And though the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to this case on procedural grounds, we must not ignore that they left the door open for continued litigation, leaving room for a total ban or implementation of outdated and medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion. Attacks like this remain a very real threat to not just abortion access and reproductive health care nationwide — especially for our most vulnerable populations — but to the drug industry as a whole and the independent, expert authority of the FDA.

Just last week, we saw the Supreme Court refuse to rule on the merits of a case that could allow states to ban doctors from providing emergency abortion care, placing the safety and lives of pregnant people at greater risk. The Supreme Court dismissed this case challenging the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), allowing emergency abortion care to continue in Idaho for now, as the case moves back to the lower courts to continue litigation. More than one-third of pregnancies in the United States involve a visit to the emergency room. This decision from the Supreme Court will only result in more confusion and chaos for patients and their doctors about when they are able to provide life-saving medical care.

Also infuriating and disturbing are the calls to end practices that would actually support an individual in starting their family. One in six adults globally experience infertility, and the Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) reports that roughly 2% of children are now born annually as a result of in vitro fertilization (IVF). Yet, the Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that embryos are “extrauterine children,” restricting access to IVF across the state and furthering a case for “fetal personhood laws,” which would grant embryos or fetuses the same rights as a person. Thankfully, after public backlash, the Alabama Legislature passed a law to protect access to IVF, though this case set a dangerous precedent for “fetal personhood,” a concept that anti-abortion extremists are using to give way to a national abortion ban, bans on contraception, and restrictions on assisted reproduction.

And despite Republican members of the U.S. Senate saying they “support" IVF and contraception, recently they’ve blocked two pieces of legislation that would protect the right to access fertility treatments and contraception nationwide.

As these national attacks on our reproductive freedom continue, Connecticut has — and will continue — to serve as the firewall. In a post-Dobbs world, state leadership to advance reproductive equity has never been more important. So far, we’ve expanded access to abortion care, hormonal contraceptive and emergency contraceptive, in our state, protected providers who offer this life-saving and life-affirming health care, and worked to ensure that patients’ and providers’ digital privacy remains protected. And we’re not even close to being done.

We understand that we are not immune to the consequences of national attacks on reproductive freedom — attacks on abortion seekers somewhere impact abortion access everywhere. And at a human level, we won’t sit around and watch people suffer.

Let us be clear. Abortion is safe, legal, and protected in Connecticut — and alongside Gov. Ned Lamont, we will not stop fighting to ensure that it stays that way. We have no interest in moving backward.

Susan Bysiewicz is lieutenant governor of Connecticut. Liz Gustafson is the Connecticut state director for Reproductive Equity Now.