Abortion waiting periods

Abortion waiting periods are periods required in many states to enhance informed consent and reduce the pressuring of a woman to have an abortion

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Twenty-seven states require women to wait a specified amount of time between counseling and the abortion procedure. Counseling and Waiting Periods for Abortion, Guttmacher Inst., https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/ counseling-and-waiting-periods-abortion (last updated Apr. 1, 2017). The most common length of time is 24 hours. See id. (Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin). Even a 24-hour period necessitates that women either stay near the abortion facility for one or more nights or make multiple trips. See id. Only Indiana requires a shorter period (18 hours), but recently amended its law to require the informed consent consultation to take place in person. See id.; H.B. 1337, 119th Gen. Assemb., 2d Reg. Sess. (Ind. 2016). Many states require waits longer than 24 hours. Counseling and Waiting Periods for Abortion, supra. Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee have 48-hour waiting periods. Id. Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah have 72-hour waiting periods. Id. In addition to these states with established 72-hour waiting periods, in spring 2017 Iowa enacted a law, known as Senate File 471, that, among other things, imposed a 72-hour waiting period.Iowa Code Ann. § 146A.1 (2017). Shortly after Governor Terry Branstad signed Senate File 471, the Iowa Supreme Court granted a request for temporary injunction of the law.

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Hannah Haksgaard, RURAL WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNDUE BURDEN ANALYSIS: THE EFFECT OF WHOLE WOMAN'S HEALTH V. HELLERSTEDT, 65 Drake L. Rev. 663, 695 (2017).