ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and state legislators are scheduled to announce Thursday their support for action to protect abortion rights, including one state constitutional amendment that would anchor it.
House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson, both Democrats, will join the governor at a news conference to express their support for a Measure to protect patients and providers in Maryland from criminal, civil and administrative penalties related to abortion bans or restrictions in other states.
Maryland officials expect more women will travel to the state for abortions after last year’s US Supreme Court decision as other states place restrictions Roe v. Knock down Wade.
Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses of the General Assembly. It would take three-fifths of the vote in both houses to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot, giving voters the final say next year.
In November, Vermont became the first state to approve a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights.
Abortion rights are already protected under Maryland law. The state passed legislation in 1991 to protect abortion rights if the Supreme Court allowed abortion restrictions. The Maryland Act went to the vote, and voters approved the law in 1992 with 62% of the vote.
Moore, a Democrat, demonstrated his support for abortion rights shortly after taking office last month when he announced on his second day in office that he would release $3.5 million in state funds to expand abortion education, money , which had been held back by its predecessor. Republican Governor Larry Hogan.
“We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Maryland needs to be a safe haven state for abortion rights,” Moore said in announcing the release of the money.
Last year, lawmakers vetoed Hogan’s law to expand access to abortions, removing a restriction that only physicians could perform abortions and requiring most insurance plans to cover abortion treatment free of charge. The law removed a legal restriction that prohibited nurses, midwives and physician assistants from performing abortions.
Lawmakers also said that year they would support the legislation to ensure public colleges and universities in Maryland have a plan to provide near-campus student access to birth control, including emergency contraception and abortion pills.
A data protection law should aim to do this Protect medical and insurance records on reproductive health in the electronic exchange of health information.
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