Formal exceptions to abortion bans are generally worthless

The problem with narrow exceptions to abortion bans is that they’re enforced by the very state that created the regime of patriarchal control in the first place, so they’re very rarely granted even to women who qualify. One obvious problem is that these states have eliminated most or all abortion providers:

Last summer, a Mississippi woman sought an abortion after, she said, a friend had raped her. Her state prohibits most abortions but allows them for rape victims. Yet she could not find a doctor to provide one.

In September, an Indiana woman learned that a fetal defect meant her baby would die shortly after birth, if not sooner. Her state’s abortion ban included an exception for such cases, but she was referred to Illinois or Michigan.

An Ohio woman carrying triplets faced a high risk of dangerous complications, including delivering too early. When she tried to get an abortion in September through Ohio’s exception for patients with a medical need, she was turned away.

The abortion bans enacted in about half the states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June do not prohibit abortion entirely. Most make exceptions in certain circumstances, commonly to protect the health or life of the patient, or in the case of rape or incest. And as conservative state lawmakers prepare to take up new restrictions on abortion in upcoming legislative sessions, exceptions will be at the heart of the debate.

These exceptions will be used to make extremist bans sound moderate; this idea needs to be fought back against as strongly as possible. The people who pass these bans don’t think any abortion that doesn’t involve them personally is justified, and that’s how they’re enforced.