Abortion in Alaska is legal at all stages of pregnancy. In September 2024, an Alaska superior court judge struck down the requirement that only licensed physicians provide abortions, meaning that the procedure can now also be legally performed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants. As of 2016,

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

does not require a minor to notify a parent or guardian in order to obtain an abortion. 63% of adults said in a poll by the

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...

that

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

should be legal in all or most cases. The 2023 American Values Atlas reported that, in their most recent survey, 69% of Alaskans said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Alaska was one of only four states to make abortion legal between 1967 and 1970, a few years before the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

's decision in 1973's ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

'' ruling. Alaska had consent requirements for women seeking abortions by 2007 that required abortion providers to warn patients of a link between abortion and

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

, despite it being scientifically unsupported. The number of

abortion clinic An abortion clinic or abortion provider is a medical facility that provides abortions. Such clinics may be public medical centers, private medical practices or nonprofit organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Statistics Canada *There were ...

s in Alaska has been declining, going from fourteen in 1982 to thirteen in 1992 to three in 2014. 1,547 abortions took place in Alaska in 2014, and 1,459 took place in 2015. There is state funding for abortions based on income.

History

Alaska,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

did not voluntarily provide the

Center for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

with abortion related data in 2000 or 2001. In 2014, a poll by the

reported that 63% of adults in the state of Alaska believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, with 34% stating it should be illegal in all or most cases.

Legislative history

Alaska,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

were the only four states that made abortion legal between 1967 and 1970 that did not require a reason to request an abortion. In 1970, the state repealed some of its abortion laws, along with Hawaii, New York, and Washington. The following year, Alaska repealed its statute that said inducing an abortion was a criminal offense. State law still required in 1971 that any woman getting a legal abortion in the state needed to be a resident for some specific period between 30 and 90 days. Some states, such as Alaska,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, have passed laws requiring abortion providers to warn patients of a link between abortion and breast cancer, and to issue other scientifically unsupported warnings. The state was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement. Alaska and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

both require that women seeking abortions after 20 weeks be informed that, while experts disagree on the issue of whether or not a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks, it is possible. House Bill 250 was introduced in 2017 by Rep. David Eastman (R-

Wasilla Wasilla ( Dena'ina: ''Benteh'') is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States, and the fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part ...

). The bill was called the "Life at Conception Act", and it never made it out of committee in Alaska's House. In 2017, Washington State, New Mexico, Illinois, Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey allow by state law qualified non-physicians to prescribe drugs for medical abortions only. In May 2019, Eastman introduced House Bill 178, which defines abortion as "murder of an unborn child"; the bill was never heard before a committee. In 2022, Governor Mike Dunleavy expressed interest in an amendment to the Alaska Constitution clarifying the legality of abortion in the state. 2022 happened to be the year that Alaska's regularly scheduled ballot question for calling a state constitutional convention was asked. Dunleavy and other anti-abortion advocates recommended voting "yes", but the question was resoundingly defeated, with 70% voting "no". In 2023, the bi-partisan coalition majority in the Alaska State Senate is consensus-focused, and unlikely to address controversial topics like abortion.

Judicial history

The

's decision in 1973's ''

'' ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester. In 1997, the

Alaska Supreme Court The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court for the U.S. state of Alaska. Its decisions are binding on all other Alaska state courts, and the only court its decisions may be appealed to is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Ala ...

ruled in ''Valley Hospital Association, Inc. v. Mat-Su Coalition for Choice'' that the privacy clause of the Alaska Constitution protects the right to an abortion. This ruling remains in effect after the US Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022. In 2016, the

struck down a parental notification law that had been established in 2010. In September 2024, an Alaska superior court judge struck down the requirement that only licensed physicians provide abortions, meaning that the procedure can now also be legally performed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Clinic history

Number of abortion clinics in Alaska by year

Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state decreased by 1, going from 14 in 1982 to 13 in 1992. In 2014, there were 3 abortion clinics in the state. 90% of the boroughs in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 37% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a borough without an abortion clinic. In March 2016, there were 4

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

clinics in the state. There were still 4 Planned Parenthood clinics the following year, all of which offered abortion services, in a state with a population of 167,815 women aged 15–49. Planned Parenthood closed a clinic in 2022 and another in 2024.

Statistics

In 1990, 69,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy. In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were 130 abortions, 10 abortions for black women aged 15–19, 20 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 70 abortions for women of all other races. In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Abortion financing

17 US states, including Alaska, use their own funds to cover all or most "medically necessary" abortions sought by low-income women under

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

, 13 of which are required by State court orders to do so. In 2010, the state had 835 publicly funded abortions, all of which were state funded.

Abortion rights views and activities

Protests

Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019. Hundreds of women attended a rally in Anchorage at Town Square Park to protest legislation proposed in Alaska's House to restrict abortion rights. The event was organized by Planned Parenthood Votes and Alaska

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

. There was another rally at the Alaska Capitol in Juneau in May 2019, in opposition to the bill proposed by Republican Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla. Following the leak of the overturning of Roe v. Wade on May 2, 2022, Alaska saw abortion rights protests in

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

, Fairbanks, and Haines.

Anti-abortion views and activism

Views

Rep. David Eastman (R-Wasilla) was

censured A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spir ...

by the Alaska Legislature in 2017 after he claimed that women used Medicaid support for abortion as a "free trip to the city".

Protests

A small counter-protest was organized by anti-abortion rights activists at the Alaska Capitol in Juneau in May 2019, in support of proposed restrictions on women's ability to access legal abortions in the state.

References

{{Alaska

Healthcare in Alaska Women in Alaska