Abortion in Delaware is legal up to the point of

fetal viability Fetal viability is the ability of a human fetus to survive outside the uterus. Viability depends upon factors such as birth weight, gestational age, and the availability of advanced medical care. In low-income countries, more than 90% of extr ...

. As of June 2024,

Civiqs Civiqs is an online opinion polling and data analytics company founded by Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas in March 2018. It is a division of Kos Media, which Moulitsas also founded. The director of Civiqs is Drew Linzer. It is distinguished fro ...

polling found that 72% of Delawareans believed that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 23% believed it should be illegal in all or most cases. There was a therapeutic exceptions in the state's legislative ban on abortions by 1900. Informed consent laws were on the books by 2007. In 2017, Senator Bryan Townsend, D- Newark introduced legislation to try to make clear that abortion would remain legal in the state in case 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 was overturned. The legislation was subsequently updated. Attempts have been made to introduce mandatory ultrasound laws, but they failed to get out of committee. State legislators tried to move ahead the week at which a woman could get a legal abortion in 2019. There were seven

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 1982, eight in 1992 and three in 2014. There were 2,920 legal abortions in the state in 2014 and 2,889 in 2015. The state had an active abortion rights community in 2019, participating in #StoptheBans movement with a protest at

Rodney Square Rodney Square is the public square and historic district in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, United States, named after American Revolutionary leader Caesar Rodney. A large equestrian statue of Rodney by James E. Kelly formerly stood in the fron ...

in Wilmington.

History

Legislative history

By the end of the 1800s, all states in the Union except Louisiana had therapeutic exceptions in their legislative bans on abortions. In the 19th century, bans by state legislatures on abortion were about protecting the life of the mother given the number of deaths caused by abortions; state governments saw themselves as looking out for the lives of their citizens. The state was one of ten states in 2007 to have a customary informed consent provision for abortions. A Republican legislative member introduced an abortion ban at week 20 in 2017. The Democratic controlled legislature prevented this bill from even reaching a floor vote. In 2017, Senator Bryan Townsend, D-Newark introduced legislation to try to make clear that abortion would remain legal in the state in case 1973's ''

'' ruling was overturned (which it was in 2022.) Townsend said of Republican legislative efforts at the time in relation to his own bill, "They talk about the issue as if it is not a complicated, difficult, heart-wrenching one for women." The state legislature updated Delaware's legal code in 2017 around abortion. It now read, "the termination of a pregnancy prior to viability, to protect the life or health of the mother, or in the event of serious fetal anomaly." In August 2018, the state had a law to protect the right to have an abortion. Senator

Bryant Richardson Bryant Richardson is an American politician who is a Republican member of the Delaware Senate, where he has represented the 21st district since 2015. Electoral history * Richardson ran in the 2012 election for Delaware State Senate Distric ...

(R-Seaford) introduced an ultrasound before getting an abortion bill in 2018, but it did not get out of committee. In Senate District 21, Democrat Bob Wheatley sought to oust Richardson in elections on November 6, 2018, in part related to Richardson's abortion stance. In early 2019, a bill had been introduced as was being debated over when abortion should be banned. New proposed legislation would move the date to 20 weeks. At the time it was being discussed, it looked like it would not be likely to pass. As of May 14, 2019, the state prohibited abortions after the fetus was viable, generally some point between week 24 and 28. This period uses a standard defined by 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 ...

in 1973 with the ''Roe v. Wade'' ruling. Bryant Richardson introduced a bill in 2019 that would have required women seeking abortions to have the required legal option to have non-medically necessitated ultrasound to see the fetal "heartbeat". According to Richardson, this bill, "It gives women all the information that's available to make a good decision. ..It's all about women's rights."

Judicial history

The

's decision in 1973's ''

'' ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester. However, the Supreme Court overturned ''

'' in ''

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the court held ...

'', later in 2022.

Clinic history

Number of abortion clinics in Delaware by year

Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state increased by one, going from seven in 1982 to eight in 1992. In 2014, there were three abortion clinics in the state. In 2014, 33% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 18% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic. In March 2016, there were three

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

clinics in the state. In 2017, there were three Planned Parenthood clinics in a state with a population of 212,554 women aged 15–49 of which two offered abortion services. In 2018, first-trimester abortions in the state generally cost around US$500.

Statistics

In the period between 1972 and 1974, there were zero recorded illegal abortion deaths in the state. In 1990, 80,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy. In 2010, the state had one publicly funded abortion, which was federally funded. In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were 80 abortions, 230 abortions for black women aged 15–19, 130 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 20 abortions for women of all other races. In 2014, 55% 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 should be legal and 38% said it should be illegal in all or most cases. As of June 2024,

polling found that 72% of Delawareans believed that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 23% believed it should be illegal in all or most cases. In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 6.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Abortion rights views and activities

Views

Network Delaware's Reproductive Justice Campaign's Shané Darby at a protest in May 2019, "Anti-abortion laws are a direct attack on women. ..Especially women that are economically disadvantaged and women of color. Anything to do with our reproductive system is health care. Our health care should be legal, safe and affordable."

Protests

Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019. At the protest at

in Wilmington, dozens of people participated, carrying signs saying things like "Abortion is health care", "My choice, my right", and "We won't go back. Government, stay out of women's bodies." Speakers included Network Delaware's Reproductive Justice Campaign's Shané Darby. Following the leak of the overturn of Roe v. Wade on May 2, 2022, an abortion rights protest was held in Wilmington.

Anti-abortion views and activities

Violence

On January 3, 2020, a high school student, Samuel Gulick, spray-painted "

Deus Vult ''Deus vult'' () is a Christian motto historically tied to ideas of divine providence and individual interpretation of God's will. It was first chanted by Catholics during the First Crusade in 1096 as a rallying cry, most likely under the form '' ...

" on a clinic in

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 31,454. The University of Delaware is ...

before throwing a Molotov Cocktail at the front window. Gulick was sentenced to 26 months in prison by a federal judge.

References

{{Abortion by US state

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Healthcare in Delaware Women in Delaware