Maryland Abortion Activists See End of Roe as New Opportunity

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

54% : "Elections matter," said Karen J. Nelson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Maryland.
51% : Ariana B. Kelly championed a bill last session to expand access to abortion, not everyone shared her sense that it was urgently needed.
49% : The organization, which has groups in middle- and high schools and college campuses, promotes alternatives to abortion and support for women who choose to continue their pregnancies, she said.
49% : With some states banning or restricting abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court decision, activists on both sides are preparing for an influx of out-of-state women coming to Maryland -- something Bogley decries as "abortion tourism."
46% : While abortion remains legal in Maryland, those on both sides of the debate see the end of Roe as creating a new political landscape.
46% : She said polling of younger voters done by a research group, the Institute for Pro-Life Advancement, found that the majority favor limits to when abortions are allowed and when public funds can be spent on them.
45% : In the next session, Kelly said, "priority number one" will be a proposal to enshrine the right to abortion in the state's constitution.
44% : Previous attempts to do that over the years have failed, with some seeing it as unnecessary because the right to abortion was codified in state law by a voter referendum in 1992.
44% : Bogley said that while abortion remains legal in Maryland, and Democrats retain a majority in the General Assembly, she senses "a cultural shift."
43% : "I know anecdotally patients are being a little more careful who they disclose their health care needs to, especially in states that have restricted abortion," said Danya Qato, an associate professor at the University of Maryland Pharmacy School in Baltimore.
41% : In June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion.
41% : While polls such as one conducted by Baltimore Sun Media and the University of Baltimore in June generally show about two-thirds of people support keeping abortion legal at least under certain circumstances, Bogley said opinions are more nuanced than that.
40% : And as many have noted, Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring decision in the case overturning Roe said the court "should reconsider" other rulings that used the same rationale -- that abortion was not protected by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
30% : Those who oppose the procedure see an opening to begin chipping away at what they view as the state's overly lenient laws and practices regarding abortion.

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