Where Does Maryland Stand on Abortion?

By Sonia Su

With more abortion laws passed in states across the country, graphic artist Kennedy Elliott and producer Masuma Ahuja createdan infographic on abortion laws for states including Maryland for the Washington Post.

Based on data from The Guttmacher Institute and Center for Disease Control, the interactive graphic reports that there are 34 providers in Maryland as of 2008, compared to 40 in Virginia and 75 in New Jersey.

Unlike states such as Pennsylvania and New York, which bans abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy, Maryland is among the 22 states that ban abortions at post-viability, whenabortions are considered late-term.

Ultrasounds and counseling are not required in Maryland, but legislation about ultrasound requirements and restricting late-term abortions has been introduced in states including Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey, according to the graphic.

However, 54 percent of adults in the country say they are opposed to legislation that makes it more difficult for abortion clinics to operate, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted by telephone July 18 through July 21, 2013.

Moreover, 55 percent of adults think abortion should be legal in all cases, according to the poll. In the Northeast region, the number is about 60 percent.

More Facts on Abortion in Maryland

The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization which works to advance reproductive health such as abortion rights, provides facts on abortion in Maryland:

• At current rates, about one in three American women will have had an abortion by the time she reaches age 45.
• About 26 percent of pregnancies in Maryland resulted in induced abortions.
• In 2008, 34,290 women obtained abortions in Maryland, producing a rate of 29 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age, compared to the rate of 19.6 per 1,000 in the country. (Some of these women were from other states, and some Maryland residents had abortions in other states, so this rate may not reflect the abortion rate of state residents.) The rate decreased 8 percent since 2005, when it was 31.5 abortions per 1,000 women 15-44.
  
• In 2008, there were 34 abortion providers in Maryland. This represents a 17 percent decline from 2005, when there were 41 abortion providers.
  
• In 2008, 63 percent of Maryland counties had no abortion provider, compared to 87 percent of counties nationwide.
  

View the full infographic on the Washington Post.

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