Abortion in the District of Columbia is legal at all stages of pregnancy. In 1971, in United States v. Vuitch, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law saying abortion was allowed for health reasons, which include "psychological and physical well-being". Consequently, the District of Columbia became a destination for women seeking abortions starting that year.
The number of abortion clinics in the District has been declining in recent years, going from fourteen in 1982 to fifteen in 1992 to five in 2014. In 2017, there was only one Planned Parenthood clinic in the district offering abortion services. There were 2,790 legal abortions in the District in 2014 and 1,424 in 2015. The District is home to both abortion-rights and anti-abortion activism. On the abortion-rights side, Catholics for Choice and EMILY's List are based there. On the anti-abortion side, March for Life takes place annually protesting both the practice and legality of abortion on or around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
History
Because of the nature of their abortion laws, New York City and the District of Columbia became destination centers for women in 1971 who were seeking legal abortions. In 1980, the District of Columbia provided local funding for poor women who sought abortions. These funds covered around 85% of all women in the district seeking abortions. Federal funding was no longer available as a result of the Hyde Amendment. Local funding meant that despite decreases in legal abortions in 39 other states without local funding, the District of Columbia saw an increase in the number of legal abortions.
Legislative history A law in Washington, D.C., which allowed abortion to protect the life or health of the woman, was challenged in the Supreme Court in 1971 in United States v. Vuitch. The court upheld the law, deeming that "health" meant "psychological and physical well-being", essentially allowing abortion in Washington, D.C.
Judicial history The 1971 case United States v. Vuitch involving a woman from the District of Columbia ruled that abortion can be legally justifiable for the mental health of the pregnant woman.
Clinic history
Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state increased by one, going from fourteen in 1982 to fifteen in 1992. In 1996, the District had 18 abortion clinics and was one of only three to gain clinics in the period between 1992 and 1996. In 2014, there were five abortion clinics in the District. In 2017, there was one Planned Parenthood clinic, which offered abortion services, in an area with a population of 200,588 women aged 15–49.
Statistics In the period between 1972 and 1974, Texas and the District of Columbia had the highest illegal abortion deaths ratio and rates in the United States with rates of 62 and 21 deaths per million live births respectively. The deaths in the District of Columbia and New York in this period demonstrated that even where abortion is legal, women face circumstances that drive them to have irregular, non-physician assisted abortions. There are a variety of factors for this including lack of education, poverty and distrust of the medical establishment. In 1990, 93,000 women in the District faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy. Based on the ratio of the number of women aged 15–44 years, in 2001, Idaho had the lowest rate of induced abortions at 3 per 1,000 women while the District of Columbia had the highest at 37 per 1,000. In 2014, 70% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. + Number of reported abortions, abortion rate and percentage change in rate by geographic region and state in 1992, 1995 and 1996 Census division and state Number Rate % change 1992–1996199219951996199219951996 South Atlantic 269,200 261,990 263,600 25.9 24.6 24.7 –5 Delaware 5,730 5,790 4,090 35.2 34.4 24.1 –32 District of Columbia 21,320 21,090 20,790 138.4 151.7 154.5 12 Florida 84,680 87,500 94,050 30 30 32 7 Georgia 39,680 36,940 37,320 24 21.2 21.1 –12 Maryland 31,260 30,520 31,310 26.4 25.6 26.3 0 North Carolina 36,180 34,600 33,550 22.4 21 20.2 –10 South Carolina 12,190 11,020 9,940 14.2 12.9 11.6 –19 Virginia 35,020 31,480 29,940 22.7 20 18.9 –16 West Virginia 3,140 3,050 2,610 7.7 7.6 6.6 –14
+Number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions, by reporting area of residence and occurrence and by percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-state residents, US CDC estimates Location Residence Occurrence % obtained by out-of-state residents Year Ref No. Rate^ Ratio^^ No. Rate^ Ratio^^ District of Columbia 1,407 7.9 148 2,790 15.7 293 55.6 2014 District of Columbia 1,424 7.9 149 1,267 7 132 — 2015 District of Columbia———————2016^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births
Abortion-rights views and activities
Organizations An advocacy organization called Catholics for Choice (CFC) was founded in 1973 to support the availability of abortion, stating that this position is compatible with Catholic teachings particularly with primacy of conscience and the importance of the laity in shaping church law.
EMILY's List was founded in the District of Columbia in 1985. One of its goals was to try to support more female candidates that supported abortion-rights positions.
Activities In October 1984, CFC (then Catholics for a Free Choice) placed an advertisement, signed by over one hundred prominent Catholics, including nuns, in the New York Times. The advertisement, called A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion contested claims by the Church hierarchy that all Catholics opposed abortion-rights, and said that "direct abortion ... can sometimes be a moral choice." The Holy See initiated disciplinary measures against some of the nuns who signed the statement, sparking controversy among American Catholics, and intra-Catholic conflict on the abortion issue remained news for at least two years in the United States.
Protests Since 2017 there has been an annual Women's March in Washington DC in January, the weekend of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
#StopTheBans was created in response to 6 states passing legislation in early 2019 that would almost completely outlaw abortion. Women wanted to protest this activity as other state legislatures started to consider similar bans as part of a move to try to overturn Roe v. Wade. Women from the District participated in marches supporting abortion-rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019. The largest protest as part of #StopTheBans took place at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 21. People in attendance included NARAL President Ilyse Hogue and Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen. Many women wore red, referencing women in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, anti-abortion and abortion-rights activists demonstrated outside the Supreme Court building. By noon, there was a major police presence around the Supreme Court building and the Capitol building, including police with riot gear, and police squad cars and SUVs. Multiple streets were barricaded by police.
On June 30, 2022, more than 180 abortion-rights protesters were arrested in Washington, D.C. after sitting and blocking an intersection near the Supreme Court.
On July 4, 2022, abortion-rights protests were held across the country, including Washington, D.C., New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Springfield, Madison, Milwaukee, Lansing, Detroit, Bloomington, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Denver, Charlotte, Asheville, Atlanta, Roanoke, Birmingham, Tampa, Miami, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Austin, and Houston.
On July 9, 2022, another day of abortion-rights protests occurred in cities across the country, with over 10,000 people marching in Washington, D.C.
On July 19, 2022, 35 abortion-rights protesters including 17 members of Congress were arrested in Washington, D.C. after blocking an intersection near the Supreme Court.
On October 8, 2022, thousands of people marched and rallied in abortion-rights protests in cities across the country, in conjunction with the Women's March in Washington, D.C.
On November 2, 2022, three abortion-rights protesters were arrested in Washington, D.C. after interrupting arguments during a Supreme Court session.
On January 20, 2023, abortion-rights protesters disrupted an anti-abortion service in Washington, D.C.
On January 20, 2024, thousands of abortion-rights protesters rallied and marched at more than 100 Women's March events nationwide, with the main events held in Phoenix, Arizona and Washington, DC.
On March 26, 2024, hundreds of abortion-rights protesters rallied and marched in Washington, DC as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether or not to limit access to mifepristone. 13 abortion-rights protesters were arrested for blocking an intersection near the Supreme Court.
On September 14, 2024, about 2,000 people participated in the first Gender Liberation March in Washington, DC, which united abortion-rights protesters and transgender rights protesters.
On November 2, 2024, thousands of abortion-rights protesters rallied and marched at Women's March events nationwide, with the main event held in Washington, DC, where over 15,000 people marched.
On November 9, 2024, hundreds of abortion-rights protesters rallied at a Women's March protest outside of the Heritage Foundation headquarters in Washington, DC.
On December 10, 2024, several people were arrested during a protest to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in Washington, DC.
Anti-abortion activities and views
Activities