Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers: Understanding TRAP Laws
Over the past several years, states have been passing TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws at an alarming rate. Though the proponents of these types of laws often push for them under the guise of women’s health, it’s clear that these laws don’t make women safer. Leading medical groups say that these laws do not make women safer; they actually put women at risk by forcing women’s health centers to shut down.
The Myth of Medical Safety
Abortion is already extremely safe—99 percent safe, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Here we provide an overview of TRAP regulations and their implications, and we debunk the myth that these laws make women safer. Far from making women safer, they have put women in danger by shutting down clinics and making it more difficult for women to access safe and legal abortion care.
Medical Opposition to TRAP Regulations
Medical experts and groups like the American Medical Association and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists flatly oppose these types of laws. We have to ask ourselves, if doctors are against these laws, why are politicians still passing them? It is because the real goal of these laws is shutting down clinics and preventing a woman from getting an abortion if she needs one.
Impact on Abortion Access
These types of laws have decimated abortion access in Texas and threaten to close clinics in several other states. Below are the regions specifically highlighted as being under threat:
- Texas: Access has been decimated.
- Threatened States: Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Key Facts and Professional Stances
- Safety Statistic: 99% safe according to the CDC.
- Opposing Organizations: American Medical Association (AMA) and American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
- Primary Consequence: Forcing women’s health centers to shut down.
The Role of Advocacy
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. They continue to highlight why TRAP regulations are so dangerous to a woman’s health and seek to preserve reproductive rights.