John Oliver on HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" discusses the proliferation of attacks on abortion rights in the United States and comments on how such restrictions affect a woman's access to abortion care.
Oliver notes that "since 2010, new state laws have contributed to the closure of about 70 abortion clinics" nationwide. The laws come in part because of "the vagueness of [the Supreme Court's Planned Parenthood v. Casey] ruling," Oliver says, which "has allowed states to introduce dozens of what some have called 'TRAP' laws, or targeted regulation of abortion providers." Oliver explains that TRAP laws, such as provisions in Texas' HB 2, are medically unnecessary; that they are designed to make it difficult or impossible for clinics to stay open; and that similar laws are not imposed on riskier medical procedures, such as childbirth.
Further, Oliver discusses several antiabortion-rights laws enacted by states that interfere with the doctor-patient relationship. Examples of such laws include a North Carolina law (SL 2011-405), struck down by a federal court, that required physicians to show a woman seeking abortion care an ultrasound image, laws "that force doctors ... to actively spread misinformation" and mandatory delays before abortion care.
Oliver states, "Here is the thing: Abortion cannot just be theoretically legal; it has to be literally accessible" (Oliver, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," HBO, 2/21).


