Date of Award
Spring 5-4-2021
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Political Science and International Affairs
Department Chair or Program Director
Dr. Elizabeth Larus
First Advisor
Dr. Rosalyn Cooperman
Second Advisor
Dr. Melissa Martinez
Major or Concentration
Political Science
Abstract
This paper will discuss U.S. state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of restricting women’s access to reproductive health care and bodily autonomy. The majority of states delivered executive orders where governors made clear their plan to either uphold the principles related to reproductive health care and freedom or attack them. Almost half of the states discussed reproductive health services in either their stay-at-home orders or essential procedures orders. While the right to an abortion exists at the national level, states vary widely in their regulation of the procedure. For the purposes of this project, I will focus on those states that moved to restrict access to abortion under the cover of a protective COVID-19 health measure. I examine the case studies of Arkansas, Alabama, and Alaska in their restriction of women’s access to health care during a global pandemic.
Recommended Citation
Waszak, Eva Katherine, "How Expansive is Essential? Restriction of Abortion Services in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2021). Student Research Submissions. 405.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/405