Top members of the Maryland House said Monday they would support a constitutional amendment to protect the right to abortion in the state, as well as other measures to expand access, because of the possibility that conservative U.S. Supreme Court could strike down or weaken federal abortion rights protections.

If approved by the Maryland General Assembly, the constitutional amendment will go to a ballot for voters to decide in November.

House Speaker Adrienne Jones, who introduced the proposal, said the Supreme Court ‘has allowed some of the most restrictive abortion laws we’ve seen in a generation’, endangering critical access to reproductive health care.

Last month, the Supreme Court declined to expedite an ongoing court case over Texas’ ban on most abortions. The law left some Texas patients traveling hundreds of miles to clinics in neighboring states or further afield, resulting in a backlog of appointments in those locations.

“Restricting women’s family planning options is dangerous and unacceptable,” said Jones, a Democrat from Baltimore County. “We will do everything we can to ensure that women’s reproductive health care is always protected here in Maryland, and that any woman seeking care in our state has access to it.”

At least 20 states, mostly in the South and Midwest, already have laws that would severely restrict or ban abortion if the High Court overturns Roe v. Wade and left the matter to the States. But more than a dozen states, plus the District of Columbia, have legal protections in place for the right to abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights think tank.

Maryland passed a law in 1991 to protect a woman’s right to an abortion should the Supreme Court ever restrict abortions. It was put on the ballot and voters approved it in 1992 with 62% of the vote.

Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 in the state, and the General Assembly is heavily Democratic.

Of the. Jason Buckel, a Republican from western Maryland who is the House Minority Leader, said he saw no need to create a constitutional amendment to reflect what is already state law, especially since there have been no Supreme Court decisions that would change existing Maryland laws. .

“I’m a little concerned that it’s more politics and posturing,” Buckel of Allegany County said.

Lawmakers who appeared with the speaker on a videoconference also described moves to expand access to abortion in Maryland.

Of the. Ariana Kelly, a Democrat from Montgomery County, is sponsoring a bill that would increase the number of skilled abortion providers in the state. The measure would remove a legal restriction that prevents nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and medical assistants from performing abortions.

“It aligns with how we approach qualifications for other health care procedures in Maryland,” Kelly said. “He treats abortion care for what it is: health care without any unnecessary political restrictions.”

Kelly said Maryland has seen a decline in the number of abortion providers since 1991, when the state had 52 providers. Now that number has dropped to 44.

“That’s a 15% drop in the number of providers, while at the same time we’ve seen a 28% increase in the population, so we’ve clearly gone in the wrong direction,” Kelly said.

Karen Nelson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Maryland, said people in rural parts of the state, low-income communities and women of color face barriers every day to accessing abortion.

“And that must be of grave concern to all of us, because if we don’t take active action now and end up in a world without Roe, those who have will continue to have and those who haven’t will continue to have. have nothing. The threats to overthrow Roe V. Wade are real and should be taken seriously,” Nelson said.

Another measure Kelly sponsors aims to provide equitable access to abortion coverage, whether with private insurance or Medicaid.

This would require private insurance plans, except those with statutory exemptions, to cover abortion care and without cost sharing or deductibles.

“We know from research that cost-sharing requirements delay access to care,” Kelly said. “Removing this barrier will help women access care. For Medicaid, it makes our current coverage for abortion care permanent, instead of subjecting it to debate on a budget bill every year.”