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Maryland will be expanding abortion access in spite of Republican Governor Larry Hogan's opposition a victory for reproductive healthcare as Republicans mount threats to it nationwide. Democratic lawmakers drove the push to override the governor's veto over the weekend, enacting legislation that will allow nurse practitioners and midwives to perform abortions and requires most insurance to cover the procedure. They stood up for healthcare, they stood up for access to abortion care, said Karen J. Nelson, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Maryland, according to the New York Times. They did what was right for the women in the state of Maryland.

The Abortion Care Access Act will take effect in July. Maryland is currently one of 36 states that only allows physicians to perform abortions. The new law also allocates $3.5 million in state funding annually toward abortion care training. Hogan, who has previously said that he personally opposes abortion but would not attempt to roll back access to the procedure in his state, vetoed the legislation on Friday, claiming that while he has upheld his promise to take no action restricting reproductive rights, the bill in question would set back standards for womens health care and safety.

The bill risks lowering the high standard of reproductive health care services received by women in Maryland, Hogan wrote in a letter accompanying his veto. The legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, overrode him the next day, with the state House voting 90-46 and the state Senate voting 29-15.

In so doing, Maryland became one of several states swimming against the tide to work to expand access to abortion; one such state is New Jersey, which in January moved to protect and expand abortion access. But nationally, the momentum is with those attempting to roll back reproductive rights. Several GOP-led states have moved to dramatically limit abortion access; the most recent, Oklahoma, approved a near-total ban on the procedure last week that would make performing it a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, unless it is being done to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency. That bill is currently awaiting signature from Governor Kevin Stitt, who has already said he would sign any anti-abortion legislation that is sent to him. Senate Bill 612 is the strongest pro-life legislation in the country right now, which effectively eliminates abortion in Oklahoma, Republican Nathan Dahm, the bills primary author, said in a statement last week.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court dominated 6-3 by conservatives, including three appointed by Donald Trump, who had campaigned in 2016 on a promise to overturn Roe v. Wadeseems poised to either weaken or eliminate the federal protections in that landmark 1973 ruling. That would leave a patchwork of laws that vary from state to state, with some like Oklahoma and Texas criminalizing the procedure and others, which have scrambled to enshrine protections, acting essentially as safe havens for reproductive rights. Its very important that we keep in mind the strategies that this bill is using is ensuring that people can access the care that they need, when they need it, no matter what happens with the rest of the country, said Democrat Ariana Kelly, the lead sponsor of Marylands bill, per CBS News. No matter what happens with the Supreme Court.

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Maryland Lawmakers Expand Abortion Access, Overriding Republican Governor's Veto - Vanity Fair