At least five states have passed strict abortion laws in 2019, partially in an effort to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide.

Alabama passed a near-total ban on abortion on May 15, 2019 that is meant to go into effect in Nov. 2019. The law makes abortion illegal in almost all cases, does not have exceptions for rape or incest, and includes felony penalties of up to life in prison for doctors who perform abortions.

Alabama State Representative Terri Collins stated the law “is about challenging Roe v. Wade and protecting the lives of the unborn because an unborn baby is a person who deserves love and protection.”

Leana Wen, MD, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood, stated, “Politicians in Alabama just passed the most extreme and dangerous policy since Roe vs. Wade… Alabama is putting women’s lives at even greater risk.”

Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Mississippi passed “fetal heartbeat” laws that ban abortion when a “heartbeat” has been detected, generally around six weeks.

According to Jennifer Kerns, MD, MS, MPH, OB-GYN at the University of California at San Francisco, “At six weeks, the embryo is forming what will eventually develop into mature systems. There’s an immature neurological system, and there’s a very immature cardiovascular system. [The “heartbeat”] is a group of cells with electrical activity… We are in no way talking about any kind of cardiovascular system.”

Sarah Horvath, MD, OB-GYN with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, further explained, “What’s really happening at that point is that our ultrasound technology has gotten good enough to be able to detect electrical activity in a rudimentary group of cells.”

Georgia’s law is set to go in effect on Jan. 1, 2020. However, the Kentucky law has been struck down by a federal judge and the Ohio and Mississippi laws are currently being challenged in courts.

Eleven other states have “fetal heartbeat” bills in the works, including Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

As of May 1, 2019, Guttmacher Institute lists 18 states with laws that would make abortion illegal or otherwise restrict access should Roe v. Wade be overturned: nine states have bans and five have other restrictions from before Roe v. Wade still on the law books, six have near-total bans, and seven have laws saying abortion will be restricted as much as possible.

Elizabeth Nash, MPP, Senior States Issue Manager at the Guttmacher Institute, stated, “There’s a real momentum around banning abortion at the state level and it’s stemming from the shift in the U.S. Supreme Court.” That shift was the Trump administration’s addition of two conservative Associate Justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Some states have chosen to pass laws that would keep abortion legal if Roe v. Wade were overturned by the US Supreme Court. New York passed a law on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Jan. 22, 2019. At least nine other states have followed suit, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Sources:

Erin Corbett, “Abortion Is Still Legal in All 50 States,” fortune.com, May 17, 2019

Nicole Chavez, “The Rising Wave of Abortion Restrictions in America,” cnn.com, May 18, 2019

Erin Corbett, “New York’s Landmark Abortion Rights Bill Protecting Roe v. Wade Decision Now Law,” fortune.com, Jan. 23, 2019

Amanda Michelle Gomez, “States Are Already Pre-Filing ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Bans for the New Year,” thinkprogress.org, Dec. 20, 2018

Guttmacher Institute, “Abortion Policy in the Absence of Roe,” guttmacher.org, May 1, 2019

Katie Reilly, “Alabama’s Abortion Ban Is Designed to Challenge Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court. Here’s What Happens Next,” time.com, May 15, 2019

Rachael Rettner, “Is a ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Really a Heartbeat at 6 Weeks?,” livescience.com, May 17, 2019

Adam Rogers, “‘Heartbeat’ Bills Get the Science of Fetal Heartbeats All Wrong,” wired.com, May 14, 2019

Leana Wen, Twitter post, twitter.com, May 14, 2019

A May 27, 2019 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that the flavorings used in e-cigarettes caused DNA damage and cell death, among other health problems.

The researchers tested six flavorings on lab-grown cells: fruit, tobacco, sweet tobacco with caramel and vanilla, sweet butterscotch, cinnamon, and menthol. The latter two were found to be the most toxic, even without nicotine.

The flavorings damaged endothelial cells, a type of cardiovascular cell that lines blood vessels. The damage make it harder for the cells to form new blood vessels or heal wounds, which increases the risk of heart disease.

Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and senior author of the study, stated, “Until now, we had no data about how these e-liquids affect human endothelial cells. This study clearly shows that e-cigarettes are not a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes. When we exposed the cells to six different flavors of e-liquid with varying levels of nicotine, we saw significant damage. The cells were less viable in culture, and they began to exhibit multiple symptoms of dysfunction.”

Some e-cigarette supporters promote vaping as a way to stop smoking. The Truth Initiative, an advocacy group devoted to eliminating tobacco, stated, “Using e-cigarettes is substantially less harmful to individual health than inhaling smoke from combustible tobacco, such as cigarettes and cigars.” A study published in New England Journal of Medicine found that smokers who turned to vaping were more successful at quitting traditional cigarettes than people who tried nicotine patches, gum, or other smoking cessation products.

An estimated 10.8 million American adults and 3 million high school students use e-cigarettes.

Sources:

Krista Conger, “E-Cigarette Use, Flavorings May Increase Heart Disease Risk, Study Finds,” med.stanford.edu, May 27, 2019

Angelica LaVito, “CDC Blames Spike in Teen Tobacco Use on Vaping, Popularity of Juul,” cnbc.com, Feb. 11, 2019

Bailey King, “Flavored E-Cigarettes May Lead to Heart Disease, Study Finds,” phillyvoice.com, May 28, 2019

Won Hee Lee, et al., “Modeling Cardiovascular Risks of E-Cigarettes with Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell–Derived Endothelial Cells,” Journal of the American College of Cardiology, June 2019

Lauran Neergaard, “Study Suggests E-Cigarette Flavorings May Post Heart Risk,” apnews.com, May 27, 2019

Lisa Rapaport, “Almost One in 20 U.S. Adults Now Use E-Cigarettes,” reuters.com, Aug. 27, 2018

Peter Roff, “We Could Vape Our Way to Health—If the Government Gets out of the Way,” newsweek.com, May 10, 2019

Truth Initiative, “E-Cigarettes: Facts, Stats and Regulations,” truthinitiative.org, July 19, 2018

Illinois lawmakers approved recreational marijuana bill HB 1438 on Friday, May 31, 2019. Governor J.B. Pritzker, JD, has indicated he will sign the bill, which will make Illinois the eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana.

The law is expected to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, at which point cannabis possession and sales will be legal for adults over 21 years old. Only currently licensed medical marijuana dispensaries will be allowed to sell marijuana at first, with more licenses expected to be issued mid-year.

Governor Pritzker (D) tweeted on May 31, 2019, “The state of Illinois just made history, legalizing adult-use cannabis with the most equality-centric approach in the nation. This will have a transformational impact on our state, creating opportunity in the communities that need it more and giving so many a second chance.”

Illinois is the first state to legalize commercial sales of marijuana via legislation. Vermont legalized possession via legislation in 2018, but has yet to legalize commercial sales. The other nine states have legalized recreational marijuana via ballot initiative.

Additionally, the governor will pardon everyone convicted of possessing up to 30 grams of marijuana and the attorney general will expunge public records of the convictions and arrests. People who have been convicted of possessing 30 to 500 grams will be able to petition for their conviction to be expunged.

State Representative Anthony DeLuca referenced a 1980s anti-drug commercial by cracking an egg into a frying pan during the legislative debate and stating, “this is your brain on drugs.” The lawmaker later stated, “This bill moves in the opposite direction of moves I’m trying to make as a parent, telling kids getting stoned is an acceptable recreational activity. I just have a real problem with that. No matter how you package this — whether it’s revenue or criminal justice reform, or people are smoking it anyway, I can guarantee where we’ll be in 10 or 20 years, and it’s not going to be good.”

Illinois legalized medical marijuana in 2013 and is one of 33 legal medical marijuana states.

Sources:

David Aaro, “Illinois Poised to Legalize Recreational Marijuana,” foxnews.com, June 2, 2019

Austin Berg, “What You Need to Know about Marijuana Legalization in Illinois,” illinoispolicy.org, June 1, 2019

Robert McCoppin, “Here’s When Marijuana Will Be Legal in Illinois, and Answers to Other Burning Questions about Recreational Weed,” chicagotribune.com, June 3, 2019

Karen Pierog, “Illinois Bill to Legalize Recreational Marijuana Wins Legislative Approval,” reuters.com, May 31, 2019

WGN Web Desk, “Illinois Lawmaker Uses Egg, Frying Pan Demonstration During Recreational Marijuana Debate,” wgntv.com, May 31, 2019