Dozens of states see new laws on abortion, minimum wage take effect in 2023

Dozens of states will see major changes to abortion laws and minimum wage limits take effect after the U.S. rang in 2023 on Saturday.

California and New York will each begin enforcing new protections for abortion rights this week, while Tennessee will begin requiring physician prescriptions for all abortion-inducing drugs. Meanwhile, minimum-wage workers are receiving a pay raise in 23 states, and several other states will start enforcing changes to drug policies, Axios reported Sunday.

California’s Proposition 1 passed on Election Day, and enshrines residents’ “fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.” California already had extensive protection for abortion access, even prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Meanwhile, New York’s law will require all private insurance plans offering maternity care coverage to include abortion care, the outlet reported.

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Red and Blue states have taken aggressive action to restrict and protect abortion access in the months since the Supreme Court’s decisions in Dobbs v. Jackson.

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More than a dozen Republican-led states had abortion “trigger laws” that severely limited or outright banned abortions just weeks or months after the ruling came down. Others took action and passed new legislation soon after the ruling.

Democrats also scrambled to enshrine abortion access in their states, as well as facilitate travel for women who were seeking abortions but lived in states where they could not get one.

President Joe Biden sought to pass federal legislation establishing a right to an abortion this month, but the Democratic Party lost control of the House of Representatives, making the move impossible.