By Gabriella Borter
(Reuters) - Maryland lawmakers have passed a bill to increase and protect abortion access in the state, a proactive move as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether to overturn or weaken constitutional abortion rights this spring.
The state's General Assembly on Tuesday approved a bill that eliminates a restriction that only physicians can provide abortions. The legislation would allow any "qualified provider," such as nurse practitioners or physician assistants, to perform abortions.
The bill also requires most insurance plans to cover the cost of abortions. It establishes an abortion care clinical training program to ensure "that there are enough health professionals to provide abortion care," and mandates $3.5 million in state funding annually beginning in fiscal year 2024.
The bill heads to Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, for consideration. If enacted, the law would take effect on July 1.
Hogan's office stated "The governor will consider the legislation when it reaches his desk." In the past, he has had a hands-off approach to abortion rights legislation, allowing a related 2017 law to pass without his signature.
"Both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly have boldly declared that abortion is health care, health care is a human right, and that our rights mean nothing without access," Planned Parenthood of Maryland said in a statement after the bill passed.
Republican state Senator Justin Ready on Tuesday called the bill "radical" and criticized its goal of adding more abortion providers.
"I think we need to have a different approach to life in our state, even in the varying ways that we may feel about life beginning," he said.
Maryland's is one of several Democrat-led legislatures - including Colorado, Vermont, California - that has sought to codify abortion rights protections this year.
Lawmakers anticipate that the Supreme Court could soon overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 precedent that established the right to terminate a pregnancy before the fetus is viable, which is around 23 or 24 weeks. The conservative-leaning court has signaled its willingness to uphold a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
Republican-led states, meantime, are rapidly passing anti-abortion laws with the expectation that the court's ruling would open the door for stricter abortion measures. More than 500 abortion restrictions have been introduced in 41 states so far in 2022, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy group.