New order protects women who fly to Hawaii for abortions from other states seeking penalties

The order comes after the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in June.
Published: Oct. 11, 2022 at 10:20 AM HST|Updated: Oct. 11, 2022 at 4:20 PM HST
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Gov. David Ige signed an executive order Tuesday mandating access to reproductive health care services in Hawaii.

The order comes after the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in June, which has allowed 18 states to enact full or partial abortion bans.

“Abortion is legal in Hawaii,” Ige said. “The Hawaii constitution guarantees the right to privacy and personal autonomy that includes the right for each of us to make personal decisions about procreation, contraception and abortion.”

Under the executive order, information including medical records, data, or billing will be protected from other states that may seek to impose penalties on a person who travels to Hawaii for reproductive health services.

“We will not cooperate with any other state that tries to prosecute women who receive abortion in Hawaii, and we will not cooperate with any state who tries to sanction medical professional who provide abortion in Hawaii,” Ige continued.

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State Rep. Linda Ichiyama also spoke at the press conference and vowed that she and other legislators will continue to work to protect these services.

“We are going to work continuously to ensure that we have access, especially on our Neighbor Islands. And that our sisters, our daughters and our granddaughters deserve to grow up in a world where they have more rights, not less,” she said.

Dr. Reni Soon, an OB/GYN, added that abortion is a decision that is made by 1 in 4 pregnancy-cable people in this country.

“That means these are people who are our neighbors, teachers, bus drivers, they bag our groceries, they are police officers — they are ohana,” Soon said. “This is about lifting each other up and supporting each other and making the best decision that we can for our ohana and our community.”

Ige joins governors in Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, who have adopted similar provisions to protect reproductive health services in their states.