Two years after the Supreme Court shook the legal status quo with a ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade, judges, state legislators and voters are deciding the future of abortion in the United States.
The June 24, 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization sparked legislative action, protests, and numerous lawsuits – and put the issue at the center of politics across the country.
Fourteen Republican-led states now ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions. Three other states ban it after about six weeks, before many people know they are pregnant. Most Democratic-led states have taken measures to protect abortion rights and have become havens for patients from other states seeking treatment.
This has changed the landscape of abortion access, making it a logistical and financial ordeal for many conservative states. However, it has not reduced the overall number of procedures performed each month in the United States.
Here you can find out everything you need to know about the current situation of abortion law in the USA.
Restricted access to abortion leads to more travel to other states
Bans in Republican-led states have forced many women seeking abortions to travel abroad for treatment.
This leads to higher costs for gas or airline tickets, hotels and meals, increased logistical burdens, including childcare, and more days off from work.
A up-to-date study by the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for abortion access, found that of just over a million abortions performed in clinics, hospitals and doctor’s offices, more than 161,000 – or 16% – were performed on women who crossed state lines to have them.
More than two-thirds of the abortions performed in Kansas and New Mexico involved citizens from other states, particularly Texans.
Since the abortion ban after the sixth week of pregnancy came into force in Florida in May, many women have had to travel further distances than before, as abortion is banned in most states in the southeastern United States.
Low-income patients and those without legal residency are more likely to be unable to travel. For those who can travel, there may be ongoing costs.
In Alabama, the Yellowhammer Fund, which had previously helped residents pay for the procedure, has suspended that support because it was threatened with lawsuits from the state.
Jenice Fountain, executive director of Yellowhammer, said she recently met a woman who traveled from Alabama to neighboring Georgia to get an abortion, but was unable to get one there because she was a little too far along in her pregnancy, so she traveled to Virginia. The trip used up her rent money, and she needed facilitate finding an apartment.
“We’re seeing people spend every penny to leave the state or spend every penny to have another child,” Fountain said.
It is usually provided with pills rather than procedures
Almost two-thirds of known abortions last year used pills instead of surgery.
A report found that the pills are prescribed via telemedicine and sent to about 6,000 people each month who live in states with abortion bans. They are sent by medical providers in states that have laws in place designed to protect them from prosecution for these prescriptions. Laws in Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Washington specifically protect medical providers who prescribe the pills to patients in states with abortion bans.
The increasing importance of the pill, which was used in about half of all abortions immediately before the Dobbs ruling, poses a challenge in the latest chapter of the litigation.
The U.S. Supreme Court this month unanimously rejected an attempt by anti-abortion groups to overturn or revoke the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs commonly used together in medication abortion, and the issue is likely to come up again.
Abortion is on the 2024 ballot
In this presidential election year, abortion is a central issue.
Protecting access has become a central theme in Democratic campaigns, including President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has said states should decide for themselves whether to restrict abortion. He also suggested states could restrict contraceptive apply, but changed his mind on that.
“We recognize that this could be the last Dobbs anniversary we celebrate,” Kelsey Pritchard, a spokeswoman for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in an interview, noting that abortion rights could be enshrined in law if Democrats win the presidency and regain control of both houses of Congress.
At least four states are also putting the issue directly to voters. Colorado, Florida, Maryland and South Dakota have ballots this year where voters will be asked to approve state constitutional amendments that would protect or expand abortion access. Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and Nevada are attempting to put abortion access issues on the ballot this year, and are challenging a court ruling that removed a New York bill from the ballot.
There are also efforts to pass a law in Arizona. This year, the Supreme Court there ruled that an 1864 abortion ban could be enforced. With the facilitate of some Republicans, the Democrats in parliament managed to repeal this law.
In general, abortion rights are expanded when voters decide on them. In the seven statewide abortion policy votes since 2022, voters have sided with abortion rights supporters in every case.
It is still up to the courts – including the Supreme Court
The Dobbs ruling and its consequences gave rise to numerous legal questions and lawsuits against virtually every ban and restriction.
Many of these questions revolve around how exceptions – which come into play much more frequently when abortions are banned earlier in pregnancy – should be applied. The issue is often raised by women who have wanted to become pregnant but have experienced life-threatening complications.
A group of women who had grave pregnancy complications but were denied abortions in Texas filed suit, claiming the state’s ban was vague about the exceptions allowed. The all-Republican Texas Supreme Court disagreed in a May ruling.
The Supreme Court also heard arguments in the federal government’s lawsuit against Idaho in April. Idaho claims that its ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy can be extended to women in medical emergencies. The Biden administration says that violates federal law. A ruling in the case could come at any time.
Meanwhile, bans have been suspended by judges in Iowa, Montana, Utah and Wyoming.
