On Friday, June 24, the United States Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for the right to abortion. The sweeping decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturns the longstanding precedents of Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). For the first time in the history of the Supreme Court and the United States, a fundamental constitutional right has been taken away. Many fear the decision’s reasoning will allow states to impose restrictions on other reproductive rights including contraception and IVF technologies and lay the groundwork for a nationwide ban on abortion.
In the absence of Roe, 26 states are certain or likely to move quickly to ban abortion. Of these, 13 states have “trigger laws” that ban abortion from the moment of fertilization: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Another five of these states ban abortion between six and 15 weeks of pregnancy. At six weeks, an embryo is the size of a grain of rice and most women don’t even know they’re pregnant.
Eleven states have no exceptions for rape or incest. Six states have no exceptions for the health of the pregnant woman. (Even when there are life or health exceptions to these abortion bans, pregnant women experience significant hurdles to accessing abortion, say experts.) Another eight states are likely to enact abortion bans soon. These abortion bans cover much of the South and Midwest of the United States.
(Click here to read more)
