This week marks the two year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, the landmark Supreme Court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion and grant states the power to decide their own abortion legislation. The landscape of abortion access has since been in constant flux, as local lawmakers introduce new restrictions, voters weigh in on enshrining reproductive rights in state constitutions, and the line between life-saving and elective abortions remains contested.
The effects of Dobbs spanned across the country, with some states, like Illinois, vowing to protect reproductive rights, and becoming a hub for those forced to travel for safe abortion care as access was stripped in their home states. Access became especially restricted in the South, which is now concentrated with some of the most restrictive abortion laws.
In the first half of 2024, 41 states allow abortion with only limited exceptions, and 7 states ban abortion at or before 18 weeks of gestation, according to a new report by Guttmacher and State Innovation Exchange examining trends in state policy on sexual and reproductive health as we reach the halfway point of 2024.
The 14 states with total abortion bans include Alabama, Arkansa, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. According to Guttmacher, many of these states had “trigger laws” already in place that would automatically ban abortion should Roe ever be overturned.
Though they operate individually, the effects of a ban in one state is felt throughout the region, especially in the South. Analysis by the Center for American Progress revealed that Florida’s six week abortion ban, which went into effect last month, cut off abortion access to Southern patients, now requiring driving times to the nearest abortion clinic of over 11 hours for people in the most southern parts of the country.
Two years post-Dobbs, the fight for abortion access has become a whirlwind of changing laws and legal battles. Reckon is here to help you make sense of it all. We’re looking back at our in-depth coverage of reproductive justice issues, examining the consequences of abortion bans and the legislative responses that have emerged across the country.
The abortion crisis is crushing Black women. The numbers don’t lie
Black women bear the brunt of abortion bans. A May 2023 analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families and In Our Own Voice revealed that 57% of all Black women ages 15-49 live in states with abortion bans, and 55% live in states with both abortion bans and above average maternal mortality.
In the shadow of Roe, the Asian and Pacific Islander community grapples with unique challenges
According to a 2023 survey by the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, almost half of AANHPI respondents said that they did not know where to access medication abortion if they needed it. This number was stark in comparison to the results of polling by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in March 2024, which showed that about 8 in 10 AANHPI individuals think that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
What you should know about the disturbing tactics some anti-abortion centers use to target Latinas
6.7 million Latinas live in 26 states that banned or were likely to ban abortion, and are especially susceptible to mis and disinformation, according to a 2023 report by National Partnership for Women & Families and the Latina Institute. This includes the deceptive measures of anti-abortion centers, or “fake clinics.”
Though most states with abortion bans have exceptions to save a pregnant person’s life, what exactly that means is often subjective. Confusing or vague laws have left both doctors and patients unsure of what could land them in legal trouble, and in some cases have caused delays or refusal of treatment. This has left pregnant people to be discharged or pushed out of emergency rooms until the lines questioning whether they are receiving life-saving care cannot be debated.
What is trisomy 18, the condition causing a Texas woman to flee the state for abortion?
Texas mother Kate Cox made national headlines for being forced to flee her home state for life-saving abortion care after, even though state law claims it offers exceptions for this type of care. Her story exemplified the dangerous yo-yo effect birthing people face between the lines of medical necessity and abortion ban exceptions
GO DEEPER: Read more about the false promise of abortion exceptions here.
In Ohio, Brittany Watts exemplified the rise of pregnancy criminalization in the aftermath of Dobbs. Watts, was sent home from the ER several times during her miscarriage, which eventually occurred in her home. She was arrested for attempted abuse of a corpse in October 2023, but a grand jury declined to indict her in January 2024. With 26% of pregnancies resulting in miscarriage, many of which happen at home, Watts’ story potentially forecasts what expectant mothers and birthing people will continue to face in the wake of shifting reproductive health laws.
GO DEEPER: Read more about pregnancy loss grief in post-Roe America here.
What’s at stake in the abortion pill case - here’s everything you need to know
One of the biggest SCOTUS cases since Dobbs has been the FDA v. the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which challenged the FDA’s regulation of abortion drug mifepristone and could have prevented the pill from being prescribed via telehealth.
Though SCOTUS rejected a lawsuit earlier this month, it has shown the lengths conservatives are willing to go to assert their views.
GO DEEPER: Read more about misoprostol-only abortion (the other abortion pill) here.
An all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court ruling in Feb. 2024 defined life as beginning at conception, effectively granting personhood to embryos. This decision threw the state’s IVF clinics into chaos, as they ceased operations for fear of prosecution. Though services have since restarted, this situation revealed the trickle down effects of fetal personhood laws on things outside of abortion, and opened up the door for other states to follow suit.
The Rise of the Abortion Cowboy
Legalizing abortion did not cease the need for abortion care or doctors who perform abortions. Former Reckon reporter Becca Andrews wrote this narrative on the lengths some care providers are taking to ensure that patients can access safe abortions, commuting between states and traveling hundreds of miles.
‘We’re still here’: How a Mississippi abortion fund is keeping on post Dobbs
This June 2023 conversation with Laurie Bertram Roberts, executive director and co-founder of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund sheds light on the status of abortion funds, especially in the South, a year after Roe was overturned.
5 abortion funds fighting back against Florida’s 6-week ban and how you can help
When states lose access, abortion funds are there navigating their self-created network of providers, clinics, and volunteers to help people afford care or and/or organize travel to get it. But as the days and years after the Dobbs decision pass, funds are seeing less and less “rage donations,” making raising money to maintain operations and meet the demand for funding even more important.
Clinics close, women flee, doctors risk it all? Inside Arizona’s abortion nightmare
When Arizona’s 1864 law banning abortion came back to haunt the state in April 2024, confusion left doctors operating in a gray area and abortion funds gear up for the expected influx of patients who would need to travel to other states.
2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the reproductive justice movement, and just like Black women were leading then, they’re leading the movement now. 5 leaders tell Reckon where they think the movement is headed.
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