One year after the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the federal right to abortion, the procedure has been banned or severely restricted in nearly half the United States, with several legal battles still to be resolved.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority decision, released on June 24, 2022, ended 49 years of federal abortion rights, which had been guaranteed in 1973 in Roe v. Wade.
Now, in at least 14 states, virtually all abortions are banned: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In most of these states, there are no exceptions for cases of incest or rape.
Access to abortion has been restricted in six other states: in Georgia, the procedure is only possible up to six weeks and in Nebrasca up to 12 weeks. Limits at 15 weeks are in effect in Arizona, Florida, Utah, and North Carolina.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a six-week-pregnancy ban, but the state Supreme Court is reviewing the new law.
In five states – Indiana, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina and Wyoming – legislatures have tried to ban abortion entirely, but legal challenges continue in the courts. If these bans pass, as expected, the country will be split down the middle: 25 states that ban and restrict abortion, and 25 states where it remains legal.
But during the year following the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, dozens of states moved in the opposite direction.
In 20 states, from California, Nevada and Hawaii to Michigan, Colorado and Pennsylvania, abortion access has been included in state constitutions or new protections have been granted in local laws. In several cases, these protections were decided by a majority vote of voters, who were called to the polls for the midterm elections in November 2022.
In the remaining five states, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, and Virginia, abortion remains legal with no further action since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022.
This week, the first lady, Jill Biden, celebrated one year of the decision in a session in the Blue Room of the White House, during which she made a negative portrait of the situation.
“The Dobbs decision took away women’s constitutional rights, their ability to make their own health care decisions,” the first lady said. The bans that have gone into effect, she said, are having consequences beyond the right to this choice.
“There are women who are denied access to medications to treat arthritis and cancer even when they are not pregnant,” said Jill Biden.
“Rape and incest survivors are forced to travel to other states for care,” he continued. “Doctors have stopped giving what they think is good patient care because they don’t know what procedures are legal.”
On the Republican side, about twenty senators led by Marco Rubio (Florida) presented a commemorative resolution in the Senate for the first anniversary of the decision, expressing a “commitment” to passing legislation that protects embryos.
“This was a victory for the unborn and for millions of Americans who long for the day when all human life is protected by law,” said Senator Rubio.
“As we commemorate this anniversary, I want to reaffirm my commitment to protect the unborn and support families. There are still many states where abortion is legal and we must continue to work to protect life across the country,” she emphasized.
Source: TSF
