Supreme Court Ruling Jeopardizes Abortion Access for 33 Million Women

Updated: June 24, 2022, 11:30 AM EDT

The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, wiping out the constitutional right to an abortion in the US. Roughly 33 million child-bearing women are set to lose access to the procedure in their home states.

The majority opinion voted to uphold Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with the court ruling 5-4 to explicitly overturn Roe. That leaves it up to states to determine their own abortion laws.

At least 22 US states already have laws on the books that will now outlaw abortion in all or most cases, with four others indicating they are likely to move in a similar direction. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia protect the right to the procedure.

The future of the remaining eight states is somewhat unclear, though researchers at Brookings Institution said in May that one of the outliers – New Mexico – would likely pass laws protecting abortion access. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has said abortion access will remain legal and safe as long as he is in the role, but the electoral battle over who will be his successor next year is one of the most contentious on tap for November. An anti-abortion rights politician that steps into the job could clamp down access with help from the state’s Republican-controlled legislature.

Access to an Abortion in Each State Now That Roe v. Wade Is Overturned

Trigger ban will take effect
Other bans or restrictions will take effect
Bans or restrictions will likely take effect
Has laws protecting access to an abortion

Source: Guttmacher Institute

Nearly half of US women aged 13 to 44—some 33 million, according to 2019 Census population estimates—live in states deemed by the Guttmacher Institute as hostile to abortion rights.

Sources: Guttmacher Institute, U.S. Census Bureau

Even with the constitutional right afforded by Roe, states already had a hodgepodge of abortion laws. Oklahoma and Texas recently enacted laws that effectively banned abortions, with Oklahoma declaring them illegal at conception and Texas making them illegal after six weeks — so early that most people don’t even know they are pregnant yet. In the case of Oklahoma, the only exception the state allows is if the life of the pregnant woman is in danger. Massachusetts, on the other hand, allows for abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy and provides exceptions in the case of severe fetal abnormalities.

States Are Divided on When in Pregnancy Abortion Is Allowable

Has no cutoff
Has exceptions to the cutoff

Allowed up to…

0
6
20
24+ weeks

Source: Guttmacher Institute

What’s more, there are already abortion deserts in every region of the country except the Northeast, meaning patients have to travel more than 100 miles to get to the nearest clinic, according to the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. Many states, like Mississippi, which was at the center of the Supreme Court case, only have one clinic within their borders.

Sources: Caitlin Myers, U.S. Census Bureau, Guttmacher Institute

“The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade reverses decades of precedent establishing the right to an abortion, and takes bodily autonomy away from millions of individuals, putting essential health care decisions in the hands of politicians,” said Diana Gómez, advocacy director at advocacy group Progress Texas in a statement Friday. “The red-and-blue maps we see on election night could now be the maps that indicate abortion access in our country.”

By Kelsey Butler, Mathieu Benhamou, Rachael Dottle, Jeremy C.F. Lin, Dave Merrill, Cedric Sam and Raeedah Wahid

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly categorized Kansas as a state that would likely or definitely ban abortion. It has since been corrected as having no known restrictions or protections in place. North Carolina was also identified as a state that would likely or definitely ban abortion in the absence of Roe v. Wade, based on Guttmacher Institute’s assessment. Guttmacher has since updated their assessment, and it is now categorized as having no known restrictions of protections in place.

Editors: Chloe Whiteaker, Millie Munshi and Alex Tribou

With the assistance of: Madison Muller

Supreme Court Ruling Jeopardizes Abortion Access for 33 Million Women

Access to an Abortion in Each State Now That Roe v. Wade Is Overturned

How Many Women and Girls Are Set to Lose Access

States Are Divided on When in Pregnancy Abortion Is Allowable

Nearly 200 Abortion Clinics At Risk of Closure