Washington — Two years ago, the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion that had been guaranteed for nearly five decades under Roe v. Wade, leaving a patchwork of access in states in its wake.
Since the court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, nearly a third of states have near-total bans on the procedure in place, while access to abortion is severely restricted in a handful of others.
Despite the new restrictions, abortions that occurred in the formal health care system rose 11% from 2020 to 2023, according to findings from the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research group. States that border those with near-total bans saw the most significant spikes in abortions. Illinois, New Mexico, Virginia and North Carolina experienced the sharpest jumps, according to Guttmacher, as new routes to access take shape in the aftermath of the high court’s decision.
Here’s where abortion restrictions stand in all 50 states:
Meanwhile, abortion has become a key political issue, driving voters to the polls since the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision. Democrats are working to ensure November’s election is no different, increasingly putting the blame for unwinding the right to abortion on Republicans in recent months and calling out former President Donald Trump for appointing the three justices to the high court who helped cement the ruling overturning Roe.
“Repealing Roe was tragic, it was alarming, it was outrageous. But it didn’t happen in a vacuum,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in floor remarks in May. “It happened because Senate Republicans packed our courts with hard-right judges plucked right out of the federalist society checklist. It happened because Donald Trump appointed not one, not two, but three MAGA justices — all who voted to overturn Roe.”
At the same time, Trump has touted the move, dubbing himself the “most pro-life president,” though he has pledged to leave the issue to the states should he return to office.
“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,” Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social in April. “In this case, the law of the state.”
