PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the country is a patchwork quilt of laws that differ from state to state on abortion availability.
In a decision hailed by the pro-life community and decried by pro-abortion advocates, the Supreme Court ruled on June 24, 2022 that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision legalizing abortion in America, was unconstitutional.
The 2022 case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, reignited the debate over abortion, and put abortion law in the hands of state lawmakers. In the three years since that ruling, the pro-life and pro-abortion sides have pushed to advance their agendas in state legislatures with varying levels of success.
12 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia — have instituted total bans on abortion. In Missouri, voters approved a referendum to protect abortions rights, but the state’s Supreme Court issued a ruling on May 27 that reinstated the abortion ban. The issue is now the subject of litigation.
Four other states — Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and South Carolina — have adopted strict laws banning abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy.
On the hand, there are nine states — Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont — along with Washington, D.C., that have no restrictions on abortion.
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Other states ban the procedure at various points during pregnancy, including at 12 weeks, 18 weeks, 20 weeks, and at the point of viability, which is around 24 weeks.
New York prohibits abortions at the 24-week mark, but the abortion-friendly state has provisions to ease the way for women seeking to terminate a pregnancy. In 2024, the state constitution was amended to enshrine the right to abortion into law. The state’s official website also states that, “abortion access is available for New Yorkers and for those coming from outside the state.”
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion organization that tracks abortion laws and data nationwide estimates that there were more than 125,000 abortion performed in New York state in 2023 — about 15,000 more than the estimated 110,000 performed in 2020.
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Pro-life advocates acknowledge the work that still needs to be done despite Dobbs.
According to KFF, a non-profit organization focused on health policy, research and polling, the number of abortions in the U.S. increased after Dobbs. In 2023, more than a million abortions took place, an increase from 2020 when there were 930,000.
Further, abortion pills have become more commonplace in recent years, especially among women seeking an abortion who live in a state with an abortion ban. In 2024, one quarter of abortions in the U.S. were related to abortion pills, according to the pro-abortion group #WeCount.
“The Dobbs decision not only gave states the freedom to protect preborn children but also paved the way for pro-life victories nationally,” Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities said in a June 16 statement.
“At the same time, we know that several states have enacted extreme pro-abortion policies, overriding existing pro-life safeguards, with some states leaving children vulnerable to abortion even up to birth,” he continued. “Despite the good that the Dobbs decision accomplished, the battle for life is far from over.”
There have, however, been significant victories for pro-life advocates.
On June 16, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Sisterhood of Saint Mary, a congregation of Anglican nuns in upstate New York, who challenged the state’s mandate that forces employers to cover abortion expenses for workers through employer-funded health insurance.
The recent Supreme Court decision is significant, said Daniel Blomberg, vice president and senior counsel for the Becket Law, the non-profit firm representing the sisters.
“The court recognized that the sisters’ First Amendment rights were being deeply violated,” Blomberg said. “It wasn’t just that the state was coming into the sisters’ ministry and telling them how they’re going to run it. They were telling them that they’re going to run their ministry in a way that’s deeply inconsistent with their calling and the faith that animates that ministry.”
“This was a state saying, ‘If you’re going to exist in New York, you are going to violate your faith.’ That’s aggressive, that’s unreasonable and that’s dangerous,” he added.