Following the US Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which eliminated a constitutional right to abortion nationwide, 19 US states have banned or limited access to the procedure. States with restricted abortion access have reported higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, as well as increased economic insecurity.
Ten states had reproductive rights on the ballot in the November 2024 election. Voters in seven of those states approved measures that expanded or protected abortion access. In Arizona and Missouri, citizens voted to overturn their state’s abortion bans. Arizona's constitutional amendment, effective since last November, now allows access to abortion until fetal viability. Missouri's total abortion ban was reversed in December, although abortions have not yet resumed in the state, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual and reproductive health that supports abortion rights.
However, proposed protective measures in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota did not pass. Nebraska voters instead approved enshrining the state's current 12-week abortion ban in the state constitution.
Legal challenges related to abortion access are being closely monitored as they progress through the courts. The landscape of abortion access in the United States continues to evolve, with various states taking different approaches to reproductive rights.
