Access to abortion remains a patchwork of state-by-state policies after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with abortion restricted across much of the Southern United States. In the six months that followed the ruling, there were an estimated 43,410 fewer legal abortions in states that had bans, according to a recent survey.
New restrictions are continuing to take effect, with Republican-led legislatures pushing to enact bans in some states that have become abortion havens. A six-week ban passed in Florida in April 2023 is currently not enacted as the state Supreme Court reviews the state's abortion laws. If enacted, the ban would outlaw most abortions in the country's third-most-populous state. More restrictions in other states are almost certainly on the way.
Bonnie Berkowitz, Nick Mourtoupalas and Eugene Scott contributed to this report.
Weeks of pregnancy are calculated since the last menstrual period. Fetal viability is generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks, but there is no universal consensus. Life endangerment is defined differently in different states. Medical emergencies can include cases of severely compromised health, endangerment or physical health conditions.
Sources: Post reporting; Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate for state issues at the Guttmacher Institute; Center for Reproductive Rights; Census Bureau. Edited by Kevin Uhrmacher and Peter Wallsten. Copy edited by Carey L. Biron.
This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/24/abortion-state-laws-criminalization-roe/
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