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, nearly two dozen US states have banned or limited access to the procedure. States where abortion is most limited report higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, as well as greater economic insecurity.
Ten states had reproductive rights on the ballot in the November 2024 election. Voters in seven of those states passed measures expanding or protecting abortion access — including in Arizona and Missouri, where citizens effectively voted to overturn their state’s abortion bans. Proposed protective measures in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota did not pass. Nebraska voters approved cementing the state’s current 12-week abortion ban in the state constitution.
The fight over abortion is well underway in state legislatures and courts. Most recently, the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the state’s six-week ban that was struck down by a lower court, while the state’s appeal proceeds. In September, a judge in North Dakota overturned the state’s near-total ban, allowing abortions to take place until viability. There are, however, no remaining clinics in the state, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled to allow emergency abortions in Idaho for now and unanimously rejected a lawsuit challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s approach to regulating mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in medication abortion. The abortion pill will continue to be available to patients via mail, without an in-person doctor’s visit.
CNN is tracking these legal challenges as they make their way through the courts. Here’s where abortion access currently stands in the United States.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information.
Priya Krishnakumar and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.
