Many are starting to wonder what would happen if Supreme Court hears arguments in two high-profile abortion cases later in the year. Roe v. Wade decision.
The Guttmacher Institute, an advocacy group for reproductive health, released a report on Thursday that shows the consequences could be severe for millions of future abortion seekers.
Two cases involving abortion restrictions imposed on states by the Supreme Court, which has an average of 6-3 conservatives, will be heard by the Court. In November, the Court will hear a case relating to Texas’s six-week abortion banThe judicial review has not been granted to the ‘Abortion Providers for $10,000’ case, which is a unique and strategic enforcement strategy that encourages private citizens to sue them. December, the Court will hear a case involving a Mississippi law that banned abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy; the state’s Attorney General Lynn Fitch has This case was presented to the Roe decision.
If any of these situations result in Roe being undone, abortion access across the country would be curtailed drastically — but the report from the Guttmacher Institute details just how devastating this decision could be.
According to the report26 states in the U.S. will ban abortion if it is legalized. Roe This has been rescinded. It is now clear that nine states still have abortion bans in place from before. Roe These laws would be reinstated if the Supreme Court reverses the decision from nearly 50 years ago. Another 12 states have “trigger” laws in place, statutes that automatically ban abortion as soon as the federal government ends enforcement of Roe, while five states have a “near-total” ban on abortion that would also be enacted, the report says.
In all likelihood, those states wouldn’t be alone in curtailing abortion, the organization warned.
“Beyond the 26 states certain or likely to attempt to ban abortion immediately, other states have demonstrated hostility toward abortion by adopting multiple restrictions in the past, but are not likely to ban abortion in the near future,” the Guttmacher Institute report said. “However, this analysis may change in the next few years.”
Total overturning Roe It is not necessary to curtail abortion access immediately. Eleven states, not including Texas, currently have a six-week ban on abortion on the books that isn’t being enforced but could be, depending on the Court’s future ruling.
The ruling’s outcome can either be severe or final. Roe’sProtective measures would be catastrophic. affecting around 36 million individuals of reproductive ageTo undergo this safe and routine procedure, you would need to travel to neighboring countries or even further afield.
The report stated that an individual seeking an abortion could have to travel hundreds upon hundreds of miles to reach an abortion clinic.
“You’re talking about people in Texas and Mississippi traveling vast distances, not just trying to cross the border, but trying to go through multiple states in order to access care,” said Elizabeth NashThe Guttmacher Institute’s principal policy associate for state affairs, is. “The distances will take you days to access an abortion and return home.”
Texas: A person would have to travel up to 525 miles to get an abortionA person in Mississippi may have to travel as far as 428 miles to get to the nearest provider. This is in a state that the dismantling RoeThis would not be a threat to abortion rights. Florida law allows a person to travel up 567 miles to have an abortion. Louisiana’s distance could be as high as 630 miles.
If the Court reverses Roe If it allows restrictions on it, the result will cause great harm, especially to underserved groups such as low-income people, people with color, and LGBTQ people.
“There can be no compromise on abortion — not at 15 weeks, not at 20 weeks, not in any context — because as this data makes clear, a restriction on abortion anywhere means less access for all, everywhere,” wrote Caroline ReillyReporting fellow Rewire News Group, regarding the Guttmacher Institute’s findings.