A leaked draft from the Supreme Court on Monday night revealed that the justices are poised to strike down Roe v. Wade, ending abortion protections which were in place in america for nearly half a century.
The draft decision ― an astonishing leak from probably the most nation’s most closely guarded governmental bodies ― will not be final, and abortion stays legal in all 50 states for now, as advocates for abortion rights emphasized after Politico published the draft. However the news offers a sobering reminder of just how tenuous abortion access is in much of the country.
The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization focused on advancing reproductive health policy, has identified 26 states which might be likely or almost certain to ban abortion within the case of a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe, which established in 1973 that states couldn’t place excessive burdens on patients searching for the procedure.
“If this opinion truly is reflective of the ultimate decision of the vast majority of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices … we are only days away from greater than 26 states banning access to abortion services, essential and secure health care that has been a constitutional right for nearly 50 years,” Jodi Hicks, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said in a press release.
Twenty-two states have already got laws or constitutional amendments in place that will allow them to ban abortion as soon because the Supreme Court makes it possible. The most recent state to hitch those ranks is Wyoming, which passed such a law in March.
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Georgia
Idaho
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Guttmacher has identified 4 other states as prone to ban abortion within the event that Roe falls, citing their current political climates and up to date actions by state lawmakers.
Florida
Indiana
Montana
Nebraska
Though abortion could also be soon be banned in those states, research has repeatedly shown that outlawing the procedure doesn’t necessarily lower the speed of abortion in places where it’s illegal. Moderately, it simply increases the health risks related to it.
