A summer post-Roe: anti-abortion legislation decreases clinic availability despite temporary blocks
Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, clinics continue to permanently close despite the efforts of local courts to block legislation. Unsplash.
Landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade (1973) was overturned in a 6-3 vote June 24, raising concerns among abortion activists and individuals looking to get an abortion. The decision, which affirmed the constitutional right to abortion, was deemed “egregiously wrong” by the court’s majority. This majority consisted of Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
A draft opinion was leaked by Politico May 2, prompting many to be concerned of the far-reaching effects of the ban. After the leak, 26 states were deemed “certain or likely to ban abortion.”
In the days following, a cascade of protests supporting or opposing the decision occurred across the country. In a poll conducted by The Panther, 34% of respondents indicated that they attended protests at Chapman University out of a total of 59 respondents.
One month after the decision was overturned, 11 Southern and Midwestern states banned abortion completely, while 23 others implemented restrictions, often based on fetal viability.
Fetal viability is defined as the point at which a fetus is capable of life outside of the womb, with medical assistance. According to research conducted in July by the Guttmacher Institute — a policy organization committed to expanding reproductive health and rights worldwide — the number of clinics offering abortions dropped from 71 to 28, approximately 60%.
On Aug. 25, legislation banning abortion in almost all contexts went into full effect in Idaho, Texas and Tennessee. In Texas specifically, abortion providers can receive felony charges and could be sentenced to life in prison.
The 23 states that did not completely ban abortion, like Florida and North Carolina, have since implemented staggered restrictions.
Generally, most states have not fully banned abortion; rather, they have limited abortion access to the first six weeks of pregnancy or deny it after a “fetal heartbeat” can be detected through ultrasound.
In their interactive map that showcases state policies implemented as of Aug. 29, the Guttmacher Institute categorizes states from most restrictive to most protective.
Indiana, which the Guttmacher Institute categorizes as “restrictive,” will ban all abortions except in the case of rape or incest to protect the health of the mother and if fetal abnormalities are incompatible with sustaining life by law Sept. 15.
Judges in several states— including Arizona, Montana, Michigan, South Carolina, West Virginia, Utah, Iowa and Wyoming — have been successful in temporarily blocking anti-abortion legislation from being integrated into state law. Although these states are generally more restrictive, it is apparent that there are fragmented opinions on abortion legislation, regardless of the state’s overall stance.
John Compton, a political science professor, spoke with The Panther about the lower courts blocking more restrictive abortion legislation.
“The Dobbs opinion did not attempt to resolve all possible constitutional questions relating to abortion,” Compton said. “The lower courts now have their work cut out for them, as many red states are attempting to impose abortion bans that are more strict than the one upheld in Dobbs. At least initially, it is the lower courts that will decide exactly how early abortion can be prohibited and what exceptions, if any, must be included in abortion bans.”
Compton believes that as there are continued, significant disagreements in the lower courts, there is a possibility that the Supreme Court may need to step in.
“However, my guess is that the Supreme Court will not be jumping in to overturn or affirm lower court decisions very soon,” Compton said.
In California, abortion is banned at fetal viability, or about 24 to 26 weeks of pregnancy.
While California is categorized as “protective” compared to other states, there are still polarized opinions regarding the protection of abortion rights.
Despite the division among California residents, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1666 into legislation, which protects women, doctors and others involved in abortion operations from civil judgement or lawsuits by states where abortions are illegal.
In a June 24 tweet, Newsom refers to AB 1666, calling California “a safe haven for women across the nation.”
Short term, many abortion and sexual health clinics have closed, limiting many women’s access to safe abortions. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonprofit organization that looks at national health issues and America’s role in global health policy, maintain that women of color will face disproportional barriers to accessing abortions.
Amea Wadsworth, a senior double major in religious studies and English, spoke with The Panther about the harm this ban and similar ones inflict on groups that have been historically marginalized.
“When something is criminalized in the U.S., it is always at the detriment of marginalized groups to some extent,” Wadsworth said. “Lower income people of color will be most affected by this change.”
Others on campus, such as Chapman Republicans, feel different about the overturn.
“Chapman Republicans applauds the United States Supreme Court for its decisions this week to protect life,” the club wrote in a June 24 Instagram post.
Long term, the effects of the overturn of Roe v. Wade are unknown. A 2001 study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics asserts that after Roe v. Wade’s introduction, crime fell drastically between 1997 to 2024 due to the legalization of abortion.
“Legalized abortion is estimated to have reduced violent crime by 47% and property crime by 33% over this period, and thus can explain most of the observed crime decline,” economists John Donohue of Stanford University and Steve Levitt of the University of Chicago wrote in the study.
Democratic legislators are working now to codify Roe v. Wade into law, meaning they want inscribe the abortion rights ruling into federal law.
However, an abortion rights bill would need to overcome the filibuster, which allows unlimited debate on most topics that reach the Senate floor before they go to a vote.
Senators use the filibuster to block laws from ever reaching a vote. Sixty votes are needed to end debate and send it to a vote, where only a simple majority — 51 votes — is needed for a bill to pass. Due to current numbers in the Senate, Democrats likely won’t be able to move legislation to a vote.