Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Releases Statement One Year After Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Ruling
Washington, DC — Nearly one year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ignoring over 50 years of precedent and ending the constitutional right to abortion.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:
“The realities of the year since the Supreme Court’s conservative justices decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health have been catastrophic. More than 26.1 million women are living under bans across 20 states, and every day we see a new story about the dangerous ramifications they are inflicting on pregnant people. But what this year has also shown us is that the American people refuse to give up on their fundamental rights. They’ve shown up time and again, mobilizing and voting to protect reproductive freedom.”
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade it opened the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is having a devastating impact throughout the country as 20 states and counting have eliminated or restricted access because of abortion bans. NARAL research found that in the year since the Court’s ruling, more than 26 million women of reproductive age have lost access to abortion or faced extreme restrictions that make it nearly impossible to get the care they need. Nearly 14 million women now live in states where they are at risk of criminal punishment for accessing abortion care.
In this new post-Roe world, policies that were once considered too extreme to be taken seriously—such as using the death penalty as punishment for people who have an abortion— are now mainstream, NARAL research found. This means that all pregnant people are now facing the terrifying consequences of the policies promoted and passed by the anti-abortion lobby, whether they’re seeking abortion care or not, as doctors flee states where they’re threatened with jail time and hospitals close maternity wards.
MAGA extremists are undeterred, doubling down on their plans to pass a national abortion ban and charge doctors, patients and their supporters with crimes for providing or accessing abortion care. Meanwhile, support for abortion has never been higher. A USA Today poll found that 80% of Americans oppose a national abortion ban, including 65% of Republicans and 83% of independents, underscoring that the GOP is not only out of step with Americans, but with their own base.
The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.