Tracking abortion laws across the United States

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The US supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade may have abolished the national right to abortion, but the state-by-state battle for abortion rights is far from over.

Since Roe was overturned in 2022, 14 states have enacted near-total abortion bans, while four states – Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and Iowa – have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Other states have enacted laws or held ballot referendums to protect abortion rights.

In flux

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In a handful of other states, the future of abortion is in flux due to legal challenges. In September 2024, for example, a North Dakota judge struck down the state’s ban, ruling that it was too vague and that the state constitution granted women “a fundamental right to choose abortion before viability exists”. However, the judge did not formally enjoin the ban and North Dakota is expected to appeal his decision.

Several states are also likely to hold ballot measures on abortion rights during the November elections, including key battleground states like Arizona and Nevada.

All of this tumult has led to a deeply uneven abortion landscape, with access to abortion clinics cut off across much of the south and midwest but standing strong on both coasts. The map below shows where state abortion laws stand as of 12 September 2024.

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Sources: Abortion laws come from Center for Reproductive Rights, AbortionFinder and state statutes.

Note: Women of reproductive age data comprises women aged 15-49 from the 2020 US census. Although people who are not women and outside of these age ranges can get pregnant, this demographic is an approximation of the number of people affected.

Additional research and fact checking by Ava Sasani.

? This tracker, first published on 28 June 2022 and created by Jessica Glenza with reporting by Poppy Noor, is being regularly updated to ensure that it reflects the current situation as best as possible. The most recent update will have been made at the date shown at the top of the article. Any significant corrections made to this or previous versions will continue to be footnoted below in line with Guardian editorial policy.

? This tracker was amended on 21 August to correct the details for Minnesota; in 2023, the state significantly expanded its abortion protections.