100 Days Since Roe V. Wade Was Overturned: The 11 Biggest Consequences

Topline

Sunday marks 100 days since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade and found there’s no longer a federal constitutional right to abortion, setting off a wave of abortion bans nationwide that have impacted healthcare and spawned new legal battles while energizing voters ahead of the midterm elections.

Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on June 24, after the court … [+] overturned Roe v. Wade.

Key Facts

State Abortion Bans: Total abortion bans that criminalize performing the procedure in nearly all cases are now in place in 13 states, and Georgia bans the procedure at six weeks into a pregnancy (another six states have bans that were blocked in court).

Abortion Clinics Closing: The proliferation of state-level abortion bans has forced abortion clinics in those states to close or relocate to more abortion rights-friendly states—leaving states like Mississippi, Louisiana and West Virginia without any abortion clinics, even if their bans are blocked—with the Guttmacher Institute reporting in July that 43 clinics in 11 states had stopped performing abortions in the first month after the Dobbs ruling alone.

Other States Overwhelmed: States with abortion access—many of which have taken steps to protect abortion rights and shield providers from legal consequences — have been crowded with out-of-state residetns, with clinics in Illinois reporting in August they had three-week wait times and 86% of patients were coming from out of state.

Medical Emergencies At Risk: Physicians have criticized abortion bans for being overly vague on when they are or aren’t allowed to perform abortions during medical emergencies, as they could face felony charges if they violate the law, resulting in hospitals having to change their procedures and widespread reports of pregnant people being either denied medically necessary abortions or having care delayed because of anti-abortion legislation.

State Court Battles: Abortion providers and advocates have challenged abortion bans in state courts, arguing they violate civil rights under state Constitutions, which Elisabeth Smith, director of state policy at the Center for Reproductive Rights, described to Forbes as a “really important tool” the organization is using to restore access and has already resulted in bans being at least temporarily blocked in more than 10 states (though some have gone back into effect).

Biden Administration Passes Executive Orders: Though it can’t block states from banning abortion, the Biden Administration issued two executive orders on abortion rights, gave guidance directing healthcare facilities to perform abortions in medical emergencies, allowed the Department of Veterans Affairs to perform abortions regardless of state law and successfully restricted Idaho’s abortion ban in court.

Congress Tries To Protect—And Ban—Abortion: Congressional Democrats tried to pass legislation to shore up abortion rights and protect people who cross state lines for the procedure in July, which passed the House but failed in the Senate, while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks, suggesting Republicans could move to pass federal restrictions if they retake Congress—though many GOP senators haven’t said they’ll support that bill.

Midterms Backlash: Kansas voters overwhelmingly blocked a ballot measure in August that would have paved the way for the state to ban abortion, and a Democrat’s win in a New York special election suggested pro-abortion rights voters turned out to the polls—and with a surge of women registering to vote in recent months, Democratic strategists believe the Supreme Court’s ruling will bolster the party in November as voters try to safeguard reproductive rights.

Politicians Backtracking: The surge in public support for abortion rights has caused a number of GOP candidates who had previously been outspoken against abortion to publicly walk back their rhetoric or downplay the issue, and state legislatures that have adopted new abortion bans have so far been unable to pass restrictions favored by anti-abortion activists that exclude exceptions for rape and incest.

Healthcare Effects Beyond Abortion: Abortion bans have impacted healthcare beyond reproductive care, keeping Americans in some states from obtaining treatments for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and even cancer because the medications can be used to induce a miscarriage—and thus, highly restricted.

Companies Respond To Bans: Dozens of companies have announced benefits related to abortion care and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly said they’d consider moving operations out of Indiana over its abortion ban, with a Forbes/Zogby poll conducted in late August finding one in five U.S. manufacturing CEOs have changed their location strategy based on the state abortion laws.

Crucial Quote

The past 100 days suggest people are going to “stop thinking of [abortion] as an issue that is only relevant to some communities, or an issue that [only] activists really care about,” Maya Rupert, chief government and external relations officer at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Forbes. “This is an issue that touches on people across the country across the political spectrum.”

Big Number

65%. That’s the share of U.S. adults who disapprove of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released in July found. Only 25% want their state to ban abortion—including only 32% in states where the procedure is banned—while 61% want state laws that guarantee access.

What To Watch For

More state legislatures will go into session in 2023 and could pass additional bans or new restrictions, such as ones targeting people’s ability to get abortions out of state. What abortion rights will look like in the future will also depend heavily on the midterm elections, which will impact whether states will be able to enact abortion bans or implement policies safeguarding abortion rights. Democrats will also have to maintain their majority in Congress—and have a majority of senators willing to abolish the filibuster—in order to pass legislation that codifies abortion rights into law, while Republicans could try to enact national restrictions if they retake power. Meanwhile, Jen Villavicencio, a physician and lead for equity transformation at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, tells Forbes the harm from abortion bans “will not subside with time” as physicians get more used to navigating the new laws, because “as the forced pregnancies now continue to term”—even with life-threatening complications—”we will see more people die.” Studies show abortion bans increase maternal mortality rates, with research from the University of Colorado Boulder released in June finding a national ban would increase maternal mortality by 24%.

Tangent

The abortion bans seen so far over the past 100 days haven’t gone as far as some anti-abortion advocates have hoped, as lawmakers aware of the political support for abortion rights have shied away from enacting new bans that get rid of exceptions for rape or incest or are even more extreme. Whether that will remain, or lawmakers will instead now go even further, is still unknown. Some anti-abortion advocates and legislators have signaled they want harsher punishments, with model legislation released by the anti-abortion group National Right to Life suggesting even journalists who provide information about abortion access could be, Texas lawmakers sent letters to businesses suggesting they’ll punish them for pro-abortion rights policies and the Washington Post reporting some state legislators have weighed plans to ban out-of-state travel for abortions. It’s still too soon to say if lawmakers will try to enact those policies—and they’ll likely get tied up in litigation if they do.

Key Background

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24 following years of Republicans angling to get the majority-conservative court to reconsider the issue. The ruling came in a case challenging Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, but the state asked the 6-3 conservative court to go even further and overturn its precedent in Roe entirely, which previously guaranteed the federal right to an abortion. In the court’s 5-4 majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito declared the 1973 Roe ruling “egregiously wrong” and held the Constitution does not guarantee abortion rights because it’s not expressly stated in the document or “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” The order, which immediately set off a wave of “trigger bans” outlawing abortion, also overturned the court’s precedent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which was based on Roe and found in 1992 that states can’t enact abortion restrictions that pose an “undue burden” on the person getting the abortion.