Pro-choice protesters march outside the Texas State Capitol on Wednesday, Sept. 1, in Austin, Texas.Photo: Sergio Flores For The Washington Post via Getty
In 2021 alone, a record106 restrictions on abortionsbecame law in the U.S. It’s the most since the landmarkRoe v. Wadecase was decided in 1973.
There hadalready been a rise in abortion bans in 2019, after conservative justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch joined the Court, but “while there was momentum behind these, there was a little more uncertainty” about how the Court would decide on any laws. “Now that uncertainty is gone,” says Nash. “It’s obvious that the Supreme Court is not supportive of abortion rights. And now we’re waiting to see how far they will go.”
Supreme Court justices.Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty
And even ifRoeis not fully overturnedwith the Mississippi case, they have the opportunity to do that with a number of other challenges to the right to abortion coming from state bans in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and others.
Nash expects the decision “to be very complicated,” and one that Americans won’t know the result of until the end of the Supreme Court’s term in June 2022.
“I don’t really hazard a guess as to what the Court will do except to say that it feels like abortion rights are in serious jeopardy given the makeup of the Court.”
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IfRoeis overturned, “then I would expect in fairly short order we would start to see states, particularly the South, the Plains and Midwest, look to adopt abortion bans,” Nash says. Twelve states, including Mississippi and Texas,have “trigger” lawsin place that would automatically ban abortions ifthat happens.
Bans in any state push people into unwanted pregnancies, or into seeking ways of obtaining an abortion out of state.
“A typical abortion costs about $550,” Nash says. “If you have to travel any distance at all you start thinking about the costs for gas, hotel, travel, childcare and time off of work. And these costs increase dramatically the longer you have to be away from home and the farther you have to go.”
And even if they are stopped, any bans, no matter how short, have an impact.
“Once abortion is banned in a state it makes it very hard if the ban is overturned to rebuild the abortion clinic network and for people to understand that abortion is then legal again,” Nash says. “Even if it ends up only being for a few weeks before it gets blocked, there’s a lot of damage that’s already been done.”
There are efforts to maintain the right to abortion, even ifRoeis overturned. Many states such as New York, Hawaii, California and Washington have statutory protections for abortion rights in their laws. And with the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government in support of abortion rights, there are plans in the works to stop the Texas ban and create legislation like theWomen’s Health Protection Act, a bill currently in Congress that would prevent abortion bans and other restrictions.
“What we need to see are more of these progressive legislatures step up to provide these statutory protections and provide resources to make sure that abortion is accessible —whether that’s financial or expanding who can provide abortions, or making it easier to access abortion care,” Nash says. “Getting involved with your state legislature is important, along with supporting abortion funds at the state level and the local level. Being supportive, putting your money where your mouth is and making your voice heard is the best way to protect the right to abortion.”
source: people.com
