For almost 50 years, the United States Supreme Court repeatedly affirmed that the US Constitution protects the right to abortion. However, on June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court ruled that there is no federal constitutional right to abortion, leaving the question of whether and how to regulate abortion to individual states.
Two years after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the human right to abortion continues to be under attack in the United States.
People of reproductive age across the country face ongoing, confusing changes to their ability to access abortion.
The Dobbs decision has resulted in a patchwork of devastating laws, with abortions now totally or nearly totally banned in 21 states across the country. This means women, girls, and others who can get pregnant are blocked from accessing abortion care.
Amnesty International conducted research throughout 2023 and 2024 to document the impact of these bans and restrictions on the human rights of people across the United States. This report details the devastating impact of these bans and restrictions to abortion.
The impact is clear
Bans, barriers and restrictions to abortion have created fear, confusion, and devastation; they have forced women, girls, and people who can get pregnant to delay care and threaten their health and life; and ultimately, these bans, barriers, and restrictions have forced people to give birth against their will.
The impact of bans and restrictions is not felt equally. Additional barriers exist for many communities in the United States, including Black and other people of color, Indigenous people, undocumented immigrants, transgender people, individuals living in rural areas, or those living in poverty. Socioeconomic barriers prevent many individuals from being able to travel out of state to seek abortion services. In addition, the long-term socio-economic impact of being forced to give birth will have long-term consequences
International human rights law clearly spells out that decisions about your body are yours alone.
Forcing someone to continue an unwanted pregnancy or seek out an unsafe abortion is a violation of their human rights, including the rights to privacy and bodily and reproductive autonomy.
The only way to stop this dangerous and discriminatory human rights failure and to ensure universal access to abortion in the US without the interference of politicians is through full federal protection of the right to abortion. The United States must take swift action to address this human rights crisis as, every day, people’s lives hang in the balance.
This report aims to lift up the stories of people across the country whose human rights have been violated by abortion bans and restrictions, and Amnesty International is grateful for those who shared their stories.
“I was essentially navigating my health care through random internet searches. Even doing the searches made me nervous. I was scared that the state might be tracking our internet searches somehow. The fearmongering in Texas after Dobbs had a real impact on me. The case of a Texas woman being arrested and jailed for taking medication abortion pills was fresh in my mind…I was scared to call my doctor in case there was mandatory reporting. I was not sure what the law meant.
– Taylor (last name withheld), TEXAS