The 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned 50 years of abortion rights is affecting where young people choose to go to college, to work and to live, as well as the way they vote.
An anti-abortion rights advocate places a sign in front of an abortion clinic in Phoenix on April 18, 2024.
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While anti-abortion rights activists have lobbied politicians to enforce trigger laws in some states, these advocates have not faced opposition in other places.
The exam room of a women’s health clinic, which provides abortions, in Jacksonville, Fla., is seen in April 2024.
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Most Americans surveyed did not know how pregnancies are dated or how long a trimester is – but this is especially true among some groups, like people who say they support six-week abortion bans.
Demonstrators protest outside the Supreme Court building shortly before the court heard arguments about mifepristone on March 26, 2024.
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EMTALA requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment to all patients – but Idaho is arguing that its abortion ban means it doesn’t have to allow the procedure, even if it is medically needed.
Pro-abortion rights demonstrators rally in Scottsdale, Ariz., on April 15, 2024.
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There are many outdated laws that states keep on the books, even if they aren’t used. If the Supreme Court overturns legal precedents on rights like same-sex and interracial marriage, that can change.
Pro-abortion rights activists rally in front of the Supreme Court on March 26, 2024, the day justices heard oral arguments about the use of mifepristone.
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Two legal scholars who study abortion-related laws explain what happened at the Supreme Court in a case that could make it harder to get an abortion.
A protester marks the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision anniversary outside the Supreme Court building on June 23, 2023.
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While both Congress and the president have extensive legal powers, they cannot easily change the law to protect abortions under federal law.
Protesters in Utah demonstrate against a school district’s ban on the Bible for having ‘vulgarity and violence’ unfit for young children.
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Distinct from civil disobedience, this legal strategy demands complete compliance with the law – even when there are loopholes that the laws’ creators didn’t intend.
A few days after successful fertilization, an embryo becomes a rapidly dividing ball of cells called a blastocyst.
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Scientists can create viable eggs from two male mice. In the wake of CRISPR controversies and restrictive abortion laws, two experts start a dialogue on ethical research in reproductive biology.
The range of reproductive health care available to women depends significantly on the state they live in.
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Abortion bans and restrictions have numerous downstream effects on health care. For instance, medical students in states where those laws exist will not receive training for some standard procedures.
In a March 2023 episode of ‘Accused,’ a teacher tries to help his student navigate the hurdles of getting an abortion.
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Though abortion is appearing in more plot lines, many programs still aren’t accurately depicting what the reality of abortion access looks like in America today.
Abortion referendums in such states as California and Kentucky provide a way to protect abortion rights at the state level – but voting limitations could undermine the power of the ballot box.
A sign at a July 2022 abortion-rights protest in Santa Monica, California, recalls the country’s long history of trying to restrict access to reproductive health care.
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US history suggests that Republican efforts to restrict reproductive rights will be difficult to enforce and widely reviled, undermining their effectiveness – and ultimately causing their demise.
The majority of fertilized eggs die and are resorbed into the body.
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Human embryos are far more likely to die than come to term, an evolutionary trait seen across species. Laws granting personhood at conception ignore built-in embryo loss, with potentially grave consequences.
There’s an interesting evolutionary benefit for some women if the consequences of casual sex are high.
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Some reasons people oppose abortion seem to be at odds with other positions they hold. Evolutionary social science points to a surprising motivation for anti-abortion attitudes.
A sign reads ‘I’m on your side’ outside the Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, La., in April 2022.
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Abortion funds, which help people who cannot afford the procedure, are facing new kinds of pressures, including potential legal risks and a rising client demand that exceeds their capabilities.
In most countries, like the Netherlands, it has become easier to get a legal, safe abortion over the last two decades.
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Only 24 countries today totally ban abortion. The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in the US is unlikely to lead other countries to join that list.
Many Americans reacted with outrage to the Supreme Court’s decision to dismantle the constitutional right to abortion.
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In contrast to their reaction to gay rights or the war in Ukraine, relatively few companies have openly criticized the Supreme Court ruling ending a constitutional right to abortion.
Temporary security fencing surrounds the U.S. Supreme Court building, ahead of its decision on abortion.
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State supreme courts have a relatively low profile in the US. That’s going to change now that they will be under political pressure to decide whether abortion is protected in state constitutions.