This fact sheet was written by Talia Curhan. It was edited by Peter Ephross.
The landscape of abortion access in the United States continues to shift rapidly in the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion. Since then, many state legislatures have created new abortion restrictions and bans, and many have begun enforcing existing ones. Despite these bans, people can still access abortion care via telehealth from states with shield laws or by traveling to another state.
Research has long indicated that abortion bans of all types have the greatest impact on people in marginalized groups. Individuals who face systemic racism and other forms of oppression may encounter compounding barriers to obtaining an abortion.
Many state laws provide some limited exceptions to total bans and bans based on gestational duration. These exceptions are often described as compromises, but they obscure the harm of abortion bans. Most exceptions are designed to be unworkable, containing vague and contradictory language and imposing cumbersome requirements.
The abortion restrictions detailed below represent some of the ways state laws and policies may prohibit or restrict a person’s access to abortion care. Guttmacher’s interactive map on state abortion policies contains additional information about current state abortion laws and restrictions on access.
Definitions
Gestational duration: An estimate of the length of time a person has been pregnant. This is typically defined as the number of weeks since the person’s last menstrual period (LMP), though some states define it as the number of weeks since conception. State legislation often uses gestational duration to define the arbitrary timelines of abortion bans and restrictions. Most state abortion statutes reference “probable gestational age,” which is typically determined by LMP; the weeks listed in the table below refer to LMP unless marked otherwise.
Viability: A nonmedical term used to describe the point at which a fetus can survive outside the uterus, which is generally determined to be between 24 and 26 weeks LMP. Many statutory bans define limits on abortion based on the concept of viability.
General health: Determined by a health care provider licensed to provide abortions and may include a pregnant person’s mental and emotional health.
Physical health: Applies only to the physical function of the patient’s body and may even be restricted to major bodily functions.
Lethal fetal anomaly: Fetal condition likely to be fatal before or shortly after birth.