June 24, 2024
It’s Been Two Years Since SCOTUS Struck Down Abortion Rights.
Learn More About How Public Rights Project is Fighting Back.
It’s been two years since the Supreme Court struck down abortion rights. Since then, women and people who can become pregnant have experienced unfathomable harm. Here is some of what we know:
More than 171,000 patients traveled out of state to receive abortion care in 2023 — more than double the 73,100 patients who did the same in 2019.
Women continue to be denied emergency care even when their lives are at risk. Across the country, women with ectopic pregnancies – by definition, pregnancies that are not viable and which pose an extreme risk of death if not treated immediately – are being forced to undergo unnecessary extra tests and endure delays because providers worry about being wrong and getting charged with crimes.
Abortion bans have hit Black women particularly hard. More than 6.7 million – live in the 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion.
Abortion bans are also impacting the provision of healthcare and health care providers.
In Idaho, doctors, who fear prosecution, are going against their training and judgment to make sure that pregnant people are close enough to death before performing an emergency abortion. Many have stopped practicing altogether.
In Texas, universities have seen a sharp decrease in the number of applicants for their programs. Residents in these states must go elsewhere to learn how to perform abortions.
PRP is fighting back and despite the odds, we often win.
For the past two years, we’ve been privileged to play a unique role in the reproductive rights ecosystem by accelerating our work with state and local pro-choice officials aiming to protect and expand abortion access. Specifically, we’ve filed 16 amicus briefs in 9 matters and represented 18 clients in 4 matters.
Highlights include the following:
In Michigan, we represented a group of pro-choice prosecutors in a lawsuit right after Dobbs and won. This helped keep abortion legal until voters could weigh in during the midterms.
In Arizona, we represented the Pima County Attorney in litigation to determine whether an 1860s abortion ban should go back into effect post-Dobbs. We lost that fight, but our case helped mobilize the legislature to repeal the law.
In Florida, we filed an amicus brief on behalf of 10 former Florida Republican elected officials to push back on bad-faith attempts by the Florida Attorney General, Susan B. Anthony Fund, and others to keep an abortion initiative off the ballot. We won.
Nationally, we filed amicus briefs on behalf of more than 100 local governments and local elected leaders to push back on the attack on access to mifepristone, one of two drugs most commonly used in medication abortion. We won.
In Kansas City, MO, we partnered with the mayor to push back on the state AG’s attempts to keep voters from weighing in on an abortion rights ballot measure. We won.
But there is so much more to ensure that all people can access the abortion care they need, and we need your help.
Invest in litigation to protect reproductive rights as a critical complement to investments in grassroots organizing for policy change.
Invest in local democracy, including the election and protection of pro-choice prosecutors.
Invest in efforts to prevent state politicians from abusing their power to undermine pro-choice officials, and to hold them accountable for anti-democratic stunts that aim to keep abortion ballot measures away from voters.
Perhaps most important, increase your risk tolerance. To win this fight, we must be willing to lose. This means investing in litigation and advocacy that may be long-shots, but are worth the fight. These fights can ensure there are consequences for those who restrict abortion, delay or minimize the reach of abortion bans, and set up advocates for future success.
Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election this fall, anti-abortion officials and advocates will continue their efforts to erode our reproductive rights. If we want to protect and restore bodily autonomy, we have to vote, organize, and litigate, especially at the state and local level. Our coalition is ready for this moment; we won’t stop until we win.
In solidarity,
Jill Habig
Public Rights Project
Founder and CEO
