2024 starts with shrinking abortion access in US. Here's what's going on.
It was 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but 2024 is starting amid a wave of news about court cases and laws restricting abortion access in the United States — and there's even more decisions on the horizon.
In recent days, the Supreme Court and a federal appeals court ruled abortion bans in Idaho and Texas mean hospitals do not have to perform abortions in medical emergencies, such as when someone giving birth experiences severe bleeding or preeclampsia.
Those laws are a part of an ongoing trend of some Republican-led states placing more restrictions on abortion-related health care, including bans on the procedure when the life of the pregnant parent could be at risk. Meanwhile, Democratic-led states have generally kept or strengthened abortion access.
But even people living in liberal states could see new court-enacted reproductive rights restrictions in 2024. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision later this year on access to the pill to mifepristone, a medication commonly used to help end a pregnancy through 10 weeks of gestation.
Here's what to know about abortion access in the United States as a new year begins:
US abortion law remains a patchwork
As of this year, over a dozen states − most of which are in the middle of the country − outlaw abortion. Among those states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Idaho, and the Dakotas.
A swath of states in the southeast, stretching from Florida to North Carolina have also enacted bans on abortion after a certain point, ranging from six to roughly 18 weeks of pregnancy. Utah, Arizona and Nebraska also have similar bans.
Some states have also moved to protect abortion access, such as Ohio, which voted in November to include the right to an abortion in the state constitution.
In 2022, voters in California, Michigan and Vermont approved state constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights, while voters in Kansas rejected measures to amend their state constitutions to restrict the procedure.
What's happening with abortion access as 2024 begins?
In recent weeks, conservatives have made progress in tightening abortion laws in red states.
On Friday, the Supreme Court allowed Idaho to continue a strict – and controversial – ban on abortions in emergency rooms, a blow to the Biden administration, which had argued federal law required that abortions could be performed as emergency “stabilizing care” in hospitals receiving Medicare funds.
Earlier this week, a federal appeals court also ruled hospitals in Texas are not required to perform abortions in the same situation, going against the same Biden administration guidance set forth in the immediate wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
An established law also made national headlines as a woman in Texas struggled to get a legal abortion recommended by her doctor.
The state's Supreme Court ruled in December that Kate Cox could not qualify for an abortion despite her fetus having a fatal condition because her doctor didn't meet a legal standard to be an exception to state law. She left the state to get the procedure.
What’s next for abortion rights in the US in 2024?
The U.S. Supreme Court and its conservative majority is set to hear more cases that could further restrict abortion rights.
The court plans to hear arguments in the Idaho case this spring. A ruling in favor of the law could have implications in even states with less stringent abortion bans, because the federal law at issue applies to religiously affiliated hospitals that would otherwise decline to provide abortions, if they receive federal funding.
Another case could threaten access to mifepristone, one of two drugs known as an “abortion pill,” even in states where abortion is legal.
The Supreme Court in December agreed to take on the national legal fight over mifepristone, reviewing an appellate ruling that significantly restricted use of the drug. The ruling would roll back the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to make the pregnancy termination drug available to patients through telemedicine and the U.S. mail.
Two mifepristone-related cases are expected to see Supreme Court rulings by June.
Contributing: John Fritze, USA TODAY; Associated Press