These States Will Ban Abortion Now That Roe Is Overturned

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a 5-1-3 decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Friday. Abortion will now be heavily restricted or completely banned in about half of the U.S.’s 50 states.

But changes to legal access to abortion, while radical and widespread, will happen unevenly under a patchwork of varying state laws. Overturning Roe just means states are free to decide how to, or if, to allow access to abortion services. Sixteen states will immediately, or in short order, ban abortions in almost all circumstances for residents. Legal disputes are expected to arise in two more states to decide whether abortion bans passed before 1973 can come back into effect or not.

Thirteen states have trigger laws banning abortion that were passed to go into effect when the court overturned Roe. These laws will go into effect immediately, or in a short period of time, now that the court has done so. Another five states have pre-Roe abortion bans that are still on the books and could be resurrected. Legal disputes are already underway or expected in two of these states, and in another it is unclear whether the pre-Roe law or an unconstitutional post-Roe law will go into effect.