Ending Roe v. Wade May Have Had the Opposite Effect That Conservatives Had Hoped For [View all]

[justaprogressive]

On Tuesday, Ohio voters passed a ballot measure enshrining the right to an abortion in the state constitution, joining several states where voters have responded to the end of Roe v. Wade by protecting reproductive rights via popular referendum. We recently learned, however, that even without these votes, reproductive rights might be safer than many expected following the end of Roe in 2022.

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the conventional wisdom was that there would be a steep drop in the number of abortions in the United States. As it turns out, though, conventional wisdom was wrong. To many observers’ surprise, two recent studies reveal that national abortion numbers have actually slightly increased since the Supreme Court ended Roe. Based on everything we know about abortion seekers and providers, however, that abortion numbers would go up in the face of Supreme Court retrenchment should have been exactly what was predicted.

Abortion seekers, both in this country before Roe and around the world in countries where abortion is illegal, have shown again and again that they will do what they need to do to get the care they need. In this country, before abortion was legal, women went to both reputable doctors and back-alley quacks to get care. Some estimates even indicate that abortion numbers immediately before Roe were comparable to those after legalization. In other countries where abortion remains illegal or severely restricted, people who need abortions obtain pills outside the established medical system or find covert abortion providers. They do this in the face of sometimes unsafe conditions and legal systems that could punish them.

We also know that abortion providers, and those who support their efforts, will do whatever they can to care for their patients despite systems that are designed to make abortion care difficult, if not impossible. We know this because even before Roe was overturned, abortion providers in many states in this country had to jump through medically unnecessary hoops in order to deliver safe care for their patients. These restrictions and regulations—from imposed waiting periods to parental consent for minors’ abortions to bans on insurance coverage to excessive, expensive requirements for clinic spaces—were unique in the medical field. Rather than throw up their hands and give in to the legislative roadblocks, abortion providers and their supporters developed practices and workarounds that made abortion as accessible as possible in hostile environments.

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