Safe haven states: Where is abortion still legal now that Roe v. Wade is overturned?
Global News
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, only some states across the country will still continue to protect access to abortion.
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that has for decades affirmed the right to abortion, only some states across the country will still protect access.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has taken the radical step of overturning Roe v. Wade outright, thus unleashing uncertainty and harm onto people asking for nothing more than to exercise their fundamental right to bodily autonomy,” Dr. Herminia Palacio, Guttmacher Institute president and CEO said in a statement on June 24, the day of the Supreme Court decision. The institute is a leading research and policy organization committed to the worldwide advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
“This decision comes when the need for abortion is actually growing in the United States,” Palacio said.
A total of 16 states and the District of Columbia have passed some form of legislation that ensures abortion is a protected right under state law.
Abortion policies in Oregon are the most protective, according to the Guttmacher Institute. This is because abortion is not restricted based on gestational age.
“Abortion is health care, and no matter who you are or where you come from, Oregon doesn’t turn away anymore seeking health care,” Oregon governor Kate Brown said in a joint statement with the governors of California and Washington after the ruling Friday.
“Let me be clear: You cannot ban abortion, you can only ban safe abortions – and this disgraceful Supreme Court decision will undoubtedly put many people’s lives at risk, in addition to stripping away a constitutional right that disproportionately affects women and has been settled law for most of our lifetimes,” Brown added.
In 2015, Brown signed Oregon’s Reproductive Health Equity Act into law. This was a first of its kind bill that codified the right to an abortion into law.
