This week marks three years since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. While that decision, officially known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, marked an enormous victory for the pro-life movement, recent research shows the number of abortions is rising.
Katie Glenn Daniel of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said, “The Dobbs decision gave individual states the right to regulate abortion. Half enacted some type of ban, which at first led to fewer abortions. Now, however, they’re on the rise largely because abortion pills are being mailed pretty much anywhere.”
“I think some people might’ve thought that the Dobbs decision was the end of the story, and we wish that were the case,” she continued. “The challenges ahead of us are great, even as we celebrate three years of the Dobbs decision.”
A new report shows there were about 95,000 abortions a month nationwide last year. That’s up from about 88,000 a month in 2023.
The so-called abortion pill is used about 70 percent of the time.
Dr. Angel Foster of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project said, “Well, one of the deep ironies that has taken place since Dobbs is that medication abortion care is actually more accessible today in many states with bans than it was prior to Dobbs.”
These days, abortion pills are mailed from states where it’s legal, like Massachusetts, to individuals in states, like Texas, where it isn’t.
The pill providers feel protected by newly enacted shield laws.
“So if a clinician is licensed in Massachusetts, resides in Massachusetts, and practices from Massachusetts, for the purposes of telemedicine medication abortion care, that care is now considered to be taking place in Massachusetts regardless of where the patient is located,” Foster said.
At least one shield law is already being challenged.
Plaintiffs in Texas and Louisiana are suing a doctor in New York, where abortion is legal, for sending the pills to women in their states, which have bans.
Louisiana District Attorney Tony Clayton said, “It’s the law of Louisiana. Governor Landry and our legislature have seen fit that abortions are illegal in this state.”
Currently, 18 states have shield laws.
Erik Baptist of Alliance Defending Freedom said, “We go back to what the Dobbs decision permitted, and it was allowing the states to do what they want, allowed the issue to come back to the people. So if the people of Louisiana or people of Texas want to protect unborn lives, they should be permitted to do so in a meaningful way to enforce those laws.”
Legal experts predict the legality of shield laws will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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