{"id":293475,"date":"2023-06-23T08:44:49","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T13:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=293475"},"modified":"2023-06-24T12:43:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-24T17:43:40","slug":"one-year-roe-v-wade-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/one-year-roe-v-wade-next\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s been one year since Roe v. Wade fell. What’s next?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

One year ago, the nearly 50-year effort to overturn Roe v. Wade<\/em> came to fulfillment when the Supreme Court ruled that states can protect preborn children from abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization<\/em>. While that day \u2014 June 24, 2022 \u2014 is one to be celebrated, the fight to end abortion is far from over. It continues on both the state and federal levels with differing opinions on how the right to life for preborn persons will ultimately be won.<\/p>\n

The states<\/h3>\n

The Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs<\/em> didn’t outlaw abortion across the nation, but rather undid what Roe v. Wade<\/em> had done in 1973 \u2014 which was to force legalized abortion on every state, whether that state’s government agreed or not. Thanks to Dobbs<\/em>, states can now pass laws that protect preborn children from abortion at any point in pregnancy. Several states have since enacted pro-life laws, while other states have attempted to, but have had their laws held up in legal battles brought on by pro-abortion businesses and organizations.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, several states with pro-abortion leaders and legislators have enacted laws that have expanded abortion, and pro-abortion companies have begun to pay for the abortions and abortion-related travel expenses of employees who choose to travel from pro-life to pro-abortion states for an abortion.<\/p>\n

Pro-abortion research groups are now claiming<\/a> that since Roe v. Wade<\/em> fell, abortions have declined. #WeCount, a research project from the pro-abortion Society for Family Planning, reported that there were an estimated<\/a> 25,000 fewer abortions committed in the nine months after Dobbs<\/em> was handed down, from July 2022 through March 2023. However, as Live Action Research Fellow Carole Novielli explained<\/a>, abortion travel played a large part in keeping abortion numbers high as women in pro-life states sought out abortions in states with no protections for the preborn.<\/p>\n

In addition, Novielli noted, “[I]t is important to look at these numbers honestly and recognize that some of the decreases could be an overestimate<\/em>. The reason? It is not possible to count all sales and use of abortion-inducing drugs in the U.S.”<\/p>\n

Beyond restricting abortion, states can also enact pro-family laws that ensure new mothers have access to health care for a full year following the birth of their child and that fathers pay child support. States can also enact stricter fetal-homicide laws and child-endangerment laws, expand state child tax credits to include preborn children, and ensure that preborn children are considered persons under their state constitutions.<\/p>\n

While it’s important for the pro-life movement to continue advocating for pro-life state laws and working with state legislators to create and enact pro-family, pro-life laws, efforts must also be made beyond the state level.<\/p>\n