Advocacy groups assess lasting health impacts as political battles intensify ahead of elections.
On Wednesday, Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the largest reproductive health network in the United States, analyzed the repercussions of the end of federal protection for abortion rights that occurred on June 24, 2022.
At that time, the conservative-controlled Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which had guaranteed the right to legal abortion nationwide, and left states the authority to enforce their own laws.
As a result, about 20 states maintain a total or partial abortion ban, making access to medical care more difficult. Other states maintain restrictions based on gestational age.
Effects on access to health care.
“The Supreme Court decision continues to have devastating consequences across the country. With each passing day, more people are harmed, and more families are affected,” McGill Johnson said.
For Molly Meegan, director of legal at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, these four years have shown that “abortion-related care is inseparable from reproductive health care.”
“Bans and restrictions on abortion care have led to patients being denied care across the country, including in cases of pregnancy loss and miscarriage,” Meegan said.
The Republican-majority Congress passed a law last summer that prevents Medicaid beneficiaries from using this coverage at Planned Parenthood facilities, which has already closed more than 50 clinics since the return to power of President Donald Trump.
Abortions after the end of Roe
According to figures from the Guttmacher Institute, about 1.13 million abortions were performed in 2025 within the formal U.S. health care system, a level higher than before the end of federal abortion protections, with a slightly higher monthly average than in 2024.
The number of telehealth abortions has increased, with more than 300,000 procedures conducted through this method, which involves prescribing abortion pills and mailing them without an in-person visit.
The battle over access to mifepristone reached the Supreme Court, which ruled last May in favor of maintaining mail delivery, used primarily in areas with strict abortion restrictions.
Legislative election initiatives
On Wednesday, Reproductive Freedom for All, the country’s oldest reproductive freedom advocacy organization, announced it will allocate US$23.5 million to a campaign ahead of the midterm legislative elections in November.
The “My Body, My Vote” initiative aims to mobilize voters, hold anti-abortion politicians accountable and elect reproductive freedom advocates in key races across the country.
“At the center of this campaign is a simple truth: abortion has popular support across partisan lines; it is more widely accepted than any individual politician or political party,” the women’s rights advocates said.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
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