'Just the beginning.' An uncertain future for abortion a year after Roe's overturn

ATLANTA -- A year after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade — upending half a century of precedent on the constitutional right to an abortion — more than a quarter of U.S. women of reproductive age live in a state where the procedure is banned, severely limited or unavailable.

Since the high court's Dobbs v. Jackson ruling that left abortion decisions up to the states, conservative lawmakers have introduced nearly 400 bills to restrict access — even as as polling has found that 61% of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Abortion is now completely banned, unavailable or sharply restricted in 15 Republican-led states across the South and Midwest. And though the procedure is legal and protected in more than 20 states, battles are being waged in courtrooms across the nation after several new restrictions have been temporarily blocked by litigation.

Many Democratic-led states, including California, have taken steps to bolster access after the Dobbs decision by adding new legal protections. At the same time, a burgeoning underground network of activists is helping to distribute abortion pills to people in conservative states so they can self-manage their abortions.

But even in blue states, reproductive rights remain in peril as anti-abortion activists sue to block access to medication abortion and continue their push for a nationwide ban.

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