Three Years Post Dobbs, Everything Has Changed, and Nothing

Exactly three years ago today—on June 24, 2022—the U.S. Supreme Court published its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. 

Much has changed since then, but here’s one thing that hasn’t: Abortion remains a wildly divisive issue in the U.S., with perspectives varying dramatically by state and connected to a person’s political ideology, religious affiliation and race.

This month new research showed, for example, that Arkansas is the only state in America where the balance of public opinion is against abortion by a statistically significant margin. That survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center, found that in 34 U.S. states, as well as in the District of Columbia, more people say that abortion should be legal than say that it should be illegal, in all or most cases.

In 15 states—when accounting for the sample size’s margin of error—there was no statistically significant difference between those on each side of the debate, while in Arkansas some 57% of individuals questioned said they thought that it should be illegal in all or most cases. 

At the other end of the spectrum, in the District of Columbia, 81% of adults said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Support for legal abortion was high in several New England states, too: In Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut support stood at 75% or higher.

At a national level Pew recently found that 63% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while only 36% say it should be illegal. 

As well as differing significantly by state, views also vary widely by religious affiliation, race and political ideology. About three-quarters of white evangelical Protestants, for example, said that they think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. By contrast, 86% of religiously unaffiliated Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do 71% of Black Protestants, 64% of white non-evangelical Protestants and 59% of Catholics. 

Among Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican party, 57% say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. By contrast, 85% of Democrats and Democratic leaners say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

As it stands, 13 states are currently enforcing total abortion bans, and others ban abortion as early as six weeks. And this year also, 25 states have introduced at least 68 bills to restrict medication abortion.