Updated September 20, 2023 at 11:41 AM ET
Editor's note: As of March 15, 2024, this story is no longer being updated.
Abortion is currently illegal or heavily restricted in at least 16 states following the Supreme Court's historic decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade.
That includes states with near-total bans on abortion as well as those with bans at roughly at six weeks gestational age or after the detection of fetal cardiac activity.
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At least six other states have laws in place that pave the way to ban or severely restrict access to abortion. Some of these laws are currently blocked by courts while legal challenges make their way through the courts. Some states have older laws on the books that leave the current legal status of abortion unclear.
Several additional states not depicted here have pre-viability gestational age restrictions, ranging from 12 to 22 weeks.
Find more details below on the current legal status of abortion in U.S. states.
Ban in effect
Alabama — A near-total ban on abortion is in effect. On June 24, 2022, a U.S. district court lifted an injunction on the state's 2019 law banning abortion. (Last updated July 23, 2022)
Arkansas — A near-total ban on abortion is in effect. On June 24, 2022, the state's attorney general implemented a trigger law originally passed in 2019 which bans abortion. (Last updated July 23, 2022)
Georgia — A law banning abortions after roughly six weeks went into effect July 20, 2022. The ban was lifted by a Fulton County judge Nov. 15, 2022, then reinstated by the state supreme court Nov. 23. (Last updated Nov. 23, 2022)
Kentucky — Kentucky's near-total abortion ban went into effect in June 2022. An additional state law bans abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. On Nov. 8, voters turned down an initiative that would have blocked a state constitutional right to an abortion. (Last updated June 22, 2023)
Idaho — A near-total ban on abortions passed in 2020 is in effect, with some exceptions. A federal lawsuit challenging the ban is in progress. (Last updated Jan. 12, 2023)
Indiana — A near-total ban on abortion with narrow exceptions is in effect in Indiana as of late August 2023. The ban, passed by the legislature in August 2022, had been on hold pending several lawsuits. The state's six abortion clinics have closed. (Last updated Aug. 23, 2023)
Louisiana — A near-total ban went into effect June 24, 2022. It was blocked by the courts at least twice. A lawsuit challenging the law continues. In August, 2022, the Louisiana Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by plaintiffs in the case, allowing the state's ban to remain in effect. (Last updated Aug. 6, 2022)
Mississippi — The state's near-total ban on abortion was enacted in 2007 and went into effect on July 7, 2022. Mississippi's bid to ban abortion after 15 weeks was at the center of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (Last updated July 23, 2022)
Missouri — A near-total ban on abortion has been in effect since June 24, 2022. (Last updated July 23, 2022)
Oklahoma — A 1910 law banning abortion is in effect, with exceptions to save the life of the birthing parent. On May 31, 2023, a judge struck down two other abortion bans as unconstitutional. (Last updated June 22, 2023)
North Dakota — North Dakota's governor signed a near-total abortion ban into law April 24, 2023. (Last updated May 1, 2023)
South Carolina -- The state's ban on abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy was upheld by the state's newly seated all-male Supreme Court. The ban went into effect on the same day as the decision, Aug. 23, 2023 (Last updated Aug. 23, 2023)
South Dakota — A near-total ban on abortion took effect on June 24, 2022. On July 1, 2022, the governor also signed a ban on telemedicine abortions. (Last updated July 23, 2022)
Tennessee — A near-total ban on abortion took effect Aug. 25, 2022. (Last updated Aug. 25, 2022)
Texas — A near-total ban on abortion passed in 2021 went into effect Aug. 25, 2022. The trigger law also increases the civil and criminal penalties for performing abortions. (Last updated Aug. 25, 2022)
West Virginia — A law banning abortion with few exceptions took effect Sept. 16, 2022, after Gov. Jim Justice signed it into law. (Last updated Sept. 16, 2022)
Ban on hold
Arizona — On Oct. 7, the Arizona Court of Appeals blocked a near-total abortion ban from 1901 that went into effect on Sept. 23, 2022. Arizona also has a law in effect banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. (Last updated Oct. 11, 2022)
Florida — On April 14, 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law banning abortion at six weeks. This law is on hold, pending a state Supreme Court decision on a separate law that bans abortion at 15 weeks and later. That law is also on hold. (Last updated April 19, 2023)
Iowa — In July 2023, Iowa passed a ban on abortion at roughly six weeks. It is blocked by the courts. Iowa also has a law in effect banning abortion at 22 weeks or later. (Last updated July 17, 2023)
Ohio — A ban on abortion at roughly six weeks was blocked Sept. 14, 2022, by a judge's temporary restraining order, followed by a preliminary injunction. The lawsuit filed by the Ohio ACLU and reproductive health clinics to permanently overturn the ban continues. (Last updated Oct. 12, 2022)
Utah — A near-total ban is blocked by the courts and abortion is currently legal, with restrictions. A law banning abortion after 18 weeks is in effect. (Last updated July 23, 2022)
Wisconsin — A pre-Roe law from 1849 has been under dispute. The state's attorney general said he does not plan to enforce it as an abortion ban, but abortion care was largely unavailable for 15 months. In July 2023, a circuit court judge ruled that the old law does not apply to abortion, but to instances when a pregnant woman is attacked and loses the pregnancy. Clinics in Milwaukee and Madison began providing abortions again in late September 2023. The court ruling is likely be appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which has a 4-3 liberal majority. (Last updated September 20, 2023)
Wyoming — A law banning all abortions that was enacted in March, 2023, is currently blocked by the courts. An earlier, near-total ban is blocked as well. A separate law bans medication abortion as of July 1, 2023. (Last updated Mar. 31, 2023)
Note: This map and story relies on research from the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Guttmacher Institute, and news reports from the Associated Press and local news outlets.
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