Undue Burdens: State Abortion Laws in the United States, 1994-2022. 2023

Louise Marie Roth, and Jennifer Hyunkyung Lee
University of Arizona.

State laws have influenced access to abortion in the 50 years since Roe v. Wade. The 2022 Dobbs decision returned questions about the legality of abortion to the states, which increased the importance of state laws for abortion access. The objective of this study is to illustrate trends in abortion-restrictive and abortion-supportive state laws using a unique longitudinal database of reproductive health laws across the United States from 1994 to 2022. This study offers a descriptive analysis of historical trends in state-level pre-viability abortion bans, abortion method bans, efforts to dissuade abortion, TRAP (targeted regulation of abortion providers) laws, other laws that restrict reproductive choice, and laws that expand abortion access and support reproductive health. Data sources include state statutes (from Nexis Uni) and secondary sources. The data reveal that pre-viability bans, including gestation-based bans and total bans, became significantly more prevalent over time. Other abortion-restrictive laws increased from 1994 to 2022, but states also passed a growing number of laws that support reproductive health. Increasing polarization into abortion-restrictive and abortion-supportive states characterized the 1994-2022 period. These trends have implications for maternal and infant health and for racial/ethnic and income disparities.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007182 Income Revenues or receipts accruing from business enterprise, labor, or invested capital. Income Distribution,Income Generation Programs,Savings,Distribution, Income,Distributions, Income,Income Distributions,Income Generation Program,Incomes,Program, Income Generation,Programs, Income Generation
D011247 Pregnancy The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH. Gestation,Pregnancies
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000028 Abortion, Induced Intentional removal of a fetus from the uterus by any of a number of techniques. (POPLINE, 1978) Embryotomy,Abortion (Induced),Abortion Failure,Abortion History,Abortion Rate,Abortion Technics,Abortion Techniques,Abortion, Drug-Induced,Abortion, Rivanol,Abortion, Saline-Solution,Abortion, Soap-Solution,Anti-Abortion Groups,Fertility Control, Postconception,Induced Abortion,Previous Abortion,Abortion Failures,Abortion Histories,Abortion Rates,Abortion Technic,Abortion Technique,Abortion, Drug Induced,Abortion, Previous,Abortion, Saline Solution,Abortion, Soap Solution,Abortions (Induced),Abortions, Drug-Induced,Abortions, Induced,Abortions, Previous,Abortions, Rivanol,Abortions, Saline-Solution,Abortions, Soap-Solution,Anti Abortion Groups,Anti-Abortion Group,Drug-Induced Abortion,Drug-Induced Abortions,Embryotomies,Failure, Abortion,Failures, Abortion,Group, Anti-Abortion,Groups, Anti-Abortion,Histories, Abortion,History, Abortion,Induced Abortions,Postconception Fertility Control,Previous Abortions,Rate, Abortion,Rates, Abortion,Rivanol Abortion,Rivanol Abortions,Saline-Solution Abortion,Saline-Solution Abortions,Soap-Solution Abortion,Soap-Solution Abortions,Technic, Abortion,Technics, Abortion,Technique, Abortion,Techniques, Abortion
D014481 United States A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.

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