The legal landscape of reproductive rights has changed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
In response, some states have passed sweeping bans on abortion while others have enacted laws to protect access to abortion. These laws vary widely and affect many people, including those with low incomes and people of color.
State Laws
State laws have a direct and substantial impact on reproductive rights for women. They determine how much a woman can do, for example, to control her sexuality and the timing of her childbearing. In addition, they can limit the services that women and their families can access.
For instance, the legal landscape of reproductive rights by a reproductive rights lawyer is constantly changing as new laws are enacted, and old ones are repealed. This is especially true concerning abortion laws.
Since the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, states have stepped up their efforts to restrict abortion access. These regressive laws and policies threaten to erode the fundamental right of every American woman to make her own medical decisions about pregnancy that are best left between her and her doctor.
Some of these laws have made it more difficult to obtain an abortion in some States and have forced many women who could otherwise afford an abortion to seek care in other jurisdictions.
As a result, women’s health clinics are being forced to close. Moreover, some clinics are also prevented from providing other preventive healthcare services such as birth control and STD testing and treatment.
It will be essential to continue defending women’s reproductive rights. We can do this by promoting pro-women candidates, ensuring that state legislatures prioritize women’s issues, and championing proactive policies to protect women’s rights.
Federal Law
The federal government has a variety of laws that affect women’s reproductive rights. These include rules that govern the administration of federal programs and agencies and regulations created by executive branch agencies. Laws regulating businesses and individuals’ conduct, such as national anti-discrimination and employment policies, can also impact women’s reproductive rights.
For example, federal anti-discrimination laws prohibit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability status. These protections ensure everyone can decide about their bodies, health, and sexuality in the United States.
In addition to these statutory rights, many other legal rights may be necessary. For example, federal law gives minors access to birth control without parental consent.
These rights apply to anyone aged 12 to 17 who is not pregnant or married and wants to use condoms, get counseling on avoiding pregnancy or STIs, or receive advice on contraception or STD testing and treatment.
While federal law does not cover every aspect of reproductive rights, it does provide basic protections against medically unnecessary restrictions and bans on abortion. These restrictions can interfere with women’s ability to decide their bodies and health. They can harm public health by inhibiting the spread of preventive services like contraception and preventing a woman from receiving appropriate care in an emergency.
International Law
International law encompasses a range of subjects, including war, diplomacy, international trade, humanitarian law, and human rights. It sets normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for states across these areas.
The right to reproductive autonomy, which enables women to make informed and voluntary decisions about their health care, is a core element of international rights. It derives from the fundamental human right to liberty, which entails freedom from discrimination, coercion, and violence.
Neglect of women’s reproductive health, in turn, is a tool of gender oppression that exacerbates systemic inequities and harms people of color, women of low incomes, immigrants, and vulnerable groups like LGBTQ individuals. Abortion bans, in particular, erode the fundamental right to privacy, dignity, and equality.
Throughout the world, a growing body of progressive legal standards has recognized abortion as a core human right and established that the denial of access to safe, legal abortion services could violate a range of other rights, such as health, privacy, non-discrimination, and freedom from cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment. These standards have significantly influenced jurisprudence and legal reform at the national level.
Abortion rights are also affirmed in many international and regional human rights treaties. These include the ICPD, which recognizes that women have the right to choose their child spacing and size, and the Women’s Convention, which guarantees women the right to control their fertility and sexuality free of discrimination, coercion, or violence.
Other Rights
Reproductive rights are based on three human rights concepts – liberty, social justice, and equality. Women’s right to personal autonomy (which includes the right to life, reproductive choice, and informed consent) is central to their enjoyment of all other rights.
Nonetheless, many other rights are affected by reproductive health issues, including access to health care. Governments often deprive women of these rights through laws and policies that prohibit or restrict access to reproductive health services.
In addition, the broader context of social and economic inequality can affect women’s reproductive health, especially regarding resource allocation. While allocating scarce resources that reflect social priorities is often unavoidable, discrimination against women can be rooted in a lack of respect for their special sexual and reproductive health needs.
These issues can arise at all levels of society, from the individual to the public sector. The right to a safe and confidential abortion procedure, for example, is a fundamental human right that can be trampled upon by state officials who believe they have no obligation to protect the patient’s privacy.
The Center for Reproductive Rights litigates and advocates in federal and state courts to ensure all women can obtain reproductive health services without discrimination. We focus mainly on providing that Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as women living in rural communities and with lower incomes, have full access to reproductive rights and health care.
