While each U.S. state has their own sets of laws regarding abortion care, specifically the gestational age of a fetus is used to determine whether or not an abortion can be performed. For example, our Baltimore, Maryland clinic offers abortion care from 3 to 22 weeks, but our Austin, Texas clinic is only able to offer abortion care up to 6 weeks with Senate Bill 8 in effect. In Charlottesville, Virginia, we are limited to 16 weeks.
Abortion restrictions and bans have become commonplace in 2021. According to a study at the Guttmacher Institute, “many state legislatures are engaging in an assault on many civil rights, including abortion, voting and transgender rights. More abortion restrictions—over 100—have been enacted in 2021 than in any year since the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down in 1973. Many of these actions took place in the beginning of the year, despite the need for state legislatures to address critical issues ranging from racial equity to the COVID-19 response and pandemic-related health care. Compounding the state-level attacks, the U.S. Supreme Court, which now has a 6-3 anti-abortion majority, agreed to hear a case involving Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. The Mississippi ban is unconstitutional according to almost five decades of existing Supreme Court rulings.”
Here’s an overview of all abortion restrictions state-by-state.