These Blue States are Prepping to Become Abortion Havens

If the U.S. Supreme Court decides in June, as expected, that all states can limit abortions to the earliest stages of pregnancy or ban the procedure altogether, hundreds of thousands of Americans are likely to start traveling to states where abortion remains legal. If Roe tumbles, abortion access will depend on where you live. In preparation, lawmakers in those states are considering bills that would remove hurdles such as waiting periods and parental notifications, and some are proposing to help low-income patients by paying for travel and other practical expenses that add to the true cost of abortion care.

Removing Barriers and Expanding Healthcare Capacity

Abortion providers and rights advocates also are urging states to remove barriers both to telehealth and to medication abortion, expand Medicaid coverage of the procedure, ensure the privacy of patients, protect providers from potential lawsuits from other states and invest in training and facilities for abortion providers. This is essential because they want to ensure adequate capacity for what likely will be a surge of abortion refugees in some parts of the country. “In the past three years since 2019, we’ve seen the most action to protect abortion rights and increase access that we’ve ever seen,” said Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate at Guttmacher.

Socioeconomic Impact and Demographics

Data highlights the importance of these measures, as nearly three-quarters of people receiving an abortion in the United States are living in poverty, according to 2014 data from abortion advocacy and research group the Guttmacher Institute. In 2019, 38% of abortion patients were Black, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Lawmakers in states like California have proposed a dozen abortion bills this session designed to address racial and economic inequities in abortion access and boost the state’s capacity to serve both residents and visitors as quickly as possible.

The Shifting Abortion Patchwork

If the Supreme Court weakens or jettisons its 1973 abortion rights ruling, 26 states are expected to ban or severely restrict the procedure. However, the legal landscape for reproductive rights is as follows:

• Long-term Protection: District of Columbia and 15 states including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
• Recent Legislative Action: The Colorado legislature this month passed a bill that would codify the right to abortion.
• Expected to Enshrine Rights: New Mexico, where an old abortion ban was repealed last year.

Analysis of Current Legislative Trends

“What we’re seeing is blue states reacting to an onslaught of conservative state abortion bans and a solidly anti-abortion Supreme Court,” Nash noted. Legislation also is moving through statehouses in more than a dozen other states that would make it easier for residents and people from out of state to receive an abortion. These lawmakers already have experienced an influx of pregnant people from outside their borders over the past five years as a record number of GOP-led states enacted ever stricter abortion bans.