After federal abortion protections were struck down in 2022 in the historic Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, many states moved quickly to enact restrictive abortion policies. While Colorado’s policies are categorized as ‘protective’ by the Guttmacher Institute, a few of its neighbors have the most severe laws in the country.
The Guttmacher Institute is a renowned nongovernmental organization aimed at improving sexual health and expanding reproductive rights across the world. They define states with restrictive abortion policies as having “a web of abortion laws and regulations that restrict or support whether, when and under what circumstances providers can offer abortion care and a pregnant individual can obtain an abortion.” So even without a complete ban, in some states procuring an abortion is practically impossible.
In Oklahoma, patients can’t use private insurance or Medicaid for abortions, except in very limited cases, and patients are forced to wait for 72 hours after a counseling session for an abortion. 2023 data indicates that Oklahoma women travelled largely to their neighbors, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Abortion policy in Texas is also highly restrictive. There is no exception in cases of rape or incest, only when the life or safety of the patient is at risk, although many clinicians raise questions about what the state deems ‘life threatening’. The Guttmacher Institute says that Texas women in 2023 travelled across the country, even farther than Colorado to access reproductive care.
Women in South Dakota face a complete ban on abortion and according to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2023 they went to Minnesota, or Colorado.
Abortion restrictions are an ongoing issue that KDNK will continue to cover.
