Reproductive Health Access: What’s at Stake?

Defend Abortion Rights & Support the ACLU

The Supreme Court is poised to dismantle Roe v. Wade according to a leaked draft opinion authored by Justice Alito. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, **26 states** are likely to ban abortion – depriving half the nation of a fundamental, constitutional right that millions of people have accessed for the past 50 years. We've already seen the devastation of banning abortion play out in Texas, where many have been forced to travel to other states in search of reproductive health care or have been forced to continue their pregnancies against their will. This nightmare may soon be a reality for countless others. Oklahoma’s copycat bill already went into effect as of yesterday (May 3rd).

This poses an immediate threat to both public health and personal freedom:

- **Banning abortion does not eliminate the need for this kind of care – instead, it'll force people to seek abortion outside of the health care system**.

- **No one should be forced to carry a pregnancy against their will and face the life-altering consequences of being denied essential health care**.

- **Black women face a severe maternal mortality crisis, especially in the states already determined to ban abortion**.

- **Attacks on abortion access disproportionately harm the same people who have consistently faced systemic barriers to care** — *communities of color, the LGBTQ+ community, undocumented immigrants, young people, rural communities, people with disabilities, and people with low incomes*.

To be clear, this is not a final order of the Court. **Abortion is still legal today**.We are not conceding anything right now, and we will not let the Court off the hook when a decision is finally published.

The ACLU will never stop fighting for a person's right to decide when and if to have a child. We will continue to fight in the courts, in statehouses, and in Congress, at the ballot box through ballot measures and other races, and in the streets. This isn't over. Join us.