ICYMI: Four Years After Deadly Dobbs Decision, Data Reinforces that Abortion Bans Are Killing Women
Anti-abortion extremists want to ban abortion nationwide — no matter the cost
WASHINGTON, DC –– Last week marked four years since the deadly Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade and ripped abortion access away from millions of Americans. Patients across the country are still navigating and confusing landscapes to access reproductive care. Since 2022, multiple women have died leaving behind children, spouses, parents, and siblings. These deaths should have been the breaking point. Instead, this year's research reveals how deeply abortion restrictions harm patients and how far extremists will go to ban abortion nationwide.
Bottomline: Abortion bans are jeopardizing the lives of millions of patients across the country. Anti-abortion extremists and lawmakers are relentless in their crusade to ban abortion nationwide — no matter the cost .
Here are some of the latest studies from the first half of 2026, laying bare the bleak reality of accessing abortion care in America today:
Protecting abortion access is still popular with Americans across the political spectrum, and yet, anti-abortion extremists and lawmakers continue to ignore what most Americans want. According to the latest data by Navigator Research, a majority of Americans continue to believe that abortion should be legal in most cases and that lawmakers who support anti-abortion policies, including banning or restricting contraception and abortion nationally, are dealbreakers.
New research from The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examined how state-level total abortion bans affect abortion-adjacent care and patient outcomes. The study found that bans carry broad downstream consequences for medical care well beyond abortion itself, shifting physicians' decision-making away from patient-centered care toward legal risk mitigation, with troubling implications for patient safety, equity, and medical ethics.
JAMA also released a study confirming that for the past 12 years, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decisions on medication abortion have been based on science alone. Drawing on more than 5,000 pages of internal memos, emails, and other documents, the study shows that the FDA has repeatedly evaluated new evidence on mifepristone – an abortion medication – and determined again, and again, that the drug is safe. Yet, political attacks on accessing medication abortion are relentless. Under the Trump administration, the FDA has agreed to investigate the drug's safety despite the existing evidence.
Medication abortion currently accounts for nearly two-thirds of abortions nationwide. According to research from Reproductive Freedom for All, restricting access to medication abortion could eliminate care for 64.5 million people across the country.
According to survey data from KFF, most Americans oppose policies designed to restrict access to medication abortion.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research released a fact sheet finding that abortion restrictions threaten both reproductive and economic justice by jeopardizing women’s ability to plan for their families and futures, as well as to fully participate in the workforce and build economic security. The latest estimates show that states with the most restrictive abortion policies could cost the national economy nearly $68 billion annually in lost earnings.
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center released data spotlighting how pregnant women are dying at higher rates in states with abortion bans. The study concludes that further restrictions on abortion may result in higher maternal deaths across the country.
The Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins University released data highlighting the same point. Their latest research cites a 9.2% increase in pregnancy-associated deaths — an estimated 68 excess deaths by the end of 2023 in states where abortion is banned. The study found that stripping abortion care and reproductive freedom will greatly undermine any progress towards addressing the U.S. maternal mortality crisis.
Analysis highlighting how attacks on healthcare for transgender people and abortion are inextricably linked. Being able to access abortion and transition-related healthcare are both rooted in a broader political movement to restrict bodily autonomy and strip away freedom. Opponents of both forms of necessary, life-saving care have used parallel playbooks and legal precedents to attack both forms of care.
The stakes have never been higher for women and patients nationwide. From weaponizing federal agencies to rolling back access to medication abortion, which could leave as many as 64.5 million people across the country without access to care, to sneaking new national abortion restrictions into critical health care legislation – the consequences of attacks on reproductive freedom are deadly.
Last week, Free & Just brought more than 150 patient storytellers, health care providers, and abortion rights advocates to Washington, DC for Free & Just’s Abortion Stories on the Hill.Advocates from more than 35 states, including families of loved ones killed by abortion bans, met with members of Congress to highlight why protecting abortion access remains a priority. If you are interested in connecting with patients, providers, or advocates about the deadly cost of abortion bans or last week’s Abortion Stories on the Hill, please contact Malachi White (malachi@freeandjust.us).
###