Where the fight for abortion rights will take place next
By Andrea Miller
January 23, 2019
Forty-six years ago, the Supreme Court issued the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion — and established the popular misconception that the Supreme Court alone determines whether abortion is accessible. In the near half-century since, states have passed more than 1,000 laws against abortion access. And with the looming threat that the court will gut or overturn Roe , we find ourselves in a moment similar to the one abortion rights advocates faced before Roe, in which the greatest possibility for protecting abortion rights and access lies in state-by-state action. That may seem like a discouraging prospect, but it’s a challenge that activists and elected officials should and are beginning to embrace.