Advancing abortion access 43 years after Roe

January 2016

We recognize the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States. While we celebrate this victory, we know that many face substantial barriers to exercising their right to abortion care. 

Ibis is working hard to #ReclaimRoe by putting projects aimed at increasing abortion access at the forefront of our work. This week we published a brief on telemedicine provision of medication abortion, which our research found to be safe and effective. In Iowa, our work showed the impact of telemedicine provision of abortion to be substantial, as it increases access to abortion care for women who live far away from clinics. Telemedicine availability resulted in women accessing abortion services at earlier gestational ages and in decreased travel for appointments.

As we anticipate oral arguments in the upcoming Supreme Court case, Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, Ibis staff are focusing research efforts on abortion access in Texas as part of the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP). In a recent study, researchers found that women seeking abortion care in Texas faced multiple barriers shortly after Texas passed restrictive abortion laws. Clinic closures resulted in some women delaying their procedures, and most reported increased cost and travel time to obtain their procedures.

These projects support the broader reproductive justice effort to fight to make Roe real for all of us. To learn more about our work on abortion access in the United States, please visit our abortion project page.