Roe at 50

Rallies by both reproductive rights allies and anti-abortion advocates are expected across the U.S. this weekend.

A woman holds a sign at an abortion rights rally in Pittsburgh, PA circa 1974 (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
A woman holds a sign at an abortion rights rally in Pittsburgh, PA circa 1974 (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Sunday, January 22, would have been the 50th anniversary of the passing of Roe v. Wade and a celebration of its continued legacy protecting abortion access in America.

Again: It would have marked the anniversary.

The case was overturned in June 2022, allowing many states to strip millions of their reproductive freedoms by implementing full or partial abortion bans, as well as complicating access to other reproductive health measures, like birth control or the Plan B pill.

Here’s some of the highs and lows that have happened since the fall of Roe.

California, Michigan, and Vermont became the first 3 states to explicitly add protections for reproductive rights to their constitutions. In Kansas, a typically conservative-voting state, voters overwhelmingly chose to reject stricter abortion laws in an August 2022 ballot referendum. The FDA cleared mifepristone, 1 of 2 pills taken during a medication-induced abortion, for sale in pharmacies. While this won’t necessarily help people who live in restrictive states, it does make the abortion pill more accessible than it’s ever been before.

But for allies of abortion rights, it has felt like every win comes with at least one loss. At the moment you’re reading this, 26 states — more than half the country — have anti-abortion policies in place, ranging from “most restrictive” to “restrictive,” per the Guttmacher Institute.

The total and partial bans would make it so those seeking care have to travel across state lines to access reproductive care, leaving their exposure to legal consequences in a gray, murky area. In August, Facebook parent company Meta received criticism for cooperating with a warrant from Nebraskan authorities that led to the a young woman and her mother being charged with receiving an “illegal” abortion, in part due to messages found in their Facebook chat history. There have been numerousreportsof pharmacists refusing certain medications, or doctors expressing reluctance to prescribe them in fear of legal penalty, that have prevented people of “child bearing age” from receiving medications they need — even for conditions that have nothing to do with pregnancy, like arthritis — as they could supposedly be used to induce a miscarriage.

Most importantly, without Roe in place, people simply don’t have a say in what they do with their bodies or general reproductive health, this is especially true for those who are already the most vulnerable. Black Americans have historically struggled to find equitable health care, and without Roe, the impacts of systemic racism on that industry are once again front and center. Black women are statistically the most likely to live in regions with full or partial abortion bans, as well as in areas where it's hardest to access contraception.

More work needs to be done, especially by our lawmakers on a federal level, to protect our reproductive rights, because one thing is very clear: Republicans aren’t stopping just because they’ve finally overturned Roe. Just this morning, the 49th annual March For Life was held in D.C., and the anti-abortion advocates in attendance made it clear they expect conservative lawmakers to continue testing the boundaries of our post-Roe reality. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who, as House Majority Leader, is second only to Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the GOP House leadership rankings, said overturning Roe v. Wade was “only the end of the first phase of this battle” while speaking at the rally today.

Anti-abortion activists had their moment in the spotlight on Friday, but abortion rights advocates and their allies are ready to mount a counter-response. Several rallies in support of reproductive access are planned across the U.S. for this Sunday in memory of Roe’s 50th anniversary, including the annual Women’s March in D.C. that’s been billed as “Bigger than Roe.” Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to appear at an abortion rights demonstration in Florida, where she “will lay out the consequences of extremist attacks on reproductive freedom in states across our country and underscore the need for Congress to codify Roe.”