Incarceration and community supervision pose additional obstacles to abortion access

Since its founding in 2003, the legal services and advocacy organization If/When/How has been working to fight back against state intervention in people’s reproductive lives. In addition to training lawyers, working with law students, and maintaining a legal defense fund, the organization also operates a free and confidential helpline designed to help callers navigate legal emergencies and pose questions regarding their right to access abortions and other forms of reproductive care.

... Since Dobbs, If/When/How has received more than 5,000 inquiries, with more than half of them pertaining to the caller’s legal rights to use abortion pills, the risks of using pills, or judicial bypass, which allows minors to petition a judge to grant them permission for an abortion without telling their parents.

The report, “State Violence and the Far-Reaching Impact of Dobbs,” ... also focuses on calls from those currently under carceral control, whether detained in jails and prisons or on probation or parole.

Barriers to care

Abortion access varies depending on where incarcerated pregnant people are detained. Even prior to Dobbs, some states did not allow incarcerated people to have abortions, while many others only allowed abortions during the first trimester. Pre-Dobbs, only four states had laws ensuring abortion access to incarcerated people; just 23 states had some standard or regulation regarding abortion access for incarcerated pregnant people.

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