WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 17, 2025 – Today, the National Partnership for Women & Families released new analysis showing the harm that anti-abortion policies are causing for millions since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade three years ago. The analysis finds that more than 14 million women of color live in states where abortion is banned or under threat, or where there are bills to criminalize people for having an abortion.
The report also details the devastating consequences of the Dobbs decision three years later: abortion bans that put pregnant people’s health and lives at risk, bills that would bring homicide charges against people who have an abortion, heightened risks of surveillance and criminalization of reproductive health decisions, and more.
The analysis shows that close to 6 million women of reproductive age live in the four states that had previously banned or were likely to ban abortion but are newly protective of abortion in the last year, including nearly 2 million women of color.
“It comes as no surprise that the reversal of Roe v. Wade has delivered some of its cruelest blows to the health, well-being, and autonomy of women of color,” said Ashley Kurzweil, Senior Policy Analyst for Reproductive Health and Rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families. “Abortion bans and criminalization are often tools of white supremacy – emboldening state-sanctioned surveillance and prosecution of women of color.”
“Let’s be clear: anti-abortion policies are designed to control women, especially women of color and those with low incomes,” said Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Fellow at the National Partnership. “That’s why it’s imperative that advocates and policymakers keep fighting to expand reproductive freedom. No one’s life or freedom should be on the line when they seek reproductive health care.”
According to the National Partnership’s analysis, anti-abortion policies put millions at risk, including:
- More than 31 million women of reproductive age who live in the 22 states where abortion is banned or under threat;
- More than 14 million reproductive-age women of color who live in these ban/threat states, including the majority (54 percent) of Black women of reproductive age in the U.S.;
- A quarter of all U.S. women of reproductive age (nearly 19 million women) who live in states where legislators have proposed bills that would criminalize people for having an abortion; and
- Nearly 9 million reproductive-age women of color who live in the 12 states with bills to bring homicide charges against abortion patients, including 30 percent of Black women of reproductive age in the U.S.
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