USA: Abortion bans and restrictions cause extensive harm, violate human rights

By denying and restricting access to abortion to millions of people since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 with the Dobbs decision, the United States is failing to comply with its international human rights obligations and standards to ensure pregnant people have access to abortion, according to a new report published by Amnesty International today.

The report, Abortion in the USA: The Human Rights Crisis in the Aftermath of Dobbs, shares stories from individuals across the country who have been harmed by restrictive laws and practices in their states, putting a human face on the multitude of the ways in which people are harmed when denied the human right to abortion.

In addition to abortion bans and restrictions in 21 states, barriers for emergency medical care and efforts to criminalize abortions that threaten pregnant people and healthcare workers alike have all led to the current human rights crisis. The spread of false information and stigmatization of abortion in addition to provision of unqualified care by so-called crisis pregnancy centers – often run by activists who oppose abortion – is also contributing to the crisis, according to the report.

“These barriers and bans to abortion create a scenario where an individual’s access to abortion care depends on where they live and what resources they have,” said Jasmeet Sidhu, senior researcher with Amnesty International USA.

“Access to reproductive care, including abortions, must not depend on the state in which somebody lives, or the ability an individual does or does not have to travel to another state. The current landscape leads to some people not being able to access abortion care, which is not how human rights are supposed to work.”

These barriers and bans to abortion create a scenario where an individual’s access to abortion care depends on where they live and what resources they have.
Jasmeet Sidhu, senior researcher with Amnesty International USA.

Dr. Amna Dermish is an OBGYN from Texas with a specialty in complex family planning. In the report, she said: “It felt like for the longest time that, every day I could show up to this clinic and see patients, I was winning. And then Dobbs just felt like it took that away. I’m still not over it. It was horrible. I was having panic attacks every day. No health care provider should ever be in that situation. And more importantly, no patient should ever be in a situation where their healthcare provider is able to provide them care and is held back by the government.”

It felt like for the longest time that, every day I could show up to this clinic and see patients, I was winning. And then Dobbs just felt like it took that away. I’m still not over it. It was horrible.
Dr. Amna Dermish is an OBGYN from Texas with a specialty in complex family planning.

What we went through was torture that no one else should ever have to face.
Anonymous woman in Tennessee with complications who could not get an abortion in Tennessee.

Harrowing discrimination

The report brings light to the widespread harm and discrimination people are experiencing across the U.S. by including pieces of in-depth interviews from pregnant people, families, advocates, public health experts and health workers in states with abortion bans. The harrowing stories drive home the point that all pregnancies are different, and that each pregnant person must have the right to decide whether to have an abortion without government interference.

Examples throughout the report include people who travelled hundreds of miles to obtain an abortion and others who could not afford to travel, so were forced to carry their pregnancy to term against their will. Other stories include people who were forced to carry their pregnancies to term despite situations of childhood rape, serious foetal anomalies, and health risks to the pregnant person.

“It was the ugliest feeling having to explain to the doctor that [my teenage daughter] was raped, and then him having to tell you he can’t do anything to help,” said one mother in Mississippi who had to travel more than seven hours to an abortion clinic in Illinois and pay $1,595 for her daughter’s abortion and almost $500 for a hotel.

It was the ugliest feeling having to explain to the doctor that [my teenage daughter] was raped, and then him having to tell you he can’t do anything to help.
Mother in Mississippi who had to travel more than seven hours to an abortion clinic in Illinois.

Some pregnant people avoided seeing a doctor when they miscarried due to fear they would be wrongly criminalized. Others could not find a doctor or treatment due to lack of emergency care and fear from healthcare providers that they would too be criminalized for providing necessary care to a patient.

Taylor from Texas said she was navigating her health care through “random” internet searches. “Even doing the searches made me nervous. The case of a Texas woman being arrested and jailed for taking medication abortion pills was fresh in my mind…I was scared to call my doctor in case there was mandatory reporting,” she said.

Amnesty’s Jasmeet Sidhu said: “Some of these laws are utterly confusing and nearly impossible to navigate. The current landscape is an assault on the rights of pregnant people, creates fear and stigma, puts healthcare workers in awful situations, and ultimately contributes to pregnant people not getting the care they need. We are in an unprecedented crisis.”

The current landscape is an assault on the rights of pregnant people, creates fear and stigma, puts healthcare workers in awful situations, and ultimately contributes to pregnant people not getting the care they need.
Jasmeet Sidhu, senior researcher with Amnesty International USA.

They make this out to be like people that seek abortions are horrible, horrible people, and murderers, and all this stuff. That could not be further from the truth.
Jennifer, Idaho, who was forced to travel out of state to seek an abortion.

This was the most traumatizing experience of my life and one that was made so much worse, unnecessarily, because of these illogical and dangerous laws.
Latina woman in Texas pregnant with twins learned at 12 weeks that one of the twins had been diagnosed with a fatal condition in utero.

Disproportionate impact on marginalized communities

State abortion bans and other restricting policies have a disproportionate impact on the most marginalized communities, who already face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. The report includes numerous stories from pregnant people who are Black, Indigenous, undocumented, LGBTQI+, disabled, rural, and low-income.

“After Dobbs the demand for [Black] doulas definitely went up because people are being forced to give birth,” said D’Andra Willia from the Afiya Center. “We have seen a lot of trauma recently in our community because of COVID and people forced to be at home with their abusers, health complications, economic issues and on top of that being forced into birth while many are still dealing with postpartum and other issues. It is hard.”

We have seen a lot of trauma recently in our community because of COVID and people forced to be at home with their abusers, health complications, economic issues and on top of that being forced into birth while many are still dealing with postpartum and other issues.
D’Andra Willia from the Afiya Center.

A Latina woman in Texas pregnant with twins, who learned at 12 weeks that one of the twins had been diagnosed with a fatal condition in utero that could threaten the other twin’s life, described being forced to travel out of state to save the viable fetus. “This was the most traumatizing experience of my life and one that was made so much worse, unnecessarily, because of these illogical and dangerous laws.”

“These bans are going to make it that much more complicated, taboo and harder to access proper medical care,” she said.

The report includes a robust list of recommendations for state and federal governments –including federally protecting the right to abortion, and steps to ensure equal access to medication abortion and emergency healthcare services – and urges the U.S. to ratify international human rights treaties that would ensure pregnant individuals have access to the care they need.

“Everybody everywhere must be free to exercise their bodily autonomy and make their own decisions about their reproductive health,” said Jasmeet Sidhu. “While we work towards the longer-term goal of ensuring federal protections for the right to abortion, one important step people in some states can take this fall is to vote on ballot initiatives to protect abortion rights in their states.”