States move to strengthen reproductive rights protections

Several states are advancing policies designed to strengthen protections for reproductive healthcare, including laws that shield providers from out-of-state legal actions, protect patients traveling for care, and expand access to services such as contraception and fertility treatment.

While some states have focused on enforcing abortion bans following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, other states are pursuing policies aimed at preserving access to reproductive healthcare and limiting legal risks for patients and providers.

Together, these efforts represent a parallel shift in state policy debates: as some states expand enforcement of abortion restrictions, others are strengthening legal protections for reproductive healthcare.

Why it Matters

Policies expanding reproductive rights protections can affect how safely and easily women can access care, and therefore influence the situations women face:

• Traveling for abortion care:
  Because abortion access now varies widely by state, many women travel across state lines to obtain care. Some states, like Massachusetts, have enacted and expanded laws designed to protect patients and providers from legal actions brought by states where abortion is restricted.
• Access to medication abortion:
  Medication abortion has become one of the primary ways patients obtain abortion care. Shield laws and provider protections, like the ones in California (AB260), can help ensure that clinicians can prescribe medication abortion — including through telehealth — without facing legal consequences from other states.
• Access to contraception and fertility care:
  Some states are moving to strengthen legal protections for contraception access, reflecting concerns that broader reproductive healthcare services could face new legal challenges in the future. In Virginia, lawmakers have reintroduced a right-to-contraception bill in 2026 (HB6) after a similar proposal was vetoed in 2024.

Together, these policies are shaping how reproductive healthcare is accessed across state lines and how providers operate in a rapidly changing legal landscape.

Background

In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to regulate abortion. In the months that followed, many states enacted abortion bans or severe restrictions, dramatically changing access to reproductive healthcare across the country.

In response, voters and lawmakers in several states moved to strengthen legal protections for reproductive healthcare. Since Dobbs, ballot measures in 10 states - Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New York, Ohio, and Vermont - have added reproductive freedom protections to state constitutions, while other states have adopted laws aimed at preserving access to care and protecting providers.

These policies often focus on shielding healthcare providers from out-of-state legal actions, protecting patient privacy, strengthening access to medication abortion and contraception, and expanding funding for reproductive health services. States such as California, Illinois, New York, and Oregon have also invested new funding to support clinics and maintain access to care for both residents and patients traveling from other states.

Together, these developments reflect a growing divide in state reproductive healthcare policy. While some states continue to expand enforcement of abortion restrictions, others are building legal frameworks designed to preserve access to reproductive healthcare and protect patients and providers operating within their borders.

Resources

Guttmacher Institute - State Policy Trends 2025 Full-Year Analysis
UCLA School of Law - The Promise of Reproductive Freedom Amendments: An Analysis of State Constitutional Protections and Their Impact on Anti-Abortion Laws