WRDI Watch

Early last year, I started following a woman in Missouri who was documenting what it actually meant to live under her state’s abortion laws.

At the time, voters had just passed a constitutional amendment to protect abortion access. On paper, it looked like a clear shift—one that should have changed things in a meaningful way.

But what she described didn’t match that at all.

Access was still incredibly limited after decades of restrictions gutted the state's provider network. Medication abortion was not available. Only 80 women successfully obtained an elective abortion in 2025. And the legislature was actively working to repeal the constitutional amendment in 2026.

And I thought: How can this be?

Up until then, I had a pretty simple way of thinking about state rights. I paid attention to our elections. I voted for candidates who reflected my views. And I assumed that if those candidates were elected and the laws were in place, I didn’t have to think much about it beyond that.

Missouri was the first time I really questioned rights versus outcomes.

And then I saw a different version of the same thing play out in my home state of Wisconsin.

Like many women, I found the Dobbs decision deeply unsettling. After that ruling, a 176-year-old law went into effect. And it wasn’t Wisconsin's governor or the legislature that ultimately determined what happened next. It was the courts.

That was another shift for me.

I stopped thinking of rights as fixed or settled and started seeing them as something much more dynamic—where outcomes are shaped by laws, yes, but also by courts, funding, infrastructure, and, increasingly, by the interplay of state and federal decisions.

That shift is a big part of why I built WRDI the way I did.

This week, I wanted to take a step back and focus on one foundational question: what it actually means for a right to be “legally protected.” Not just in theory, but in practice.

So this is a different kind of newsletter than usual—but understanding this feels key to making sense of what’s happening across states right now.

— Julie

Featured Explainer

What it means for women’s rights to be legally protected

“Legally protected” sounds straightforward. In reality, it can mean very different things. And that’s where it gets complicated.

Read the full explainer → What it Really Means When a Right is "Protected."

In Practice: Wisconsin

After the Dobbs decision, Wisconsin became an example of how quickly the legal landscape can shift.

A statute written in 1849, long before modern healthcare systems existed, was suddenly treated as the governing law in the state. For a period of time, abortion services largely stopped, even as legal questions about that law remained unresolved.

What followed wasn’t driven by new legislation or a statewide vote. It played out in the courts—shaping what access looks like in practice today.

Wisconsin is one example of how a right isn’t defined by law alone.

Track What’s Happening in Your State

Our state-by-state tracker helps you see what’s currently in effect—and what may be changing.

→ Find your state via the See Your State menu or the USA map, both on the home page.

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If this kind of insight is useful, consider subscribing to WRDI Watch. Each week, we focus on a key topic or trend—curating relevant developments and adding context to help make sense of how women’s rights are changing across the country. Sign up on our homepage → https://www.womensrightsdata.org/