Key Points
When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, it ended the constitutional right to have an abortion and returned the ability to regulate the procedure to the states..
On Tuesday, Americans in 10 states voted on ballot initiatives to protect or expand abortion access..
Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York passed referendums upholding abortion rights, while measures to restore or expand access failed in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota..
A second Trump administration could make it even harder for women to access abortioneven in states that have adopted protectionsif it decides to enforce a zombie law from 1873 called the Comstock Act, which bans the mailing of obscene matter, including abortion-related materials..
However, the Heritage Foundations Project 2025a policy playbook for the next Republican administration that Trump has disavowed but to which several of his former officials contributedcalls for using it to stop mail-order abortion pills.. Even if he doesnt enforce the Comstock Act, Trump could still roll back access to abortion pills in other ways..
