USA: Abortion bans causing 'unprecedented' human rights crisis - new report

There are abortion bans and restrictions in 21 states meaning the USA is failing to comply with its human rights obligations

‘I was having panic attacks every day’ - harrowing stories of people affected

Opportunity on 5 November ‘to vote on ballot initiatives to protect abortion rights’ - Jasmeet Sidhu

By denying and restricting access to abortion to millions of people since the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022 with the Dobbs decision setting aside any constitutional right to abortion, the USA is failing to comply with its international human rights obligations to ensure pregnant people have access to abortion, according to a new report published by Amnesty International today (5 August).

The report - Abortion in the USA: The Human Rights Crisis in the Aftermath of Dobbs - shares stories from individuals across the country who’ve been harmed by restrictive laws and practices in their states, putting a human face on the many 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 criminalise abortions that threaten pregnant people and healthcare workers alike have all led to the current human rights crisis. The spread of false information and stigmatisation of abortion in addition to the provision of unqualified care by so-called crisis pregnancy centres - often run by activists who oppose abortion - is also contributing to the crisis.

Examples in 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. 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 said:

“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.” 

Some of those who were pregnant avoided seeing a doctor when they miscarried due to a fear they would be wrongly criminalised. Others could not find a doctor or treatment due to lack of emergency care and fear from healthcare providers that they would too be criminalised 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.

Dr Amna Dermish, an obstetrician gynaecologist from Texas, 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.”

Jasmeet Sidhu, a senior researcher at Amnesty International USA, said:

“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.

“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.

“Some of these laws are utterly confusing and nearly impossible to navigate.

“Everybody everywhere must be free to exercise their bodily autonomy and make their own decisions about their reproductive health.

“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.”

Disproportionate impact on marginalised communities

The report brings light to the widespread harm and discrimination people are experiencing across the US through 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.

State abortion bans and other restricting policies have a disproportionate impact on the most marginalised 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.

D’Andra Willia from the Afiya Center, said:

“After Dobbs the demand for [Black] doulas definitely went up because people are being forced to give birth. 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.”

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 foetus. She said:

“This was the most traumatising experience of my life and one that was made so much worse, unnecessarily, because of these illogical and dangerous laws.”

Amnesty has produced a 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 US to ratify international human rights treaties that would ensure pregnant individuals have access to the care they need.