LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Four years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion that had existed for nearly 50 years. The June 24, 2022, decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization reshaped abortion access across the country, and experts say its effects are still growing today.
Since the ruling, 25 states have enacted abortion restrictions or bans. Heather Johnson, a faculty member at Michigan State University College of Law, says the decision was decades in the making.
“This is literally an opinion 40 years in the making,” Johnson said. “What we have in this opinion with Justice Alito writing the majority is basically 40 years of work by the conservative right to basically end the right that was granted within Roe v. Wade.”
Justice Samuel Alito argued that abortion is not a fundamental constitutional right because it is not rooted in the Constitution’s text or the nation’s history and traditions.
In opposition, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan argued the decision stripped away a long-recognized right and would disproportionately affect women with fewer resources.
Johnson says the impact of Dobbs has extended beyond abortion access itself.
“You see a ban that bans abortion then having this chilling effect on any procedure that has anything to do with women’s reproductive rights,” she said.
She points to data from the Guttmacher Institute showing maternal mortality rates have increased since the ruling. Johnson argues those outcomes are especially concerning given the country’s healthcare resources.
In Michigan, voters responded just months after Dobbs by approving Proposal 3, which added reproductive rights protections to the state constitution. Lawmakers later repealed a 1931 abortion ban that could have taken effect if Roe were overturned.
But Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel says legal protections do not automatically guarantee access to care.
“Having a right and not being able to actually have that right because there is no place to do it at doesn’t really matter if you have that right,” Hertel said. “It’s important that we make sure that that right is not just theoretical, but it actually exists for people.”
Access remains a challenge in some parts of the state. In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the number of hospitals providing full obstetric services has dropped from four to two since Dobbs. In communities such as Escanaba, healthcare providers say staffing shortages can mean patients with high-risk pregnancies must be transferred elsewhere for specialized care.
“If it’s a straight up simple pregnancy, no problem, but you need any kind of extra care or it’s complicated, they’re probably airlifting that mother somewhere else,” Johnson said. “That gets more expensive, it gets more complicated, it gets more dangerous.”
Johnson says some of those challenges predate Dobbs. She points to the large role Catholic healthcare systems play in many rural communities, where certain reproductive health services may be limited because of religious directives.
The debate over abortion rights continues in Michigan. Right to Life of Michigan has filed a lawsuit challenging Proposal 3, the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2022. Hertel says abortion is likely to remain a major issue in future elections.
“John James, who is running for governor, has said over and over again that he wants to ban abortion,” Hertel said. “These people have said over and over again who they are, and I don’t know why we wouldn’t believe them.”
Johnson says one area she is watching closely is legislation related to fetal personhood, which would grant legal rights to fertilized embryos.
She says such proposals could have significant implications for healthcare decisions involving pregnancy complications.
“You have a 40-year-old woman who has two children and is on the table to give birth, and they might die, their children might not have a mom, but that mom has fewer rights than this basically fertilized embryo,” Johnson said.
Hertel argues abortion access is also tied to economic issues, particularly for younger adults facing rising costs and financial uncertainty.
“Reproductive freedom is an economic issue as much as anything,” Hertel said. “This generation’s the slowest generation to buy a car, to buy a house, or start a family. They also now have to live in a world where what state you live in can determine what rights you have.”
Johnson says advocates are pursuing several avenues to strengthen protections, including state-level shield laws and potential federal legislation. She also points to the Equal Rights Amendment as a possible basis for future legal challenges.
“Women represent more than half the population,” Johnson said. “That’s the majority of the population that deserve to have bodily autonomy and respect in their healthcare decisions.”
Hertel says the issue will ultimately continue to be decided by voters and elected officials.
“We’re one election away from rights being at risk again in Michigan,” he said. “The moral arc bends toward justice, but it only does when people do the work.”
