Abortion Affirmation in State Legislatures: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Abortion Policy Nationwide

Abstract

The years of 2021-2023 present a unique perspective on the abortion debate, as it contains a year directly before, during, and after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center Supreme Court decision. During this timeframe, 49 states enacted legislation regarding abortion, some ranging from abortion bans, beginning with banning abortion from the point of conception to legal protection of all abortion procedures throughout pregnancy. In this study, I performed a qualitative content analysis of all U.S. state level abortion policies passed between 2021-2023 and found that abortion restrictions remove bodily autonomy and perpetrate gender inequality by eliminating choice and limiting women’s healthcare, while abortion affirmative states expand bodily autonomy and choice by allowing choice and women’s healthcare to remain intact.