Wednesday was the 4th anniversary of the Dobbs decision. I was reminded of it via a post from my extremely useless MAGA House rep, who was all puffy and grand about how every person has the “right to life”. This is the kind of bullshit women-hating Republicans espouse: completely meaningless blather that is also factually incorrect.
First, the number of abortions since Dobbs was decided has gone up, not down.
An estimated 1,126,000 abortions were provided by US clinicians in 2025, largely unchanged from 2024, when there were 1,124,000 clinician-provided abortions, and an increase of 21% from 2020, the last year of comprehensive national estimates before Dobbs.1 This count includes medication abortions provided via telemedicine by US clinicians, including those provided under the protection of shield laws to patients in states with total bans. It does not include self-managed abortions, such as those using medications mailed from pharmacies outside the United States or sourced from community networks. Evidence suggests self-managed abortions have increased since Dobbs.2
Second, the number of babies being born who do not survive has gone up in vulnerable groups:
Among the 14 states with abortion bans, the researchers found higher-than-expected live births among racially minoritized individuals (non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and “other” races and ethnicities); those without a college degree; Medicaid beneficiaries; unmarried individuals; younger individuals; and those living in Southern states.
The researchers estimate that, among the 14 states with abortion bans, Black infants died at a rate 11% higher than would have been expected in the absence of bans. There were larger increases in infant mortality in Southern states—both overall and among Black infants.
Third, the number of pregnant women dying because they now lack access to timely medical care for medical emergencies has gone up:
The researchers found a possible 9.2% increase in pregnancy-associated deaths in states with abortion bans, equivalent to an estimated 68 excess deaths by the end of 2023. Pregnancy-associated mortality includes deaths due to any cause during pregnancy and up to one year after pregnancy. Pregnancy-related mortality—deaths during pregnancy and up to one year after pregnancy due to obstetric causes—showed a similar pattern, though estimates were less precise given the event is rarer.
All of that money and effort spent by the right and the result is more death.
There is no legal reason to ban abortion. There is no legal reason to involve the government in this process beyond the normal licensing and inspection processes that take place in all healthcare settings. A fetus is not a person under our Constitution. A fetus does not trump the life an actual person.
And I don’t give a damn about your religious beliefs, either. See I’m a Christian too and I do not have a problem with abortion on demand being legal. That’s because I understand that there is a role for clinical ethicists and that it’s also none of my business. You don’t get to legislate your beliefs onto the rest of us.
Yes, 4 years later I am still angry about it.
I’ll leave you with this: