This map shows where abortion is illegal, protected, or under threat across all 50 US states

This map shows where abortion is illegal, protected, or under threat across all 50 US states
  • The Supreme Court Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, the 50-year-old case that federally legalized abortions.

  • Now abortion access is a confusing patchwork, with each US state in charge of its own rules.

  • Here is a map of all 50 states showing where abortions are illegal.

On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old court ruling that legalized abortion across all 50 US states.

Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the opinion of the court, said "the States may regulate abortion" now.

Some states have been preparing for years for the possibility that Roe could be overturned.

A handful of states had trigger laws designed to immediately ban abortions within their borders once the decision was reversed. Some "sanctuary states," like New York, put in place a legal framework that would protect abortion, even if Roe was overturned. In other areas of the country, it isn't clear what happens next — abortion isn't legally protected, but it's not expressly forbidden.

Here is a simple map highlighting which US states have banned abortions and which haven't.

The point in a pregnancy when abortion is banned varies from place to place. Some states essentially ban any abortion, except in cases where a pregnancy threatens the mother's life. Several states have authored "heartbeat" bills, which make abortion illegal at six weeks, which is before an embryo actually develops a heart. In most states that ban abortions, the cutoff is no later than 15 weeks into a pregnancy.

As of 2017, 89% of US counties had no abortion provider. In those places, Friday's decision won't change much, practically speaking, but it will likely make it even harder for patients who were already struggling to access care to receive it.

"This decision deals a devastating blow to reproductive freedom in the United States," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

"And it will be greatly disproportionate in its effect — with the greatest burdens felt by people of color and those of limited financial means."

Read the original article on Insider