Nearly two years after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, state-level abortion bans have proliferated at a rapid pace. These bans, including Florida's recent six-week ban, have significantly restricted access to abortion care in the South and increased travel times for women seeking these services. A new analysis by the Center for American Progress (CAP) highlights the substantial increase in drive times to abortion clinics since the Dobbs decision.
Key findings from the CAP analysis include:
- Nationally, the average driving time across congressional districts for a woman who is at least six weeks pregnant to reach an abortion clinic has increased by 300 percent—from 33 minutes to two hours and 12 minutes one way.
- Since Florida’s six-week abortion ban went into effect, the average driving time to a clinic has surged from 22 minutes to nine hours and eight minutes one way.
- The top five states with the largest percentage change in driving times since Roe v. Wade was overturned are Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia. One in four women of reproductive age live in these states and face more than eight hours round trip to access abortion care.
- Driving times to reach an abortion clinic are over 90 minutes longer for districts with high shares of Black or Hispanic women compared to districts with lower shares of these populations. Hispanic women have been particularly affected by Florida's ban.
- Women in Republican-represented districts experience more than double the travel time compared to those in Democrat-represented districts. However, since Dobbs, individuals in Democrat-represented districts must travel nearly five times longer due to state bans, while those in Republican-represented districts travel nearly four times longer.
“The Florida abortion ban has essentially removed the last remaining point of access to abortion care for women in the Southern United States. These blatant attacks on abortion access by extremist legislators and anti-abortion advocates are undermining women’s reproductive health and personal freedom. Their extremist agenda to ban abortion everywhere costs women of color and low-income women the most,” said Sara Estep, associate director of the Women’s Initiative at CAP and author of the analysis.
For further details or expert commentary, please contact Sarah Nadeau at [email protected].
