US states could ban people from traveling for abortions, experts warn

A fresh wave of restrictions will probably center around patients who leave their state to obtain legal abortions in other states, or who order medications to manage their abortions at home.

If the supreme court overturns abortion protections, such travel bans might also be permitted to stand, Cohen said.

If the constitutional right to abortion is reversed, more than half of states are likely to prohibit abortions, according to separate analyses by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Guttmacher Institute.

On Thursday, Oklahoma lawmakers passed a Texas-style ban that will take effect immediately after Governor Kevin Stitt signs it, expected to occur within days. Stitt signed another bill earlier this year that would make abortion illegal in nearly all circumstances, but that law would not take effect until August.

As state-based restrictions proliferate, traveling out of state for reproductive healthcare has become common. After the Texas law took effect last year, Planned Parenthood clinics in neighboring states saw an almost 800% increase in patients.

Blue states are preparing for the upcoming decision by shoring up reproductive rights for patients and protections for providers.

Soon after Idaho passed a contested Texas-style ban, neighboring Washington enacted the first law to prevent lawsuits on performing or aiding an out-of-state abortion.

Bills are progressing through the Connecticut and Illinois legislatures to protect patients traveling from out of state and the providers who care for them, and a dozen bills are moving through the California legislature to make reproductive rights stronger and more accessible.