Gestation

Abortion policy continues to fracture along state lines three years after Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade. In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, removing restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks and drawing criticism over the state's parallel campaign against pregnancy resource centers, which has spurred defamation and free-speech lawsuits. In Missouri, voters will decide in November on Amendment 3, a compromise measure that would restore limits on abortion after 12 weeks while allowing exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergencies, and would also bar gender transition procedures for minors. And in Columbus, Ohio, reproductive rights advocates are pressing the city council to remove Flock automated license plate readers, warning the cameras could help states with abortion bans track and prosecute out-of-state patients, despite police assurances that reproductive-care searches are filtered.

Together, the disputes illustrate how abortion access, surveillance, and parental-consent questions remain contested even in states that have moved to protect or restrict the procedure, with litigation and ballot measures likely to shape enforcement for years.