It’s now a year since barrister Marie O’Shea submitted a review to Government on the adequacy of the State’s abortion laws. One of the report’s recommendations was the removal of the mandatory three-day waiting period
Strategies used in other countries, such as state referendums and strategic litigation, can help restore and protect abortion access in the United States, argue Terry McGovern and colleagues
Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, eliminating the federal constitutional right to an abortion, the introduction of state laws and policies has made the legal and healthcare landscape more challenging. Twenty states have banned or severely restricted abortion care,1 and recent legislation is restricting access to abortion medication as well as abortion services, with Wyoming becoming the first state explicitly to ban the use of abortion medication.2
In response, US abortion rights advocates have pushed to extend federal protections and the federal government has taken important steps to expand and protect access to medication abortion. These efforts have focused on strengthening executive branch rules and guidance because the lack of a pro-abortion majority in Congress pre