Women of Color Face Greater Harm

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 16, 2026 – Today, the National Partnership for Women & Families released new analysis on the impacts of anti-abortion policies four years after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade. The new report examines anti-abortion extremists’ strategy to target access from every angle – from banning abortion outright to shuttering in-person clinics to limiting telehealth abortion. The harms are felt by millions across different communities, even in states where abortion is legal and protected.

• The report finds that more than 47 million women of reproductive age live in the 25 states with clinic closures in the wake of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) or states that have attacked access to medication abortion – a staggering 62 percent of all women in the U.S.
• More than 38 million women – half of all women of reproductive age in the United States – live in the 12 states in which clinics have closed post-OBBBA
• More than 27 million women – more than one-third of all reproductive-age women – live in the 20 states that have attacked access to medication abortion

The analysis also details the impacts of anti-abortion policies on marginalized communities across the country. Women of color are disproportionately affected.

• More than 23 million women of color of reproductive age – nearly two out of three – live in the states with clinic closures or states that have attacked access to medication abortion.
• In states where clinics have closed post-OBBBA:
• Nearly 11 million Latina women – nearly two-thirds of Latina women in the U.S. – live in states where clinics have closed.
• Multiracial women; immigrant women; and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) women are also especially likely to live in these states.
• In states that have attacked medication abortion access:
• Women living in rural areas are especially impacted – 45 percent of rural women live in these states.
• Black women, women who are economically insecure, and veteran women are also particularly affected: more than 40 percent of women from each of these groups live in states that have attacked medication abortion access.

“Anti-abortion laws are designed to make reproductive health care impossible to actually access, putting women’s health and lives in danger,” said Dr. Nima Sheth, vice president for health justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families. “For the last four years, we’ve seen the devastating consequences of restricting abortion and closing clinics, including chaos for patients and providers, increased maternal health risks, needless suffering, and even preventable deaths. No person’s life should be on the line because of political interference into reproductive health care.”

“Anti-abortion extremists are not stopping at state-by-state bans four years post-Dobbs; they are targeting clinics, medication abortion pills, and telehealth to dismantle abortion access nationwide. This is part of a broader political strategy to strip women, people of color, immigrants, people with low incomes, and other marginalized communities of their freedom and autonomy,” said Ashley Kurzweil, senior policy analyst for reproductive health and rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families. “We must fight back against these attacks to build a future of reproductive freedom and equitable access to abortion care for all.”

View the full report here.

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