Most state abortion bans have limited exceptions − but it’s hard to understand what they mean
More than a year after the Supreme Court found there is no fundamental right to get an abortion, 21 states have laws in effect that ban abortion well before fetal viability, generally allowing it only in the first trimester. Fourteen of these 21 states have also issued near-total bans on abortion from the point of conception. But it’s not clear when, if ever, an abortion would be permissible under these near-total bans.
Virtually all states, including Arkansas, North Dakota and Oklahoma, for example, allow an abortion when necessary to save the life of the pregnant person. But the laws don’t explain just how close to death the person must be before the abortion can be performed. Some states, such as Georgia, Indiana and West Virginia, also include exceptions for health concerns, rape, incest or lethal fetal anomalies. Most of these exceptions are vaguely worded, leaving physicians and pregnant patients to navigate whether a particular abortion would be legal.