Reproductive Freedom
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

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Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
Reproductive Freedom
Status: Closed (Judgment)
The case concerns the constitutionality of a Mississippi law prohibiting abortions after the fifteenth week of pregnancy. The state used the case as a vehicle to ask the Supreme Court to take away the federal constitutional right to abortion it first recognized 50 years before in Roe v. Wade. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States accepted the state’s invitation and overturned Roe eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2022

Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center
In 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Kentucky filed a suit on behalf of Kentucky abortion providers and their patients challenging a state law banning physicians from providing a safe and medically proven abortion method called dilation and evacuation, or “D&E.” If it were to take effect, this law would prevent many patients from being able to obtain an abortion altogether. After two courts held that the law is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled in March 2022 that Kentucky Attorney General Cameron can continue his pursuit to push abortion out of reach by intervening in the underlying challenge to an abortion ban, which is proceeding in a lower court.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2021

Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and coalition partners filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers and funds on July 13, 2021, challenging S.B. 8, a Texas law allowing private citizens to enforce a ban on abortion as early as six weeks in pregnancy—before many know they are pregnant. The ACLU’s challenge made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court three times in as many months. After hearing oral arguments in the case, the Court issued a decision on December 10, 2021, that ended the most promising pathways to blocking the ban. The Supreme Court’s decision makes it more difficult to obtain adequate relief from the courts and gives states the green light to ban abortion using bounty-hunting schemes. Texas’ abortion ban will remain in effect until relief can be secured from a court.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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All Cases
109 Reproductive Freedom Cases
Nevada
Aug 2023

Silver State Hope Fund v. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services
Silver State Hope Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County challenging Nevada’s ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion, which discriminates against women and people who can become pregnant based on their sex in violation of the protections voters added to the Nevada Constitution.
Status: Ongoing
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Nevada
Reproductive Freedom
Silver State Hope Fund v. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services
Silver State Hope Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County challenging Nevada’s ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion, which discriminates against women and people who can become pregnant based on their sex in violation of the protections voters added to the Nevada Constitution.
Aug 2023
Status: Ongoing
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Alabama
Aug 2023

Oasis Family Birthing Center et. al. v. Alabama Department of Public Health
A group of midwives and doctors filed a lawsuit in state court challenging ongoing actions by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), which have imposed a de facto ban on freestanding birth centers throughout Alabama, preventing three such birth centers from providing much-needed pregnancy care to their patients. One center was forced to abruptly shut down operations earlier this year, despite a perfect safety record.
Status: Ongoing
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Alabama
Reproductive Freedom
Oasis Family Birthing Center et. al. v. Alabama Department of Public Health
A group of midwives and doctors filed a lawsuit in state court challenging ongoing actions by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), which have imposed a de facto ban on freestanding birth centers throughout Alabama, preventing three such birth centers from providing much-needed pregnancy care to their patients. One center was forced to abruptly shut down operations earlier this year, despite a perfect safety record.
Aug 2023
Status: Ongoing
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Alabama
Jul 2023

West Alabama Women’s Center, et al. v. Marshall, et al.
A group of health care providers filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and district attorneys throughout the state from prosecuting those who assist Alabamians seeking to travel across state lines to access abortion care where abortion is legal. Attorney General Marshall has explicitly threatened that health care providers could face felony charges for assisting Alabamians seeking to travel out of state to obtain abortion where it is legal.
Status: Ongoing
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Alabama
Reproductive Freedom
West Alabama Women’s Center, et al. v. Marshall, et al.
A group of health care providers filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and district attorneys throughout the state from prosecuting those who assist Alabamians seeking to travel across state lines to access abortion care where abortion is legal. Attorney General Marshall has explicitly threatened that health care providers could face felony charges for assisting Alabamians seeking to travel out of state to obtain abortion where it is legal.
Jul 2023
Status: Ongoing
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Jul 2023

Preterm-Cleveland v. David Yost
On September 2, 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the law firm WilmerHale filed a lawsuit in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas bringing a state constitutional challenge against SB 23, a law banning abortion starting at approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The reproductive rights organizations asked the court to immediately restore Ohioans’ reproductive rights secured by the Ohio Constitution. This lawsuit came more than two months after the draconian bill took effect on June 24, 2022 for the first time since it was passed in 2019, causing an immediate, devastating crisis across the state. Due to the ongoing irreparable harm to Ohioans, the reproductive rights organizations withdrew the lawsuit they initially filed in the state Supreme Court in late June and asked the lower court to grant immediate relief blocking the ban.
Status: Ongoing
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Reproductive Freedom
Preterm-Cleveland v. David Yost
On September 2, 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the law firm WilmerHale filed a lawsuit in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas bringing a state constitutional challenge against SB 23, a law banning abortion starting at approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The reproductive rights organizations asked the court to immediately restore Ohioans’ reproductive rights secured by the Ohio Constitution. This lawsuit came more than two months after the draconian bill took effect on June 24, 2022 for the first time since it was passed in 2019, causing an immediate, devastating crisis across the state. Due to the ongoing irreparable harm to Ohioans, the reproductive rights organizations withdrew the lawsuit they initially filed in the state Supreme Court in late June and asked the lower court to grant immediate relief blocking the ban.
Jul 2023
Status: Ongoing
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Jun 2023

EMW Women's Surgical Center, P.S.C., et al. v. Daniel Cameron, et. al.
Immediately following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Kentucky, and coalition partners filed a state court lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers challenging two Kentucky laws that collectively eliminate access to abortion in the Commonwealth. The case was dismissed without prejudice after the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the abortion provider plaintiffs could not assert the constitutional rights to privacy and self-determination on behalf of their patients. The Court left open the door for Kentuckians seeking abortion to assert their own constitutional rights.
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Reproductive Freedom
EMW Women's Surgical Center, P.S.C., et al. v. Daniel Cameron, et. al.
Immediately following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Kentucky, and coalition partners filed a state court lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers challenging two Kentucky laws that collectively eliminate access to abortion in the Commonwealth. The case was dismissed without prejudice after the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the abortion provider plaintiffs could not assert the constitutional rights to privacy and self-determination on behalf of their patients. The Court left open the door for Kentuckians seeking abortion to assert their own constitutional rights.
Jun 2023
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