The End of Roe assesses abortion and the American legal and political system in the aftermath of the United States Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

In Dobbs, the US Supreme Court held that a woman did not have a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy. This decision further polarized an already divided nation by overturning nearly fifty years of precedent under Roe v. Wade, following on from two highly contentious presidential elections. Now, as Christian conservative legal organizations seek to tighten access to abortion through attempts to limit chemical abortion, the most widely used method to terminate pregnancies in the US, as well as cut off other avenues to the procedure, access to abortion seems uncertain and increasingly complicated across the United States. This book discusses how widely differing abortion laws have evolved across the US, as well as how religious groups and conservatives have turned to the legal process in their fight to restrict abortion further and how more progressive states have countered with the passage and implementation of safe harbor laws shielding physicians who perform abortions and the women who wish to procure them, mainly when their home state is hostile to their medical situation or choice. The book demonstrates how abortion will continue to shape future elections and the consequences of these political contests on this issue.

The book will appeal to students and scholars of American politics, ethics, politics and religion, and women and politics, as well as practitioners in the areas of law, political science, sociology, and philosophy, and anyone interested in the abortion debate in the United States.

Jeanine E. Kraybill is Associate Professor of Political Science and Pre-Law Program Director at California State University, Bakersfield, USA.