Reproductive Rights
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ruling that the U.S. Constitution does not protect a fundamental right to abortion. Following this decision, many state trigger laws banning or restricting abortion went into effect, and several states have passed new abortion bans or restrictions.
Litigants are challenging many of these measures in state courts, pointing to rights to privacy, liberty, gender equality, equal protection, due process, and religious freedom in their state constitutions and other state laws. There are also active state constitutional amendment campaigns in several states. This litigation extends beyond abortion to fertility treatments, contraception, and other issues.
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2024’s Most Significant State Constitutional Cases
Legal experts identified the most important cases that advanced state constitutional rights this year.
State Courts Can Provide Much-Needed Protection From Voter Deception
This past election, some state courts stepped in to protect the citizen initiative process from state-sponsored deception, while others refused. Their decisions influenced election outcomes.
So You Passed a State Constitutional Amendment Protecting Abortion. Now What?
Voter approval of an amendment is often just one step in lengthy legal and political wrangling over state abortion rights.
State Constitutional Protections for Transgender People After Skrmetti
A review of recent litigation in state courts provides hints about the future of trans rights.
Putting State Equal Rights Amendments to Work
A new initiative aims to integrate sex equality principles at every stage of policymaking.
Kansas’s Constitution Is a Source of Expanded Rights
Kansans enjoy broad rights to bear arms, reproductive autonomy, and education.
Wisconsin Justices Appear Hostile to 175-Year-Old Abortion Law
The dispute over whether the 1849 law bans nearly all abortions in the state is a sign of a “world gone mad,” one justice said.
What We Learned From State Ballot Measures
The results of 2024's state ballot measures reveal mixed voter opinions on abortion, workers’ rights, and direct democracy.