The Last Southern State Standing: Abortion Rights in Virginia post Dobbs

If you are native to Virginia, you know that just about the only significant thing about it is its historical relevance to the rest of the nation: the location of the first colony in the “New World,” birthplace of eight US presidents, and everyone’s favorite– home to the former capital of the Confederacy.

In this day and age, we are at a new crossroads. Virginia has become the last southern state that has not restricted access to abortion since the fall of Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022. The American South, as defined by the US Census Bureau, encapsulates 16 states and the District of Colu mbia

Out of those 16 states (excluding D.C.), Virginia is the last state that 1) has not passed more stringent legislation on the definition of abortion, nor 2) has a gestation limit of 16 weeks or fewer in order to have an abortion.

With the recent November 7th elections, abortion will likely stay legal in Virginia, but this does not change the fact that many other states around the country have had this right stripped away. It makes it all the more important that Virginia keep abortion rights intact.

The Background:

The landmark case Roe v. Wade was a court decision that made state bans on abortion illegal, effectively federally protecting abortion rights in 1973. In 2022, the Dobbs v. Jackson caused the Supreme Court to rethink the constitutionality of Roe. This ended the 50 year old precedent of having abortion protected by the Constitution; the idea that abortion is a liberty guaranteed to American women was shattered. The opinion of the court in 1973 reads as follows:

“This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (153)

Here is a section of the preamble of the Dobbs’ decision, backtracking on the Court’s initial stance on federal protection of abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment.

“Guided by the history and tradition that map the essential components of the Nation’s concept of ordered liberty, the Court finds the Fourteenth Amendment clearly does not protect the right to an abortion. Until the latter part of the 20th century, there was no support in American law for a constitutional right to obtain an abortion.” (3)

Since the ruling, legislators have made substantial changes to state policies on abortion. According to American Progress, 563 provisions were introduced by the states in 2022 to restrict access to abortion, and 50 of those restrictions were signed into law the same year. In 2023, Virginia itself introduced over 3 explicit prohibitions, including a 15 week gestation period restriction and even a total ban, giving the fetus rights from conception. None of these were passed into law, but their existence speaks volumes. A total of 14 states now have outright bans on abortion, 8 out of the 14 being southern states, with some exceptions for rape and incest.

However, Dobbs did also result in some increased protective measures across several states and the District of Columbia. Around 77 were proposed in 2022, more than any enacted in the last decade.

Though it has not added any additional protections, legal abortion in Virginia still remains and as a result, many have fled to Virginia to seek an abortion.

Keeping this in mind with the recent influx of patients to Virginia clinics, it has forced them to delegate more attention to providing abortions and takes away attention from their other sexual and reproductive health services.

It’s important to note that the definition of “legal abortion” ranges from state to state. Some states, like Virginia, rely on fetal viability, which is when the fetus has the ability to survive outside of the u terus

. This is typically around 24 weeks. Other states rely on gestational limits of varying times, which is a calculated time from conception. Virginia’s gestational limit for abortion is 26 weeks and six days of pregnancy as of 2023.

The Present

According to the Society of Family Planning, 2400 abortions were performed in Virginia in June of 2022. In June 2023, this number had risen to 3120, a 30% rise for the state. Part of this rise is no doubt in part due to those seeking abortions from other states.

It is estimated that 96% of abortions in the U.S were pro vided at clinics and just 4% were pro vided in doctors’ offices or hospitals i n 2020. Most clinic-based abortions were provided at clinics that specialize in abortion care, but many were provided at clinics that offer other sexual and reproductive health services such as contraception and STI care.

Clinics are now often overflowing with patients, causing healthcare workers to overextend their resources and time. Such a clinic, World Woman's Health in Charlottesville, Virginia, is one of the many that have experienced these consequences as women arrived from Georgia, North Carolina, and West Virginia for abortion procedures.

The doctors on staff at these locations worked past typical closing times to provide care for these women. Native Virginian women are also invariably experiencing longer wait times because of the increased number of patients.

The notion of leaving your home to receive an abortion is not an easy one and often entails researching travel costs, childcare, and medical costs for the actual procedure. Due to time spent saving up for traveling costs or other obstacles, these women are forced to wait later into their pregnancies.

The doctors on staff at these locations worked past typical closing times to provide care for these women. Native Virginian women are also invariably experiencing longer wait times because of the increased number of patients.

The notion of leaving your home to receive an abortion is not an easy one and often entails researching travel costs, childcare, and medical costs for the actual procedure. Due to time spent saving up for traveling costs or other obstacles, these women are forced to wait later into their pregnancies.

Virginia has proven to be a haven for southern women seeking abortions. The influx of incoming seekers into the state is proof of this. Virginia’s significance as the “last southern state standing” lies beyond a headline. It’s the foreseeable future of abortion rights in the south, and the United States itself.

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