U.S. Supreme Court makes new rules, but abortion remains legal in Oregon

(JULY 1, 2022) The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. It makes final decisions about the law. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that women have the right to have an abortion. (If a woman has an abortion, she ends a pregnancy.) On June 24, 2022, however, the Supreme Court changed its mind. Abortions are no longer legal in all states. Instead, each state government makes its own decision. Some states continue to allow abortions. At least 13 states will change their laws and make abortion illegal.

Amelia Templeton is a journalist for Oregon Public Broadcasting. She writes about health. She explains that Oregon state law says abortion is still legal here. Women do not have to wait. They do not need permission from parents. And they do not have to be a resident of Oregon.

The U.S. Supreme Court believes that the 1973 decision was wrong. So they changed the rule for the country. Many people are happy with the new rule. They think it saves the lives of unborn babies. However, many people are not happy. They believe women have the right to control their own bodies. They don't want governments deciding for them.

The number of abortions in Oregon has been falling. In 1989, there were 14,000 abortions. Recently, the number is about 7,000. This number might increase again because people from other states will travel to Oregon.

Most clinics with abortion services are west of the Cascade Mountains. They are in places like Portland and Eugene. There is only one clinic on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. It is in Bend. That clinic thinks it will have more patients now. They think women will come to them from other states like Idaho. Some people in Oregon live near Idaho and get healthcare there. Idaho will ban most abortions in the fall. The clinic thinks more Oregonians will come to Bend, too. So they might open another clinic in Ontario, a town near the border with Idaho.

People on both sides of the issue say this is not the end. Some people want to stop abortions in all states. Other people want to make abortions available everywhere. Many people worry that the U.S. Supreme Court will take away other rights, too, such as birth control and same-sex marriage.