While states that already ban abortion are looking to restrict access this year, much of the focus is on pills sent by out-of-state providers.
The poll released Tuesday helps explain this focus. She notes that more women in states with bans got abortions last year using prescription pills via telehealth than by traveling to places where it’s legal.
Most states with the political will to impose broad bans have already done so in the roughly four years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to enforcement. So far this year, only one state has a new mandate.
Here’s a look at where things stand as many state legislatures conclude or complete their 2026 sessions.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, a Republican, signed a bill last week that makes it a crime to advertise, distribute or sell abortion pills.
Similar measures have cleared both chambers of Mississippi’s legislature this year. There, the House and Senate will need to iron out differences between their versions before sending it to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves.
A survey of state abortion policies by the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, found that at least three states — Florida, Oklahoma and Texas – It already has laws that specifically prohibit providers from sending pills to patients through the mail. Louisiana has been classified One of the drugs, mifepristone, is designated as a controlled dangerous substance.
Bills aimed at banning the pill from entering unicameral legislatures were approved in Arizona, Indiana and South Carolina this year. Republicans control the legislatures in the three states and the governor’s office in two of them. But in Arizona, any restrictions could be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
A Guttmacher poll released Tuesday sheds light on why abortion opponents are so focused on the pill.
The report notes that in 2025, for the first time, more women in the 13 states that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy obtained birth control pills through telehealth than traveled to other states to have an abortion.
The prescriptions come from providers in states that have laws adopted since the fall of Roe that aim to protect those who prescribe abortion pills to patients in states that imposed the ban.
The estimated increase in mail-in pills comes as Guttmacher also estimates that fewer women are traveling to states like Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico for abortions.
Guttmacher’s estimates are based on data from a monthly survey conducted among a random sample of abortion providers in the United States, as well as historical data from each provider in the United States.
This follows the trend that has been Documented in other surveys Abortion service providers.
Multiple states are facing court challenges to federal rules allowing the abortion pill mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth.
If they could order prescriptions in person, that would at least weaken the ability of out-of-state providers to deliver pills to places where there is a ban.
Louisiana has such a lawsuit in federal court there. The public defenders in Florida and Texas have one in Texas; These two states, along with Idaho, Kansas and Missouri, are filing the same case in a Missouri court.
Meanwhile, Texas has filed civil cases and criminal cases in Louisiana against her Service providers accused of sending pills to their states.
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved a generic version of mifepristone Frustrated abortion opponents.
Wyoming is the only state this year to impose a new abortion ban.
under a The law was signed in March By Republican Gov. Mark Gordon, the state became the fifth to ban abortion at the gestational age of about six weeks — before many women even realize they are pregnant. Like most other states, Wyoming bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected.
Courts have rejected Wyoming’s previous efforts to limit abortion.
Wyoming Supreme Court in January Hit the ban Concerning abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
No country has adopted a measure intended to allow criminal prosecutions against women who have abortions.
Proposals to do so continue to emerge but falter early in the legislative process.
The furthest the bill got was a hearing last year before A.J South Carolina Senate Subcommittee. A subcommittee hearing in Tennessee was scheduled for this month, but did not get one.
Pregnancy Justice, which advocates for the rights of pregnant women, says it has tracked new “abortion as murder” measures being introduced in six states in 2026 – down from 13 states last year.
Major anti-abortion groups oppose this approach. “Women need compassion and support,” said Ingrid Duran, state legislative director for National Right to Life. “It’s not a trial.”
Melissa Murray, a professor at New York University School of Law, says introducing bills with penalties against women could undermine the idea that such policies are prohibited.
“Keep pushing the limits, pushing the boundaries, and eventually you’ll get what you’re looking for,” Murray said. “It won’t seem so surreal or shocking anymore.”
She also noted that women are sometimes accused of crimes related to their pregnancy. Police in Georgia this month A woman was accused of murder After allegedly using abortion pills and the opioid painkiller oxycodone.
Abortion questions will go before voters in at least three states in November.
Missouri lawmakers are wondering Voters to repeal the right to reproductive freedom they put in place State constitution in 2024.
Elsewhere, voters are being asked to add constitutional amendments that largely mirror existing state abortion laws.
In Nevada, a state constitutional amendment passed in 2024 to allow abortion until fetal viability — generally considered after 21 weeks of pregnancy — was passed. But it needs voter approval again to take effect.
The measure Virginia will put on the ballot would guarantee the right to reproductive freedom, including access to contraception and decisions about abortion care during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.
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Associated Press reporter Amelia Thompson Defoe contributed to this article.