Over half of US women on probation or parole need permission to travel for abortion – study

Abortion rights demonstrators hold signs outside the supreme court in Washington DC on 24 June 2023. Photograph: Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

The number of women on probation or parole who must seek permission to travel for an abortion more than doubled to 635,000 in two years since the supreme court overturned the federal right to abortion, a new report finds.

Fourteen states have near-total abortion bans and 21 restrict the procedure. Together with near ubiquitous travel restrictions imposed by probation and parole, more than half of women on probation or parole in the US must seek permission to travel before obtaining an abortion.