Through strategic litigation, legal policy and advocacy, and holding governments accountable, the Center’s U.S. Program—with offices in New York and Washington, D.C.—works to strengthen legal guarantees to ensure reproductive rights and health services are available across the country.
Reproductive rights are under threat across the United States.
19
States that have totally banned or severely restricted abortion.
3x
Black women in the U.S. are almost three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women.
24/100K
The rate of maternal mortality in the U.S., which is more than three times the rate of most other high-income countries.
Restrictive laws and unaffordable healthcare undermine reproductive freedoms in the United States.
The Center’s U.S. Program uses litigation and policy advocacy to expand access to reproductive health care and protect legal rights. With offices in New York and Washington, D.C., the team holds governments accountable and pushes for stronger legal protections. The Center also focuses on reducing barriers to care for Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and people of color, as well as those in rural and low-income communities.
Explore key U.S. reproductive rights issues. From shield laws protecting out-of-state abortion care, to maternal health initiatives, state constitutional protections, and federal agency policies that impact access to reproductive health care.
Interstate shield laws are important tools that states use to protect out-of-state patients accessing abortion care. The laws protect abortion providers, helpers, and patient medical records from civil and criminal consequences stemming from abortion and reproductive health care provided to out-of-state residents.
The Center’s Maternal Health & Rights Initiative promotes the human rights of pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people in the United States. The Initiative’s three main priorities are ensuring high quality data collection, fighting for access to safe and respectful, comprehensive maternal health care, and addressing racism within and beyond the health care system.
Read more about the U.S Maternal Health & Rights Initiative here.
Every state in the nation has a unique constitution, along with state courts free to recognize protection for rights including abortion. For decades, state courts have heard challenges to abortion restrictions and interpreted a wide range of rights—among them liberty, equality, and privacy—to either support or block laws independently from federal courts. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ended the federal right to abortion, many state courts are now deciding for the first time whether and how their state constitutions protect abortion.
President Trump has stacked his administration with anti-reproductive rights officials responsible for leading federal agencies that directly impact access to reproductive health care—including abortion, birth control, IVF, and maternal health care.
The Center for Reproductive Rights’ tool,Repro Red Flags: Agency Watch, shares research on these appointees, their anti-repro backgrounds, and the powers of the agencies they oversee. Importantly, it also serves as a repository of key Trump administration policies related to reproductive health.
Learn more about the Center’s work advancing reproductive rights in the U.S.
