So what does it mean for abortion rights to be expanded in some states, and further enshrined and protected in others, when Trump takes the White House? And how protected will people in these states be if Trump does what many advisers and supporters have asked of him, enacting a national ban on abortion, with or without the passage of new legislation? State protections against abortion could guarantee access to something that is not accessible, or constitute a federal crime.

To answer this question, it is first important to understand that the problems we face regarding abortion rights are bigger than Trump. On the campaign trail, Harris and her surrogates repeatedly told voters that Trump was an anti-abortion candidate. They called state abortion bans “Trump’s abortion bans.” When women died in Texas because they were unable to have abortions, it was widely seen as proof of the horrors committed by the government. Dobbs This decision, made by a Supreme Court newly staffed with three Trump appointees, had borne fruit. In fact, Texas’ near-total ban on abortion was already in effect before the end of the year. Roe deer. It may have seemed politically useful, but all the bad things that have happened around abortion since Dobbs is due to Dobbsor Trump. And despite this story, which was only partially true to begin with, voters seemed happy to vote for Trump anyway.

Even residents of states where the right to abortion is now protected by the state constitution will face other dangers. Nevada’s constitutional amendment, for example, would not change the outcome of any of the stories that sparked outrage before the elections: that of a mother of three, struggling to find housing for her family, who was arrested and prosecuted in 2018 for apparent stillbirth. Prosecutors used a 1911 law that effectively criminalized self-managed abortion after 24 weeks and is still in effect.