Exploring How Shield Laws Protect Interstate Abortion Care Access

In the aftermath of the 2022 Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, patients find themselves navigating a variable legal landscape. While abortion care access may be legal in one state, it may not be in another, and that leaves those in abortion-restriction states, in some cases, traveling out of state for the procedure and putting themselves at risk for civil or criminal penalties. Shield laws have begun to crop up in abortion-legal states to protect these patients—and anyone involved in abortion access—from those legal consequences. In this episode, Manatt Health Partner Randi Seigel and Counsel Alice Leiter outline trends in shield laws.