Sexual and Reproductive Autonomy Post-Dobbs: A Geovisualization Analysis

• In Event: 30258 - Reproduction in the US Post-Roe

Abstract

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) removed federal protection for abortion and allowed states to determine abortion legislation. Analyses of the majority opinion related anti-abortion rhetoric reveal that the traditional fetal rights frame has been joined by a quasi-feminist pro-woman frame, aligning anti-abortion legislation with women’s empowerment (Carson 2023; Lambert et al. 2023; Reingold et al. 2021). Such discourse posits that anti-abortion legislation empowers women by promoting sexual responsibility and re-valuing motherhood. In contrast, opponents of anti-abortion legislation consider abortion central to sexual and reproductive autonomy and a needed element of healthcare, viewing anti-abortion legislation as a mechanism for restricting sexual autonomy. Following Dobbs, several states restricted abortion access whereas others created protections, resulting in vastly divergent sexual and reproductive autonomy across the U.S.
The current study examines legislative abortion restrictiveness by U.S. state. First, we assess whether there is a relationship between state abortion restrictiveness and sex education guidelines. We posit that if abortion restrictiveness aims to empower women by promoting sexual responsibility and re-valuing motherhood it would be associated with state-mandated comprehensive sex education in U.S. postsecondary schools to educate adolescents about responsible decision making and sexual self-advocacy. Second, we assess whether there are patterns in restrictiveness in abortion regulations and sex education guidelines by U.S. region to determine regional variation in sexual and reproductive autonomy in the U.S. post-Dobbs.

Authors

• Jonzelle Bell, University of Central Florida

• Shannon K. Carter, University of Central Florida

• Yingru Li, University of Central Florida