Opinion Today: America, a year after Dobbs

How the end of the constitutional right to abortion has changed our country.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story June 24, 2023 Allie Sullberg By Vanessa Mobley Op-Ed Editor On this day last year, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Since then, Times Opinion has traced how the end of the constitutional right to abortion has changed our country. Lauren Kelley, who has led that coverage, co-moderated a focus group this week with Kansas women exploring their ideas about the Dobbs decision. Kansans went to the polls shortly after the Dobbs decision and voted to reject a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have made abortion illegal in Kansas. Today the law professors David S. Cohen, Greer Donley and Rachel Rebouché detail the political and legal strategy "to overturn Dobbs," which they make clear "doesn't mean simply returning to Roe." Hadley Heath Manning, the vice president for policy at Independent Women's Forum, also examines "the conservative position on birth control" and asks "whether contraception is a positive right or a personal choice." As we contemplate the legislative, legal and political consequences of the court's decision in Dobbs, Linda Greenhouse focuses on what a restriction of the right to abortion has meant for women: "The crisis in reproductive health care that Dobbs propelled is acute and growing. There have been, in other words, alarming consequences." As Cohen, Donley and Rebouché point out, "almost a third of states in this country now ban almost all abortions, and more than a third have passed new laws protecting abortion rights." The conversation over the right to abortion, and even access to birth control, is far from over. READ THE COVERAGE HERE What Nine Women in Kansas Wish People Realized About Abortion The group discusses the first anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the issue of abortion in Kansas. By Adrian J. Rivera, Lauren Kelley and Kristen Soltis Anderson GUEST ESSAY Is There Any Twinge of Regret Among the Anti-Abortion Justices? A year later, the consequences for women have been alarming. By Linda Greenhouse GUEST ESSAY How the Conservative Movement Sees Birth Control Today At the heart of the conservative position on birth control is whether contraception is a positive right or a personal choice. By Hadley Heath Manning GUEST ESSAY We Need to Talk About Overturning the Dobbs Decision It won't be easy, and it probably won't be quick. But there needs to be a plan in place. By David S. Cohen, Greer Donley and Rachel Rebouché Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT LISTEN TO THIS Nine Kansas Women Try to Make Sense of America's Hardest Issue 7:56 min THE WEEK IN BIG IDEAS Illustration by The New York Times GUEST ESSAY The Science of What We Eat Is Failing Us Nutrition science needs a credibility revolution. By Anupam B. Jena and Christopher M. Worsham Anastasiia Sapon for The New York Times GUEST ESSAY Your Brain Has Tricked You Into Thinking Everything Is Worse Our biased attention means we'll always feel we're living in dark times, and our biased memory means we'll always think the past was brighter. By Adam Mastroianni Illustration by Sam Whitney/The New York Times GUEST ESSAY The World's Digital Memory Is at Risk Digital archives are humanity's collective memory. Who should control them, and how, is a major problem for digital societies. By Nanna Bonde Thylstrup Eleanor Davis JESSICA GROSE The Largest and Fastest Religious Shift in America Is Well Underway We're dechurching at a rapid clip. By Jessica Grose Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Subscribe Today New York Times Opinion curates a wide range of views, inviting rich discussion and debate that help readers analyze the world. This work is made possible with the support of subscribers. 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