The First 13: In states with 'trigger laws,' abortion rights are now history. This is how we got here, and the chaos that comes next.
On Friday, June 24, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, shattering an established constitutional right and the lives of millions of Americans.
Legislatures in numerous states are poised to quickly eliminate — or enshrine — abortion rights in the wake of the upheaval. But the fate of women, and trans and nonbinary people, is sealed in 13 states with abortion "trigger laws": Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.
There, the highest court's action will ban abortion automatically.
Insider spent months investigating how we got here, identifying the politicians who pushed these bans and the corporations that bankrolled their efforts. We filed records requests and made hundreds of calls only to find that most public agencies and major employers in these states have failed to prepare for the radical new reality that awaits us.
We also spoke with people across the 13 "trigger law" states about their fears and expectations. For them, a once unimaginable future will arrive within days.
People in "trigger law" states discuss their fears, expectations, and plans for a post-Roe America.
A Refusal to PrepareFrom public agencies to private corporations, few have bothered to plan for how to implement extreme abortion bans.
Behind the BansInsider identified the lawmakers and corporate backers behind the anti-Roe Supreme Court majority and the state abortion "trigger laws."
Reporting: Áine Cain, Matt Drange, Tanya Dua, Nicole Einbinder, Nicole Gaudiano, Madison Hall, Caroline Haskins, Madison Hoff, Esther Kaplan, Talia Lakritz, Kimberly Leonard, Anna Medaris, Andrea Michelson, Julia Naftulin, Oma Seddiq, Sindhu Sundar, Rebecca Ungarino, Angela Wang, Marguerite Ward
Editing: Esther Kaplan, John Cook, Sophie Kleeman
Design and development: Kazi Awal, Skye Gould, Jenny Chang-Rodriguez, Taylor Tyson, Annie Fu