Employer protections remain a lifeline to women two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned

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- Two years later. It’s been two years since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.

In the time since, 14 states have banned abortion outright and a handful of others have implemented gestational limits lower than the viability standard set by Roe v. Wade 50 years ago. Doctors have fled red states because of onerous new laws, leading to shortages. Maternal health outcomes have gotten substantially worse, and some conservatives are now going after IVF, contraceptives, and other reproductive health care. Any day now, the Supreme Court will rule on whether hospitals in states with total bans must provide patients with emergency abortion care.

All of these were predictable outcomes of the decision, says Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. But she isn’t giving up hope that access will improve for women.

In the face of these trials and restrictions, women and other allies are still fighting for their freedoms. Consider: Many states, like my home state of Michigan, have added new protections or even enshrined abortion and other reproductive health care rights in their constitutions. In each of six states that have put abortion measures on ballots since the Dobbs decision, the side favoring abortion access has won. Many brave women have come forward to share their stories and demand better from politicians and others who are restricting women's access to health care.

Northup has worked at the Center for 20 years. In that time, she’s seen the conversation around reproductive health care transform, with women no longer afraid to push lawmakers, and media outlets covering the issue extensively. She is also optimistic that businesses will continue to provide comprehensive care for employees and step up in the face of further restrictions.

"The focus on what has this meant for businesses, how are employers thinking about it, will increasingly be an important point of discussion," she says. "The business sector is realizing these policies are really bad for business, and their employees, and the business environment."

Of course, employer action may come too little too late for many women, and the health care benefits of individual companies can't replace nationwide protections. All eyes are now on this fall’s presidential election, in which abortion could play a decisive role in the outcome. Northup is hopeful that Congress will still pass federal abortion protections—assuming it gets the votes to do so.

"I do think we are on a trajectory to regain abortion rights in places where they've been denied," she says. "With work, things will be changed."

Alicia Adamczyk
alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com