What are abortion shield laws?

In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, many states have moved to protect the right to abortion, and several have turned to a new tool to do so: abortion shield laws.

- CHANTELLE LEE

Enacted in 18 states and Washington, D.C., abortion shield laws are “novel protections,” according to Lizzy Hinkley, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which helped draft some of them. The laws are meant to protect providers practicing in states where abortion is legal, from civil and criminal actions taken by states with bans or restrictions on abortion. The laws also cover patients and people who help a patient access abortion. The protections vary by state, but can include the shield state’s refusal to comply with another state’s extradition order for a doctor who has provided reproductive-health care that’s legally protected in the shield state and refusal to participate in another state’s investigation into the provider.