As always, you can find the Dobbs v. Jackson decision here.

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Sentence 2 of 3

This is a big one. It’s one claim, I guess, but the six parts of the claim are separable into individual claims, so I’ll do that:

“They note that attitudes about the pregnancy of unmarried women have changed drastically; that federal and state laws ban discrimination on the basis of pregnancy;42 that leave for pregnancy and childbirth are now guaranteed by law in many cases;43 that the costs of medical care associated with pregnancy are covered by insurance or government assistance;44 that States have increasingly adopted ‘safe haven’ laws, which generally allow women to drop off babies anonymously;45 and that a woman who puts her newborn up for adoption today has little reason to fear that the baby will not find a suitable home.46

The claims:

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted] note that attitudes about the pregnancy of unmarried women have changed drastically.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that federal and state laws ban discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that leave for pregnancy and childbirth are now guaranteed by law in many cases.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that the costs of medical care associated with pregnancy are covered by insurance or government assistance.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that States have increasingly adopted ‘safe haven’ laws, which generally allow women to drop off babies anonymously.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that a woman who puts her newborn up for adoption today has little reason to fear that the baby will not find a suitable home.”

Let’s take these one at a time:

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted] note that attitudes about the pregnancy of unmarried women have changed drastically.”

I’m guessing this is true, but without a citation I’m not looking for the support right now. Also, if a person seeking an abortion were to list the reasons for wanting or needing an abortion, where would this concern rank? Not very high, I’m guessing.

How about the second claim?

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that federal and state laws ban discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.”

This one at least cites a footnote:

“See, e.g., Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 92 Stat. 2076, 42 U.S.C. §2000e(k) (federal law prohibiting pregnancy discrimination in employment); Dept. of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Employment Protections for Workers Who Are Pregnant or Nursing, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/pregnant-nursing-employment-protections (showing that 46 States and the District of Columbia have employment protections against pregnancy discrimination).

It is true. There are laws against this kind of discrimination.

Claim #3:

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that leave for pregnancy and childbirth are now guaranteed by law in many cases.”

This one is also supported by cited material:

“See, e.g., Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 107 Stat. 9, 29 U.S.C. §2612 (federal law guaranteeing employment leave for pregnancy and birth); Bureau of Labor Statistics, Access to Paid and Unpaid Family Leave in 2018, https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/access-to-paid-and-unpaid-family-leave-in-2018.htm (showing that 89 percent of civilian workers had access to unpaid family leave in 2018).”

I’m not sure how useful unpaid leave is, but yeah. There is more of this kind of support than there used to be.

Claim #4:

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that the costs of medical care associated with pregnancy are covered by insurance or government assistance.”

More cited support!

“The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires non-grandfathered health plans in the individual and small group markets to cover certain essential health benefits, which include maternity and newborn care. See 124 Stat. 163, 42 U.S.C. §18022(b)(1)(D). The ACA also prohibits annual limits, see §300gg–11, and limits annual cost-sharing obligations on such benefits, §18022(c). State Medicaid plans must provide coverage for pregnancy-related services—including, but not limited to, prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum care—as well as services for other conditions that might complicate the pregnancy. 42 CFR §§440.210(a)(2)(i)–(ii) (2020). State Medicaid plans are also prohibited from imposing deductions, cost-sharing, or similar charges for pregnancy-related services for pregnant women. 42 U.S.C. §§1396o(a)(2)(B), (b)(2)(B).”

Yep. That Affordable Care Act sure is something. Let’s hope nobody tries to eliminate it.

Claim #5:

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that States have increasingly adopted “safe haven” laws, which generally allow women to drop off babies anonymously.”

And here’s the citation:

“Since Casey, all 50 States and the District of Columbia have enacted such laws. Dept. of Health and Human Servs., Children’s Bureau, Infant Safe Haven Laws 1–2 (2016), https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/safehaven.pdf (noting that safe haven laws began in Texas in 1999).”

And claim #6:

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that a woman who puts her newborn up for adoption today has little reason to fear that the baby will not find a suitable home.”

More cited support:

“See, e.g., CDC, Adoption Experiences of Women and Men and Demand for Children To Adopt by Women 18–44 Years of Age in the United States 16 (Aug. 2008) (“[N]early 1 million women were seeking to adopt children in 2002 (i.e., they were in demand for a child), whereas the domestic supply of infants relinquished at birth or within the first month of life and available to be adopted had become virtually nonexistent”); CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, Adoption and Nonbiological Parenting, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/key_statistics/a-keystat.htm# adoption (showing that approximately 3.1 million women between the ages of 18–49 had ever “[t]aken steps to adopt a child” based on data collected from 2015–2019).”

Five of these six claims have support and appear to be true. None of them seem to address central concerns from the pro-choice side, but they are something.

So we have one undetermined claim:

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted] note that attitudes about the pregnancy of unmarried women have changed drastically.”

And five true claims:

• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that federal and state laws ban discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that leave for pregnancy and childbirth are now guaranteed by law in many cases.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that the costs of medical care associated with pregnancy are covered by insurance or government assistance.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that States have increasingly adopted “safe haven” laws, which generally allow women to drop off babies anonymously.”
• “[Americans who believe that abortion should be restricted note] that a woman who puts her newborn up for adoption today has little reason to fear that the baby will not find a suitable home.”