Knowledge of Legality of Abortion and Other Reproductive Health Practices Among Women in Ohio Post-Dobbs

Misconceptions about the legality of reproductive healthcare could prevent or delay people from accessing needed services. We evaluated knowledge about the legality of abortion and 11 other reproductive health practices in Ohio.

We analyzed data from a population-representative survey of adult, reproductive-age women in Ohio (September 2022-August 2023; N = 2421) collected after the US Supreme Court's June 2022 Dobbs decision allowing states to restrict abortion. We used log binomial regression to identify participant factors related to lacking knowledge of legality and compared knowledge in 2022-2023 to a pre-Dobbs wave (October 2018-June 2019; N = 2516) to evaluate whether misconceptions increased over time. Abortion was legal in Ohio until 22 weeks of gestation during both survey periods; however, during a brief (< 3 months) intervening period, legal abortion was restricted after approximately 6 weeks.

Post-Dobbs, substantial percentages reported believing that abortion was illegal (40.5%) or not knowing (28.7%). Many did not know the legality of other practices such as using assisted reproductive technology (17.3%), traveling out of state to obtain an abortion (44.3%), or obtaining medical care during or after miscarriage (21.3%) or for ectopic pregnancy (27.7%). The prevalence of believing that abortion was illegal was higher post-Dobbs (40.5%) compared to pre-Dobbs (10.1%; p < 0.001).

Overall, 69.2% of adult, reproductive-age women in Ohio in 2022-2023 did not know that abortion was legal in the state. Even in a state with legally protected abortion rights, women might be unaware of their legal right to healthcare, which could introduce delays in seeking or foregoing care.