A Chill Wind Blows: Undue Burden in the Wake of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt

Catherine Gamper

This Comment will argue that, as the Court sits today, abortion regulations are analyzed through a dual framework. Those laws that regulate an individual's access to abortions will likely survive the undue burden test while those laws that restrict an abortion provider's provision of abortions will likely fail. The effect of the Court's current abortion jurisprudence, however, leaves open an avenue for states to fashion novel and creative approaches to regulate abortion that fall somewhere between regulating an individual's access to and a doctor's provision of abortions. Abortion providers in states seeking to enact such laws must anticipate and plan for such regulations or face clinic closures. Likewise, women in those states may face greater challenges to obtaining abortions in their home states if the providers cannot keep up with their legislature's continuing efforts at regulation, which reduces access to the procedure.