Keywords
constitutional law; Dormant Commerce Clause; Commerce Clause; Pike balancing test; extraterritoriality; interstate travel; interstate commerce; state legislation; abortion regulation; abortion jurisprudence; reproductive healthcare; health law; mifepristone; medication abortion; telehealth; women’s rights; gender; medicine; National Pork Producers Council v. Ross; Pike v. Bruce Church; Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
Abstract
Since Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, twelve states have banned abortion entirely, and seven states have banned abortion earlier in pregnancy than the standard set in Roe v. Wade. As abortion access dwindles, patients increasingly cross state lines to seek reproductive healthcare. In response, antiabortion state officials and lawmakers have made efforts to restrict interstate travel for abortion care.
This Note examines abortion travel restrictions under the “Dormant” Commerce Clause doctrine, which limits state laws that burden interstate commerce. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed but narrowed the judge-made doctrine in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross. This Note analyzes state regulations of interstate abortion travel under the newly clarified two-tier Dormant Commerce Clause test. It concludes that such laws violate the Dormant Commerce Clause by (1) impermissibly depriving out-of-state businesses of their competitive advantages and (2) imposing a clearly excessive burden on interstate commerce relative to the laws’ purported benefits.
Recommended Citation
Katherine Bartley,
Abortion Travel Restrictions Under the Dormant Commerce Clause After National Pork Producers Council v. Ross,
93 Fordham L. Rev. 2067
(2025).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol93/iss6/4
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