Gestational age limits for abortion by state range from total bans in 13 states to no statutory cutoff at all in 9 states and Washington, D.C., with most other states drawing the line somewhere between six weeks and fetal viability. Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, each state sets its own rule, and a procedure that is legal in one state can be a felony a short drive across the border.1Justia Law. Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization
How the Weeks Are Counted
Every gestational deadline depends on how the state measures pregnancy, and the two common methods produce answers that are two weeks apart.
Most laws use gestational age, calculated from the first day of the pregnant person’s last menstrual period (LMP). Because ovulation and fertilization happen roughly two weeks after that date, a pregnancy described as “six weeks” by LMP is closer to four weeks from fertilization. Some state laws instead use “post-fertilization age,” which means a “six-week post-fertilization” ban allows roughly two more weeks of access than a “six-week gestational age” ban that sounds identical.
When the last period date is uncertain, doctors use ultrasound to estimate gestational age. If you are close to a legal cutoff, the exact measurement standard your state uses is not a technicality. It’s the difference between legal and criminal.
The Main Thresholds States Use
State laws cluster around a handful of thresholds. The categories below reflect the landscape as of early 2026.2KFF. Abortion in the United States Dashboard
- Total bans in 13 states. Abortion is prohibited at all stages of pregnancy, with narrow exceptions. No gestational limit applies because the procedure is banned from the start.
- Six-week bans in 4 states. Often called “heartbeat” laws, these restrict abortion once cardiac activity is detectable, typically around six weeks LMP. That is only about two weeks after a missed period, and many people don’t yet know they’re pregnant. In practice these function close to total bans.
- Bans between 12 and 22 weeks in 7 states. Cutoffs sit at 12 weeks (the end of the first trimester), 15, 18, or 22 weeks, depending on the state.
- Viability-based limits in 18 states. These prohibit abortion after the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb, generally estimated at 24 to 26 weeks LMP. Viability is not a fixed date and depends on individual circumstances and available medical resources.3KFF. Abortion Policy: Gestational Limits and Exceptions
- No gestational limit in 9 states plus Washington, D.C. These jurisdictions do not impose a statutory cutoff, though the procedure becomes rarer and harder to access at later gestational ages for practical and medical reasons.
These categories are not fixed. Court challenges, new legislation, and ballot initiatives continue to shift states between them. At least ten states have passed constitutional amendments protecting reproductive rights through ballot measures or court interpretation, which generally prevent the legislature from banning abortion before viability. In those states, the state constitution functions as a floor.
Exceptions That Can Extend the Deadline
Nearly every state that restricts abortion allows the procedure past the cutoff under specific circumstances, but the exceptions are narrower than they usually sound.
Life and Health of the Pregnant Person
The most common exception applies when the pregnancy threatens the pregnant person’s life. Some states write this narrowly, requiring that death be “imminent” or that a “serious permanent impairment of a major bodily function” is likely without intervention.4KFF. Policy Tracker: Exceptions to State Abortion Bans and Early Gestational Limits Others use broader language covering physical health generally. Almost all states with a health exception exclude emotional or psychological factors. A condition that is clearly deteriorating but hasn’t yet become “imminent” can leave doctors unsure whether intervening will trigger prosecution.
Rape and Incest
Some states allow exceptions when the pregnancy results from rape or incest, but eight states with restrictive laws include no such exception at all.4KFF. Policy Tracker: Exceptions to State Abortion Bans and Early Gestational Limits Where these exceptions do exist, they frequently require reporting to law enforcement within a set timeframe.
Fetal Anomalies
Several states allow abortion past the gestational limit when the fetus has been diagnosed with a condition that is “lethal” or “incompatible with life.” These exceptions generally require confirmation from more than one physician and specific documentation. The statutory language often excludes serious but non-lethal conditions.
Medication Abortion Has Its Own Effective Deadline
Medication abortion uses two drugs, mifepristone followed by misoprostol. The FDA has approved this regimen for use through 10 weeks of pregnancy (70 days from the first day of the last menstrual period).5U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Questions and Answers on Mifepristone for Medical Termination of Pregnancy Through Ten Weeks Gestation That FDA limit is a ceiling. Many state laws set their own limits for medication abortion below 10 weeks, or ban it outright as part of a total ban.
Roughly half the states allow providers to prescribe and mail these medications without an in-person visit. Nine states explicitly prohibit telehealth for medication abortion, require in-person dispensing, or ban mailing the drugs. In states with six-week bans, the window for medication abortion is extremely tight, since many patients don’t confirm a pregnancy until close to that mark. Mifepristone’s approval also faces ongoing federal legal challenges and an FDA safety review; as of early 2026, the approval remains in effect.
Waiting Periods Shrink the Real Window
Twenty-two states require a waiting period between an initial counseling appointment and the abortion procedure. These delays run from 24 to 72 hours, with six states imposing the 72-hour version. Most require the counseling to happen in person before the clock starts, so patients typically need two separate trips.
A patient who learns she is pregnant at five weeks in a state with both a six-week ban and a 72-hour waiting period has an extraordinarily narrow window. Scheduling delays, travel distances, and work obligations can easily consume what’s left. Research has shown that mandatory delays push a measurable number of patients past the first-trimester threshold and into later, more complex procedures.
Traveling to a State With a Later Limit
No federal or state law currently prohibits a person from traveling to another state to obtain an abortion that is legal there. In his concurring opinion in Dobbs, Justice Kavanaugh stated that states may not bar residents from traveling to other states for the procedure, grounding this in the constitutional right to interstate travel. Federal courts have blocked state efforts to criminalize helping someone travel for an out-of-state abortion and struck down state laws attempting to make it illegal to provide information about legal abortion services elsewhere.
On the receiving end, 22 states and Washington, D.C. have enacted “shield laws” protecting patients, providers, and people who assist in the procedure from legal consequences imposed by other states.6UCLA School of Law. Shield Laws: Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care State Law Guide These protections can include refusing to cooperate with out-of-state investigations, blocking extradition, preventing medical license discipline based on another state’s laws, and shielding patient records and location data from out-of-state subpoenas. Some shield laws also protect telehealth providers who prescribe medication abortion regardless of the patient’s location.
Several states continue to introduce “abortion trafficking” laws that try to reach people who help patients access care across state lines. Federal courts have blocked the most aggressive versions on First Amendment and right-to-travel grounds. The procedure itself is legal if performed in a state where it’s permitted, but legal risk to people helping with logistics varies by which states are involved.
Emergencies and Federal Law
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires every hospital that accepts Medicare to screen anyone who arrives at an emergency department and, if an emergency medical condition exists, to provide stabilizing treatment.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 1395dd – Examination and Treatment for Emergency Medical Conditions and Labor That mandate collides with state abortion bans when an abortion is the medically necessary stabilizing treatment for conditions like ectopic pregnancy, severe preeclampsia, or dangerous complications from pregnancy loss.
In 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance stating that EMTALA’s stabilization requirement preempts any state law that would prevent a hospital from providing an abortion needed for an emergency medical condition.8Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligations specific to Patients who are Pregnant or are Experiencing Pregnancy Loss That guidance was rescinded in 2025, though CMS stated it would continue enforcing EMTALA’s core obligations for pregnant patients. The Supreme Court had an opportunity to resolve whether EMTALA preempts state bans in Moyle v. United States but dismissed the case without deciding. No binding national precedent exists, and emergency physicians in strict-ban states face a situation where federal law may require a procedure that state law makes a felony.
What Providers Face for Going Past the Limit
Penalties fall almost entirely on providers, not patients. Eleven of the 13 states with total bans impose criminal penalties on physicians who violate them, and states with gestational limits generally follow the same enforcement approach.9KFF. Criminal Penalties for Physicians in State Abortion Bans Violations are classified as felonies in every state that criminalizes the procedure. Prison sentences range from one year to a potential life sentence depending on the jurisdiction, with most states falling between two and ten years.
A felony conviction under an abortion statute typically triggers medical license revocation. In many states, a revocation in one state also becomes grounds for denying or revoking a license anywhere else the provider holds credentials, which effectively ends a physician’s career nationwide.
Some states use a private civil enforcement model that lets individual citizens sue providers, and sometimes anyone who helps a patient obtain an abortion, for statutory damages of $10,000 or more per violation. Prosecutors are not involved; private parties file the lawsuits and collect the damages. Some of these laws deny attorney’s fees to defendants who prevail, so providers bear legal costs even when they win.
This enforcement environment matters for anyone reading a state’s exception language and trying to gauge whether it will actually be available. When the cost of being wrong about whether a patient qualifies is years in prison and a permanent loss of licensure, many physicians delay treatment until the patient is sick enough to fall unambiguously within an exception’s narrow terms.