Behind the wave of state abortion bans, there are a lot of men by Insider

With the decision for the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade looming back in early May 2022, Insider produced a package of stories focused on the 13 “trigger law” states. These states had abortion bans on the books set to become law when Roe v. Wade was overturned. We examined each bill, dating back to 2005, and did a gender and party breakdown of the sponsors for each one.

Four of these so-called "trigger laws" — in Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, and Oklahoma — had zero women sponsors or co-sponsors. Of the 13 governors who signed them into law, 12 are Republican men. Yet the language in these laws specifically targets women.

A look at the players behind a likely imminent wave of abortion bans reveals a stark lack of gender diversity that extends beyond the mostly male Supreme Court justices expected to strike down Roe v. Wade and the 91% male US senators who voted to confirm them. A total of 444 state legislators served as lead sponsor or cosponsor of abortion bans in 13 states that take effect as soon as the high court overturns the landmark decision. They're predominantly men, too — 84%.

The visuals for this story are crucial in depicting this data and put a literal face to the (mostly) men behind these laws.