Lawmakers in at least 29 states looking to pass measures to stop abortion.
QUICK FACTS:
- With the U.S. Supreme Court expected to decide in the coming months whether to reverse its nearly 50-year rule allowing abortion nationwide, lawmakers in Republican-led states across the country have moved aggressively to lay the groundwork for a new era of pro-life policies, The Washington Post (WaPo) reports.
- Legislators in at least 29 states have filed antiabortion legislation in their 2022 legislative session.
- Nebraska lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban all abortions if the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision is overturned.
- Florida legislators also announced plans to narrow the window for abortion access from 24 weeks of pregnancy to 15.
- Arizona legislators unveiled the “Arizona Heartbeat Act,” designed to mimic a Texas law passed last year.
- Lawmakers in Indiana have proposed a bill that would prompt a special session if the Supreme Court rolls back abortion protections significantly, where legislators could ban abortion or pass other abortion restrictions.
- Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Carolina are also among those states pushing sweeping antiabortion efforts.
- If Roe does fall, 26 states are “certain or likely” to ban abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research center that supports abortion rights, WaPo notes.
WHAT PRO-LIFE LAWMAKERS ARE SAYING:
“We don’t know exactly what that decision [regarding Roe v. Wade] is going to be yet,” said Arkansas state senator Jason Rapert (R), who has been jockeying to pass a bill modeled after the Texas law, which banned abortion after six weeks, WaPo reports. “Until that decision is released, we need to pick up every tool to save babies’ lives—and do all we can, whenever we can.”
BACKGROUND:
- Pro-life efforts have instigated pro-abortion Democrats in at least 17 states to file bills that aim to expand abortion access, according to Planned Parenthood, WaPo notes.
- States are replicating the Texas law, known as Senate Bill 8, which evaded the Roe framework by empowering private citizens to enforce the law through civil litigation.
- Legislators in eight states—Ohio, Florida, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Wisconsin—have looked to duplicate Texas-style bans since September, with several more states expected to introduce similar legislation in the coming weeks, according to WaPo.
- In South Dakota, Noem introduced a draft text of a similar bill on Jan 21.
