The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had provided a constitutional right to abortion
Here is an overview of abortion legislation and the expected impact of the court’s decision in every state.Political control: Alabama has a Republican-controlled legislature and a Republican governor who want to ban or restrict access to abortions.
Background: The Alaska Supreme Court has interpreted the right to privacy in the state constitution as encompassing abortion rights. Effect of Supreme Court ruling: Ducey has argued in media interviews that the law he signed in late March takes precedence over the total ban that remains on the books. But the law he signed specifically says it does not overrule the total abortion ban in place for more than 100 years. Ducey is term-limited and leaves office in January.
What’s next: Hours after Friday’s ruling, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge signed certification that Roe had been overturned. That certification allows the state’s “trigger ban” to take effect immediately. The only exception in that ban is to protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency. The Legislature isn’t scheduled to meet until January, but Hutchinson is considering calling a special session to take up tax relief proposals.
Background: A 1967 state law legalized abortion up to 16 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion has been accessible ever since, despite repeated legislative attempts and ballot initiatives to restrict or abolish the procedure. Colorado voters have consistently rejected such initiatives, the latest in 2020 that would have banned abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy. In 2022, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a law placing the right to abortion in state statute.
Effect of Supreme Court ruling: Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, has vowed to challenge any attempt to nullify Connecticut’s abortion rights law. “Let’s not mince words. They will come for us,” Tong warned abortion rights supporters during a recent news conference. “We will fight that effort tooth-and-nail. Any court, any place, Connecticut will be there and will fight.” The state is already involved in major abortion cases across the country.
What’s next: According to state health officials, 2,042 abortions were performed in Delaware in 2019, with 1,765 involving Delaware residents and 277 involving nonresidents. Delaware is not likely to see a huge influx of women traveling from out of state to get abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned, given that neighboring Maryland and New Jersey also have liberal abortion-access laws.
Background: Abortion was legal in Florida until the 24th week of pregnancy, though lawmakers have been tightening access in recent years with bills requiring a one-day waiting period and requiring parents of a pregnant minor to be notified before an abortion can be provided. This year, in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v.
Effect of Supreme Court ruling: The day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Georgia’s attorney general asked the 11th Circuit to reverse the lower court’s ruling and allow the state’s abortion law to take effect. That same day, the 11th Circuit directed the parties to file briefs within three weeks addressing what effect, if any, the Supreme Court decision has on the Georgia appeal.
What’s next: Political support for abortion rights is strong. Anti-abortion bills are rarely heard at the state Legislature. When they have been, they haven’t made it out of committee. Gov. David Ige issued a statement supporting abortion rights when the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe leaked. ”No matter what the Supreme Court decides, I will fight to ensure a woman’s right to choose in the State of Hawaii,” he said.
Background: Abortion is legal in Illinois and can only be restricted after the point of viability, when a fetus is considered able to survive outside the womb. Medical science determines viability at 24 to 26 weeks, but the Illinois law does not specify a timeframe, saying a medical professional can determine viability in each case. Abortions are also allowed after viability to protect the patient’s life or health.
Effect of Supreme Court ruling: No immediate changes are expected, but legislators unwilling to wait until the 2023 session could ask Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb to call a special session this summer to start modifying the state’s abortion laws. What’s next: Now that the Iowa Supreme Court has struck down its 2018 ruling, the state Legislature can convene a special session this summer and pass abortion restrictions. Republicans could still move to get the constitutional amendment on a public ballot in 2024.Political control: Kansas has a legislature controlled by Republicans who want to ban or restrict access to abortions but a Democratic governor who supports access and is up for re-election this year.
Background: Kentucky bans abortions after 20 weeks, but all abortion services were temporarily halted in April after the legislature imposed new restrictions and reporting requirements on the state’s two abortion clinics. The clinics, both in Louisville, said they suspended abortions because state officials hadn’t written guidelines on how to comply with the new law. Noncompliance could result in stiff fines, felony penalties and revocation of physician and facility licenses.
Effect of Supreme Court ruling: Louisiana has a trigger law that immediately outlaws abortions. There is no exception for rape or incest. The only exception is if there is substantial risk of death or impairment to the woman. Earlier this week, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, signed a bill updating various aspects of the law and subjecting abortion providers to up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $100,000.
Effect of Supreme Court ruling: Nothing will change in Maine. Any attempt to restrict abortions when lawmakers reconvene next year would face fierce pushback. Abortion providers, meanwhile, said there could be an influx of patients seeking abortions from states that outlaw the procedure. Effect of Supreme Court ruling: Baker has vowed to fight to keep abortion legal in Massachusetts, but it is his last year in office. Both Democratic candidates for governor — state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz and Attorney General Maura Healey — support abortion rights. Republican candidate Geoff Diehl said he believes in “the need to protect human life wherever and whenever possible.” Fellow GOP candidate Chris Doughty said he would “not seek any changes to our state’s abortion laws.
What’s next: Whitmer also filed suit asking the state’s Supreme Court to declare the 91-year-old law unconstitutional. It has not acted yet. Michigan abortion rights supporters hope to put the issue on ballots this fall. Their proposed constitutional amendment would affirm the right to make pregnancy-related decisions without interference, including about abortion and other reproductive services such as birth control.
Background: Mississippi already had a law banning most abortions at 20 weeks, although the state’s lone abortion clinic offered the procedure only through 16 weeks. The state tried to enact a law in 2018 to ban most abortions after 15 weeks. That law is the basis for the case that the Supreme Court has now used to overturn Roe v. Wade. A federal district judge blocked Mississippi’s 15-week law from taking effect in 2018, and an appeals court agreed.
Effect of Supreme Court ruling: The 2019 law contained a provision making it effective upon notification by the attorney general, governor or Legislature that the U.S. Supreme Court had overruled Roe v. Wade. Moments after Friday’s Supreme Court decision, Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Gov. Mike Parson filed the necessary paperwork for Missouri’s law to kick in. State statutes were subsequently updated online Friday saying the abortion-ban law had taken effect.
What’s next: The Montana Supreme Court will issue a decision on the preliminary injunction. The Montana Legislature also passed a referendum to ask voters this November whether they support a state law to require abortion providers to give lifesaving treatment to a fetus that is born alive after a botched abortion. Opponents argue federal law already offers those protections.
Background: Nevada voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution in 1990. The law says a pregnancy can be terminated during the first 24 weeks, and after that to preserve the life or health of the pregnant person. It would take another statewide vote to change or repeal the law. Most Republican candidates for Congress, governor, state attorney general and other statewide posts say they oppose abortions.
Effect of Supreme Court ruling: Nothing will change immediately in New Hampshire. The Legislature won’t return until fall, when there will be a one-day session to take up vetoed bills, and it would take a two-thirds majority vote to introduce new legislation then. What’s next: Murphy has proposed several abortion-related measures. On the Monday after the ruling, the Legislature began considering a pair of bills to expand abortion rights. One would allow the state to block extradition of someone facing a criminal charge in another state related to reproductive services obtained legally in New Jersey.
Background: Abortion has been legal in New York state since a 1970 law was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller. The law allows abortions within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy or to preserve the mother’s life. The 2019 Reproductive Health Act removed abortion from the state’s criminal code, codified Roe v. Wade and allowed abortions after 24 weeks if a fetus isn’t viable or to protect the mother’s life or health.
Effect of Supreme Court ruling: Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, the 20-week ban could be restored. Legal experts say formal action would have to be taken to cancel the earlier court rulings striking it down. Republican legislative leaders late Friday asked state Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat and abortion rights supporter whose agency’s lawyers defended the 20-week law, to act. Otherwise, they said they would seek to intervene.
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