These states will ban abortion – VG

Just updated

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It leaked the draft from the Supreme Court last week has sent shock waves through the United States, and if it stands, major changes in abortion legislation are expected in a number of states.

The reason for this is that if the Supreme Court reverses the “Calm down against Wade” decision from 1973, the abortion legislation will be up to each individual state to decide.

So far, 13 states have signaled that they will ban, or virtually ban, abortion if the “Calm down against Wade” decision is changed, and the right to self-determined abortion is abolished at the national level.

Several states have so-called “trigger laws” ready. In other words, a law that cannot be enforced, but which comes into force when “Roe mot Wade” ceases.

These 13 states have “trigger laws” ready that will ban abortion:

• Arkanas
• Idaho
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nord Dakota
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Wyoming

In addition, there are nine other states that have laws prohibiting abortion, from before “Roe mot Wade” came into force. If “Roe mot Wade” falls, these laws will come into force, unless the states change them.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights, Florida, Indiana, Montana and Nebraska are on the list of states that are also expected to change the legislation.

Preparing

It is a week since the draft from the Supreme Court was leaked and created first full confusion, so strong reactions.

In several states, legislators are getting ready to introduce abortion laws that have previously been stopped by the Supreme Court, writes The Guardian.

Several states, including Georgia, South Carolina and Ohio, have tried to introduce a so-called “heartbeat bill”. A law that prohibits abortion if one can detect heartbeat on the fetus, which is often after six weeks.

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The laws have been stopped because of “Calm down Wade”, but now these laws can become a reality.

Before these laws can possibly be enforced, each public prosecutor must formally ask the court to reverse the decision to block the bills.

And that is exactly what more people are doing, according to the newspaper.

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The day after the draft from the Supreme Court was leaked, the governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, stated that if “Roe mot Wade” falls, state attorney Dave Yost will ask the court to no longer block a state law that will ban abortion six weeks into pregnancy.

Will classify abortion as murder

In the southern state of Louisiana, Republicans last week put forward a bill that will reclassify abortion to homicideand which in addition will extend the sentence to hit the pregnant woman.

– We have been waiting 50 years to get to this point, said Republican Danny McCormick, the state representative behind the bill.

Under “Roe mot Wade”, such a bill is probably unconstitutional, but without it the case is different.

Whether other states will follow Louisiana’s example is uncertain, believes Mary Ziegler, an abortion law researcher and professor at Florida State University College of Law.

– On the one hand, these are states that have no reason to punish women and pregnant women, but I think the pressure will increase. When someone is out first, it may be easier for other states to follow, Ziegler tells The Guardian.

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State governors may convene extraordinary legislative meetings to introduce new anti-abortion laws, but so far no one has done so publicly.

In Indiana, located in the Midwest, Republicans have urged the governor to convene such a meeting if “Roe against Wade” is overturned.

Also in Nebraska, lawmakers have announced a possible extraordinary meeting after the Supreme Court voted on the abortion ruling.

Expect 32,000 abortions a year

New York, on the other hand, is heading in the opposite direction.

On Monday, New York State Attorney Letitia James stated that the state will expand access to perform abortions for residents – but also for those living in states where abortion may be banned.

“We know what happens when women do not have control over their own bodies and can not make their own choices, and we do not want to go back to such dark times,” James said in a statement.

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In 2019, New York performed 7,000 abortions a year from women living in other states, according to one statement from the public prosecutor’s office.

If “Roe mot Wade” is overturned, the state expects the number of abortions performed to increase to more than 32,000 a year.

“New York must lead the fight to protect the fundamental right to choose,” James wrote on Twitter.

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