5:50 p.m., June 28, 2022
Last Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Roe v Wade decision which had guaranteed the right to abortion in the country since 1973. The 50 states can therefore now independently set their own rules on access to voluntary termination of pregnancy. And already, the legal consequences of this decision are beginning to be seen, with situations varying from one territory to another. A total of 26 states are likely to act quickly to ban access to abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research institute specializing in birth and abortion statistics in the United States and around the world. Mainly those from the South and from the religious and conservative center.
Eight states ban abortion
At least eight states made abortion illegal within hours of the announcement, and seven more might quickly do the same. Among them, Missouri was the first, prohibiting abortion including in cases of rape or incest. Such a rapid reaction can be explained by the “trigger laws”, known as trigger laws or phantom laws, implemented in thirteen conservative states. The latter, inapplicable at the time of their adoption, were intended to come into force immediately following the revocation of the judgment Roe v Wade. The territories concerned are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Louisiana and Wyoming.
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In reality, in these territories access to abortion was already severely hampered. In Texas, for example, the law prohibited abortion as soon as the first heartbeat of the fetus was detected, that is to say at around 6 weeks of pregnancy. Ditto in Oklahoma, where abortion was prohibited except in a medical emergency to save the life of the mother. Prison sentences and fines were already provided for caregivers practicing the act. In Idaho, since March, a law even allowed the families of women who had an abortion and the parents, even in the case of rape, to file a complaint once morest the doctors and clinics who carried out the intervention. From January 1 to May 25, 2022, the Guttmacher Institute counted 541 abortion restrictions introduced with varying degrees of success in 42 states.
The reactivation of dormant laws
Revocation of the Roe vs. Wade decision might also reactivate laws in other states that have been dormant for fifty years. And thus create complex legal situations. In Wisconsin, an 1849 law might soon come into force prohibiting abortion, except in cases of risk to the life of the mother. Democratic Governor Tony Evers has already promised to pardon the doctors being sued. In Arizona, the Republican governor announced that the law prohibiting abortions following 15 weeks of pregnancy, adopted in 2022, would take precedence over previous texts. But he is not followed by the senators of his party; the situation might therefore still evolve.
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And the legal battle is not over yet: in Louisiana, anti-abortion laws have been suspended by a judge until July 8. In Utah, Texas or even Mississippi, similar procedures are at work.
Restrictions and “sanctuaries”
In Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina and Ohio, laws banning abortion following six weeks of pregnancy are expected to take effect soon. If abortion is therefore not formally prohibited, these restrictions limit most abortions, because at this stage many women are unaware that they are pregnant.
In Florida, access to abortion was also restricted in April, although it remains more accessible than some of its neighbors. Abortion is thus prohibited following 15 weeks of pregnancy, once morest 24 weeks previously. And this including in cases of rape or incest. The only exception: a “serious risk” for the mother or a lethal anomaly of the fetus. In Nebraska, abortion is legal up to 20 weeks for the moment but already strongly hampered by restrictions: parental consent required for a minor, limitation of financial support by medical insurance, sending information to discourage the patient, mentions in particular the Guttmacher Institute. In this state, as in Virginia, New Hampshire, Montana or Indiana, measures might soon be implemented to limit abortion, or even ban it, depending on the political opinions of the governors, local laws does not provide for the protection of the right to abortion.
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Conversely, some States have undertaken to make their territory “sanctuaries” to protect the right to abortion. California, Oregon and Washington have notably published a joint press release committing, for example, to blocking possible extradition requests from other states for caregivers who have performed abortions or to remove obstacles to “telehealth” which allows the prescription of abortion pills from a distance. Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York also reiterated their desire to open up the possibility of abortion for residents of other states. The situation in Illinois, where abortion is protected by state law, will be particularly scrutinized because the territory is surrounded by hostile neighbors where abortion will be strongly limited or even prohibited.
