Republicans for years have turned to statehouses in conservative states to find new ways to erode abortion rights enshrined by the high court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The Supreme Court — at least for now — has cleared a path forward for them.
“We’re excited, and we really do think that the heartbeat bill strategy is working,” said Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, which opposes abortions.
Idaho passed a law this year with similar restrictions to Texas, but it will only go into effect if a U.S. appeals court upholds another state’s law, a condition that has not been met.
Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert on Thursday tweeted that he planned to file legislation mirroring Texas’ law when lawmakers reconvene this fall. The Republican lawmaker sponsored a 2013 “heartbeat” abortion ban that was later struck down by federal courts and another outright ban enacted this year that a federal judge has blocked.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, said the state should wait until the more stringent anti-abortion Arkansas law receives a final judgment.
Hutchinson called the court’s ruling on Texas’ law a “procedural victory” for abortion opponents, but said it doesn’t reflect the court’s view on whether Roe v. Wade should be reversed. Overturning that decision is abortion opponents’ foremost goal.
In Tennessee, Stacy Dunn, the president of Tennessee Right to Life, said she is hopeful the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Texas law to go in effect means the high court will rule to reverse Roe. Ten states, including Tennessee, have laws that would effectively outlaw most abortions should Roe v. Wade be overturned.
“This Texas law could be a ray of light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel, and our state is ready,” Dunn said in a statement.
Democrats also anticipated the Supreme Court’s new conservative majority overturning Roe, although they fear a ruling striking it down would leave old state laws outlawing abortions in effect.
“Reproductive freedom in our state is built on case law,” said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, as he pushed for state lawmakers to enact a bill that would enshrine access to abortions.
“All of that case law is in turn built on the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade. If the foundation of that series of case laws is impacted, impaired, taken away, the entire reality in our state falls like a house of cards, which is why we need to, as soon as possible, put this protection into statute.”
