Among proposals already receiving votes or preparing to receive votes this year in state legislatures:
- The Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill that would outlaw coercive abortions and require women to be informed that procedures under such circumstances are illegal.
- The Florida House is expected to vote Tuesday (Feb. 15) to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks’ gestation.
- A Georgia Senate committee approved legislation to require an in-person visit for a woman to receive abortion pills.
Meanwhile, New Jersey enacted legislation in January to protect abortion as a fundamental right.
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Voters in Kentucky and Vermont will decide in November on amendments to their state constitutions that were forwarded by their legislatures. Kentucky citizens will vote on a measure that says the state constitution does not protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion. Vermont voters will make a decision on an amendment that would ensure the right to an abortion.
The Supreme Court’s oral arguments in December regarding the Mississippi law raised the hopes of pro-life advocates and the concerns of abortion-rights defenders that the justices may be prepared to overturn Roe. Mississippi and many pro-life organizations, including the ERLC, asked the high court in briefs to reverse not only Roe but the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey opinion that affirmed that decision but permitted some state regulation of abortion.
This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.
