At least 13 states have abortion laws in place that are designed to be “triggered” and take effect automatically or by quick state action now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.
Since the high court’s June 24 decision, near-total abortion bans have been enacted in at least seven states, while four other states now ban abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, which is before most women are aware they are even pregnant. Those states include Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Although 26 total states are slated to move quickly to impose near-total or severely restricted bans on abortion at some point, 13 of them have so-called trigger laws that were designed with the removal of Roe in mind. Those states are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
ABORTION FACES NEAR-TOTAL BANS IN SEVEN STATES ONE MONTH AFTER SUPREME COURT RULING
? The list of US states that have banned abortion since #RoeVWade was overturned continues to grow. This is creating chaos and uncertainty for patients and providers, and pushing essential care further out of reach. Latest updates: https://t.co/mQ1cnvDeES #BansOffOurBodies pic.twitter.com/2gKasTppgm
— Guttmacher Institute (@Guttmacher) July 29, 2022
State abortion bans enacted after the June 24 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision have received various legal challenges. However, the Supreme Court had not granted its final judgment on Dobbs until July 26, a formality that set off the 30-day clock for abortion trigger laws to take effect.
The following list includes states with trigger laws that have been halted due to court litigation:
- Being the first state to have its trigger law blocked, Louisiana has had its abortion ban placed on hold, reinstated, then halted again in the weeks since June 27.
- On July 29, an appeals court ruled the law will once again be enforceable while the state appeals the court’s ruling. It is unclear when the order will be signed that puts it back into effect.
- A North Dakota state court temporarily blocked the state’s trigger law banning abortion the day before it was slated to go into effect on July 27. The move is likely to be short-lived, as the judge’s order did not address the challenger’s claims that the law was “unconstitutional.”
- Still, Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick temporarily ruled in favor of plaintiffs who claimed Attorney General Drew Wrigley (R) “prematurely attempted to execute” the trigger language when he set July 28 as the day it would begin, arguing that his action was improper until the high court issued its certified judgment on the decision. Wrigley has said the law is now slated to go into effect on Aug. 26 based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s certified judgment.
- Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens enacted a temporary restraining order on Wyoming’s recent measure signed into law in March, which would make abortion illegal except in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger.
- The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued the abortion ban “violates the Wyoming Constitution.” The law was intended by state officials to go into effect on July 27 but will be put on hold until Owens or another judge lifts the restraining order.
- Utah was another state with abortion trigger laws that were blocked just hours after taking effect following the high court’s ruling. Abortion providers sued in the state, arguing that it was against the Utah Constitution.
- A judge ruled on July 11 that the law should remain blocked as the case moves ahead.
- The state has had its trigger law blocked since a state judge issued a June 30 restraining order blocking the state’s near-total ban on abortion and a separate measure banning the practice after six weeks of gestation.
- On July 22, a court also denied a request by Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) to reinstate the ban, thus extending the block.
- A state judge issued a June 28 temporary restraining order that blocked the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban from taking effect, allowing some abortions to resume until Texas’s trigger ban takes effect on Aug. 25.
- However, the Texas Supreme Court overruled the order on July 1, allowing bans on abortion in the state once again.
States where trigger laws have been enacted:
While some state judges have blocked trigger laws from taking effect, trigger laws that restrict or ban abortions in Mississippi, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Idaho, and Indiana so far have been allowed to proceed.
And if a state’s trigger law has yet to go into effect, most states with existing types of laws are actionable beginning Aug. 25 so long as a court does not intervene in the process.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Officials for the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights have vowed to file further lawsuits in these states, as well as states with decades-old laws established pre-Roe, which aren’t the same as trigger laws but operate in a similar fashion.
For example, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat who opposes the state’s 173-year-old abortion ban, has challenged the law in court. He claims that statutes passed in the 1980s supersede the ban, arguing that the law is so antiquated that modern generations never consented to following the dated ban.
