Delaware Gov. John Carney Jr. signed an abortion rights bill into law Thursday to prepare for restrictions on the practice that may come from the Supreme Court or the Trump administration.
The bill makes the provisions of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal, codified into state law.
“This new law is important because it says to women that you are important, that you have the ability to decide when to have a child, and the state supports you in making the decision that is best for you and your family,” Elizabeth Nash, an analyst at the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion policy, told Reuters.
President Trump, who has the support of abortion foes, has pledged to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade, turning decisions over the legality of abortion back to the states. He has appointed various abortion foes to his administration and reversed protections for abortion providers when it comes to accessing family planning funds.
Groups that oppose abortion had lobbied against the Delaware bill, saying that it would make late-term abortions more common.
“People in the pro-life movement are very disappointed that this would happen in Delaware,” Rob Krebs, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, told Reuters.
Delaware’s move is the first since Trump became president. A similar bill was approved in Illinois by the state legislature, but Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has vowed to veto it. Another bill in New York has stalled in the state senate.
