As the public debate over abortion heats up, the Supreme Court has definitively signaled its willingness to weigh in on state efforts to protect human life. As Justice Clarence Thomas emphasized in his concurring opinion in Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, “Given the potential for abortion to become a tool of genetic manipulation, the Court will soon need to confront the constitutionality of laws” banning discriminatory abortions.

While the high court ultimately denied review of Indiana’s ban on abortions that are based on an unborn child’s race, sex, disability, or genetic makeup, it did so only because Box was what’s known as a case of first impression. It left the door wide open for similar cases currently percolating in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Ohio.