Premium

What’s Next In a Post-Roe America?

AP Photo/Anna Johnson

The Supreme Court has issued its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and Roe v. Wade is now a thing of the past. States will once again have the authority to decide policy regarding abortion. Members of the pro-abortion crowd are apoplectic, pretending this means abortion in America will end and millions of women will be oppressed a la “The Handmaid’s Tale.” But the court’s ruling has many wondering what things will look like in a post-Roe America.

The fight for life will still continue even though Roe has been struck down. But, as Kaylee McGhee White noted in a piece for the Washington Examiner, “The pro-life movement’s focus will shift from judges to lawmakers.” Pro-lifers will push for policies designed to lower the abortion rate by making the practice less popular and less necessary. The idea is to create economic and educational conditions in which mothers aren’t tempted to see terminating their pregnancies as an option.

But it is important to note that Democrats will also be doing the same thing. Now that they can’t rely on an activist court to create constitutional rights out of thin air, they have already sought to use the legislature to enshrine abortion nationwide. Indeed, after the draft opinion was leaked, Democratic lawmakers introduced a proposal that would have gone even further than Roe and allowed abortions up until the moment of birth. The extreme legislation was voted down, but this does not mean they won’t stop trying.

Indeed, after seeing how Republican lawmakers were willing to give in to Democrats on gun control, it is not outside the realm of possibility that Democrats could come up with a watered-down bill that might appeal to GOP lawmakers. This is especially true if voters send more Diet Democrats disguised as Republicans to Washington in the upcoming congressional elections.

We can expect more states to pass laws restricting abortions. Indeed, 13 states are already working towards enacting abortion bans as you’re reading this. Fox News reported:

Thirteen states in the country are poised to enact immediate abortion bans and at least 13 more could quickly follow suit after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, leaving abortion rights up to the states to decide.

At least 13 states in the country have so-called “trigger laws” banning most abortions that will take effect immediately or within weeks of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research group, those states are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, which just passed its trigger law in April.

Five more states already had laws banning abortion on the books before Roe v. Wade was decided. These include Alabama, Arizona, Michigan, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. These laws will go back into effect now that the court has revoked Roe. “The Democratic governors of Michigan and Wisconsin have pushed back against those laws: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit in April asking the Michigan Supreme Court to stop enforcement of the state’s 1931 abortion ban, and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has called for the repeal of an 1849 state law that makes abortion a felony,” according to Fox News.

Along with using Congress, Democrats can also count on the White House to assist in the fight to preserve abortion in all 50 states. President Joe Biden earlier this month, said he was mulling the idea of using executive power to declare a state of emergency that would allow him to expand access to abortion services. Dozens of pro-abortion lawmakers wrote a letter to the president urging him to do just that, so it would not be surprising to see him issue an executive order to this effect within the coming days. Sen. Marco Rubio, along with other GOP lawmakers, introduced legislation that would bar Biden or future presidents from making such a move – but it is unlikely to pass until Republicans retake both chambers of Congress.

Unfortunately, political violence is also a distinct possibility. After the draft opinion was leaked, pro-abortion activists resorted to firebombing and vandalizing buildings housing pro-life organizations. A pro-abortion terrorist group called Jane’s Revenge, along with others, has carried out attacks against crisis pregnancy centers, churches, and other groups that promote pro-life causes. Recently, the organization threatened a “Night of Rage” that they would carry out on the night that the Supreme Court handed down its decision.

Progressives have also been looking into ways to subvert laws restricting abortion in red states. Some have brought up international companies that will mail abortion pills and tools to help women perform their own abortions. Other groups are funding vans at the border of red states in which they will provide abortions. This would mean women would not have to drive as far to terminate their pregnancies. We can expect to see more of these methods being used as states pass abortion restrictions. But even so, this Supreme Court ruling is a major step in the right direction when it comes to saving lives.

Recommended

Trending on RedState Videos