Topline
More than a dozen states are poised to almost immediately ban abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade—as a draft opinion obtained by Politico suggests it may—with the vast majority of those bans going so far as to make performing the procedure a felony punishable by prison time and substantial fines.
Pro-abortion rights demonstrators protest outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on May 3 in Washington.
Key Facts
Many states have “trigger bans” that would swiftly ban nearly all abortions—regardless of how soon into a pregnancy they are—and classify performing the procedure as a felony punishable by prison time, including Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
Potential prison sentences range from up to two years in Louisiana and one to five years in Kentucky, to up to 15 years in Missouri, Tennessee and Utah, and none apply to the person actually having the abortion.
Texas’ trigger ban would classify abortion as a second degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison, or a first degree felony if the fetus dies, which carries a prison sentence of anywhere between five years and a life sentence.
Most trigger bans would impose a fine in addition to or instead of imprisonment, which range between up to $4,000 in South Dakota and up to $100,000 in Arkansas and Texas (as well as Oklahoma, which passed a separate ban last month set to take effect this summer).
Every law carries an exception for abortions performed in the case of medical emergencies and when the mother’s life is at risk, and Idaho, North Dakota and Utah also have exceptions for rape and incest.
Alabama, Arizona and West Virginia also have abortion bans from before Roe was decided that carry prison sentences—and could now take effect again if Roe is overturned—while Michigan and Wisconsin’s pre-Roe bans also make abortions punishable as felonies, but those states’ Democratic attorneys general say they wouldn’t enforce them.
Contra
The only state with a trigger ban in place that does not specify it would be punishable as a felony with prison time is Wyoming. (No penalty is explicitly stated in the state’s law.)
What To Watch For
More states to ban abortion. Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and South Carolina have six-week abortion bans that would take effect if Roe is overturned—and the states’ GOP legislators could be compelled to go even further. The pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute predicts it’s likely Florida, Indiana, Montana and Nebaska would also move to ban the procedure.
Key Background
The likelihood of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade has gone up since Politico released a draft opinion from February in a case on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban and whether states can restrict the procedure. The draft, which was written by Justice Samuel Alito and reportedly signed onto by four other justices, strikes down Roe entirely and declares the landmark 1973 ruling to be “egregiously wrong.” The court’s final opinion will likely be issued in June, and Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday that while the draft is authentic, it should not be taken as the court’s official decision or any justice’s final position in the case. The ruling comes as more states have already been moving to heavily restrict abortion or ban it entirely, including a six-week ban in Texas, multiple total abortion bans in Oklahoma and a law in Kentucky that effectively banned all abortions in the state by imposing heavy restrictions on abortion clinics until it was blocked in court.
Further Reading
Here’s What Will Happen If The Supreme Court Overturns Roe V. Wade (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/05/04/performing-an-abortion-will-become-a-felony-in-these-states-if-roe-v-wade-is-overturned/