Abortion opponents pushing for more restrictions, laws across U.S.

One anti-abortion group has proposed model legislation that would ban all abortions except to prevent the death of a pregnant woman.

Now that Roe v. Wade has been toppled, abortion opponents are taking a multifaceted approach in their quest to end abortions nationwide, targeting their strategies to the dynamics of each state as they attempt to create new laws and defend bans in courts.

One anti-abortion group has proposed model legislation that would ban all abortions except to prevent the death of a pregnant woman. New legal frontiers could include prosecuting doctors who defy bans, and skirmishes over access to medication abortions already are underway. Others hope to get more conservatives elected in November to advance an anti-abortion agenda.

“For Republicans, the post-Roe world will be significantly different, from a legal perspective,” said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School. “For the last 50 years, Republicans have been on the offense by chipping away on the edges of Roe. Now they are going to be playing defense in all 50 states.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade said abortion is not a right under the Constitution, creating an opening for states pushing to get more restrictions on the books. Most recently, lawmakers in West Virginia and Indiana have pushed ahead with new restrictions, with varying success.

James Bopp Jr., general counsel for National Right to Life, has worked on model legislation for states, but said with few legislatures in session “the process of adopting new laws is really just beginning.”

It recommends banning all abortions except to prevent the death of a pregnant woman, though it provides language for states that want to make exceptions in cases of rape or incest. It also recommends criminal penalties for any person, including a doctor, who knowingly or intentionally causes or aids an “unlawful abortion.”

The model law would not criminalize a woman who gets an abortion.

A memo attached to the model language suggests anyone who aids and abets or conspires to cause an “unlawful abortion” also could be prosecuted, including those who provide instructions on how to self-administer or get an abortion deemed unlawful under the law. That person would have to know the woman was seeking an abortion and intentionally help her to get one.