GOP-led states see Texas law as model to restrict abortions

Republican lawmakers in at least half a dozen states are looking to copy a Texas law that represents the most far-reaching curb on abortions in 50 years

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Republican states that have passed increasingly tough abortion restrictions only to see them blocked by the federal courts have a new template in an unusually written Texas law that represents the most far-reaching curb on abortions in nearly half a century. On Thursday, Republican lawmakers in at least half a dozen states said they planned to introduce bills using the Texas law as a model, hoping it provides a pathway to enacting the kind of abortion crackdown they have sought for years. In Mississippi, Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel said he would “absolutely” consider filing legislation to match the Texas law after a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court let it stand. “I think most conservative states in the South will look at this inaction by the court and will see that as perhaps a chance to move on that issue,” he said.