Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade and handed the issue of abortion back to the states, the legal status of abortion has easily become more confusing than ever. Thankfully, national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America has launched a brand-new interactive map to save the day and make it simple to stay up to date on which states are working to save the babies in a post-Roe America.
SBA Pro-life America’s Pro-Life Laws Tracker outlines the life-saving legislative post-Roe landscape in a user-friendly color-coded map.
As users hover over or click on each state, more information appears including the law currently in play or pending in the state, any exceptions to that law, and how many abortions are estimated to be impacted by the legislation.
Light blue indicates which states currently have laws in effect, dark blue marks the states with laws that will go into effect very soon, green highlights where 15-week bans can be found, orange shows which states have pro-life laws pending litigation, and grey states are battleground states with currently few or no limits on abortion.
If users scroll further down, this information is also summarized in chart form.
So, where do the states stand right now on the issue of abortion?
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Let’s break down what we know as of mid-July 2022, recognizing that things continue to change quickly in the current climate:
States with laws currently in effect
● Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee all have heartbeat laws which ban abortion in the states after a fetal heartbeat can be detected with the only exception being abortions performed to save the life of the mother. (Tennessee also has a trigger law which will go into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court issues its judgment on Dobbs. The trigger law will ban all abortions in Tennessee at any stage of pregnancy except in the case of saving the life of the mother.)
● Alabama prohibits all abortions except those performed in the case of the life of the mother or lethal fetal anomaly.
● Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin have all prohibited abortions with the only exception being abortions performed to save the life of the mother.
● Mississippi bans abortion with exceptions for abortions performed in the case of rape if the rape is reported to law enforcement and the case of saving the life of the mother.
● Florida has a 15-week abortion ban as the law claims that’s when babies are pain-capable. The only exceptions to this law are abortions performed to save the life of the mother or cases of fetal anomaly.
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States with laws going into effect soon
● Prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected (usually around 6 weeks)
● Exceptions: Life of the mother, rape, and incest
● Prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected (usually around 6 weeks)
● Exceptions: Life of the mother, rape, incest, or severe fetal anomaly
● Prohibits abortion at any stage
● Only exception: Life of the mother
● Prohibits abortion at any stage
● Exceptions: Life of the mother and rape or incest (if reported to law enforcement)
● Prohibits abortion at any stage
● Exceptions: Life of the mother, rape, or incest (if reported to law enforcement)
● Prohibits abortion at any stage
● Exceptions: Life of the mother, rape, or incest
States with pro-life laws currently paused pending further litigation
● If the laws are allowed to go into effect, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Michigan will all prohibit abortions at any stage of pregnancy with the only exception being abortion performed to save the life of the mother.
● If allowed, Utah will ban abortions at any stage of pregnancy with exceptions for cases of the life of the mother, rape and incest (if reported to law enforcement), or fetal anomaly.
It is important to note all of the pending and effective pro-life laws discussed contain exceptions for the life of the mother, therefore medical treatment of ectopic pregnancies or incomplete miscarriages will not be affected by the implementation of these laws. Treatments of ectopic pregnancies or incomplete miscarriages have never been considered abortions under the law and will continue to be accessible.
The life-saving impact
As it stands at press time, it is estimated that 155,685 abortions will be impacted by the laws currently in effect and an additional 38,673 abortions will be impacted by the laws which are set to go into effect soon.
Those numbers are also only set to increase as another 36,660 abortions could be impacted should all of the laws pending litigation be allowed to stand.
Bookmark SBA Pro-life America’s Pro-Life Laws Tracker HERE for the latest developments - and good news!
