CV NEWS FEED // Pro-life lawmakers in a growing number of states are calling for laws similar to Texas’ Heartbeat Law.
“Bills with language similar or identical to the Texas law have been introduced in Alabama, Florida, Missouri and Ohio so far this year,” noted the liberal publication The Hill. “Most of the measures allow plaintiffs to seek monetary damages against abortion providers or those who
‘aid and abet’ an abortion that takes place more than six weeks after conception. The Ohio version would outlaw virtually all abortions.”
Republican state Rep. Sean Roberts of Oklahoma recently announced he would introduce his own bill along those lines. “The pro-life citizens of Oklahoma should have the ability to help hold these doctors accountable,” he said. “Individual citizens are an extremely important part of making sure that we are protecting the lives of the unborn. This legislation puts principle into action and I am going to fight extremely hard to get it passed during the upcoming session.”
“States like Missouri that have done everything in our power to make abortion not just illegal but unthinkable are seeing another potential tool to try to be able to do that,” State Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-MO, told The Hill last year. “I think this is really an interesting idea that is really an expansion of tort laws.” Coleman has since proposed her own pro-life bill for consideration this year.
In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signaled this week that he would be open to signing legislation similar to Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, which is currently before the Supreme Court.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday opened the door to passing a ban on abortion 15 weeks into a pregnancy.
Asked by reporters about a possible 15-week abortion ban, he said: “Having protections is something that makes a lot of sense,” according to Business Insider:
He didn’t endorse a particular bill, however, saying that “a lot of pro-life legislation” would be introduced in the legislature and that “we are going to be welcoming it.”
…Two lawmakers on Tuesday introduced 15-week abortion bans that did not include exemptions for rape or incest but did allow exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities or when a pregnancy would cause “irreversible physical impairment.”
While more and more governors and legislators prioritize ambitious pro-life legislation at the state level, the Supreme Court is also expected to hand down what could be a historic decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health later this year.
Observers on both sides of the abortion issue believe there is a distinct possibility that the Supreme Court will strike down Roe v. Wade’s fiat legalization of abortions nationwide, returning the issue to the states.
