But already, lawmakers in both red and blue states are beginning to draw new battle lines in expectation of a patchwork system where abortion rights are no longer protected nationwide.
At the federal level, Senate Democrats plan to bring to the floor this week legislation to codify abortion rights. The bill, known as the Women’s Health Protection Act, is not expected to pass since it would need at least 60 votes to overcome a GOP filibuster. In the evenly divided Senate, that would require 10 Republican senators to vote for the measure, even if all Democrats voted in favor.
Celebrated by supporters of abortion rights and long reviled by critics, Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 establishing a constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability, which most experts say occurs now at around 23-24 weeks of pregnancy.
Overturning Roe would be the culmination of a decades-long project of the conservative legal moment.
Mississippi governor says his state isn’t focused on banning certain birth control ‘at this time’