Two states will have abortion bans going into effect next month that will protect more babies from abortions.
Thanks to the Supreme Court making its Dobbs decision official yesterday, trigger laws in Tennessee and Idaho that ban abortions when Roe v. Wade is overturned will go into effect August 25th. That will protect all babies from abortions and only allow abortions in very limited instances.
In June, the Tennessee heartbeat law went into effect following the Dobbs decision. The pro-life law protects babies from abortions and it has already been responsible for closing two abortion businesses. While the pro-life law bans abortions on babies when their heart starts beating, the trigger law will offer full legal protection for unborn children starting from conception.
The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office previously announced it would happen 30 days after the Supreme Court officially entered its judgment for overturning the Roe. V. Wade case — which the court did on Tuesday.
Three years ago, Tennessee lawmakers passed the “Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act” trigger law to almost entirely ban abortions in the state if the Supreme Court ever overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade case.
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Tennessee’s abortion trigger law contains no exceptions for rape or incest, with only an exception to protect the life of the mother, WATE reports.
The same legal situation is playing out in Idaho, where a trigger law will go into effect next month.
Abortion in Idaho could be illegal by the end of August 2022.
The law signed in 2020 is the state’s “trigger law” and will now officially take effect August 25 with the official ruling.
Idaho’s trigger law from 2020 will ban all abortions except in the case of rape or incest or to protect the mother’s life. Idaho Code states anyone who performs an abortion could face two to five years in prison. Gov. Brad Little signed a law in 2020, including a trigger provision, making abortion a crime for the doctor performing the procedure now that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade.
There is a potential the trigger law may not take effect in Idaho if only because Planned Parenthood has filed multiple lawsuits against the state to block abortion bans from taking place — wyhich is why Idaho, unlike Tennessee, does not have its heartbeat law enforced.
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, with a 6-3 majority ruling in the Dobbs case that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The high court also ruled 6-3 uphold the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban so states can further limit abortions and to get rid of the false viability standard.
Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the judgment but, in his concurring opinion, disagreed with the reasoning and said he wanted to keep abortions legal but with a new standard.
Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was overturned and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state protecting babies from abortions and Kentucky became the 4th and Louisiana became the 5th and Ohio became the 6th and Utah became the 7th and Oklahoma became the 8th and Alabama became the 9th. This week, Mississippi became the 10th and South Carolina became the 11th,Texas became the 12th with its pre-Roe law and Tennessee became the 13th.
Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia have old pro-life laws on the books but there is question about whether they are applicable and will be enforced.
Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or quickly ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The 13 total states with trigger laws that would effectively ban all or most abortions are: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer authored a joint dissent condemning the decision as enabling states to enact “draconian” restrictions on women.
Polls show Americans are pro-life on abortion and a new national poll shows 75% of Americans essentially agree with the Supreme Court overturning Roe.
