Missouri Moves Fast to Outlaw Abortion

After Supreme Court's Roe decision, focus turns to the states
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 24, 2022 10:40 AM CDT
Missouri Moves Fast to Outlaw Abortion
Anti-abortion demonstrators celebrate outside the Supreme Court Friday, June 24, 2022, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is expected to lead to abortion bans in about half the states. But how quickly those bans kick in varies across the country. A number of states have "trigger laws" that were activated by Friday's Supreme Court ruling, but all but three of them require additional procedural moves—for instance, the state attorney general certifying SCOTUS did indeed overturn Roe—before the bans are put in place. Politico reports the three whose trigger laws immediately ban abortions because of the ruling are South Dakota, Louisiana, and Kentucky. But Missouri isn't far behind: State Attorney General Eric Schmitt acted to put his state's trigger law into effect within minutes of the court ruling, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Both Politico and the New York Times have state-by-state breakdowns.

  • Within 30 days: States where abortion will be outlawed in 30 days or less (including the four listed above) are Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, per the Washington Post.
  • In months or weeks: The next immediate wave of states to ban abortion would be Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, per the Post. Other states would follow suit after that.
  • By contrast: Politico notes that Colorado, New Jersey, Oregon, and Delaware protect a woman's right to abortion during pregnancy.
(More Roe v. Wade stories.)

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