States have enacted a record number of pro-life bills in 2021 as the Supreme Court prepares to issue its verdict on the constitutionality of abortion restrictions.
Ninety abortion restrictions have been enacted in 2021, already surpassing the previous year-long record of 89 in 2011, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. The flurry of legislation has emerged at a time when the Supreme Court is reevaluating a three-decade precedent that prohibited many abortion regulations. Idaho Republican state representative Steven Harris championed the state's heartbeat bill, which prohibits most abortions past the first weeks of pregnancy. He said he was encouraged when the justices agreed in May to take up Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. If the Mississippi ban is upheld, it could set a new standard for abortion laws around the country.
"The Supreme Court precedent is what’s driving everything. I don’t see the Court overturning Roe v. Wade completely, but I see them possibly chipping away at it," Harris said. "We believe life begins at conception, but we believe the state has a compelling interest once there’s a heartbeat."
Arkansas and Oklahoma banned abortions in all cases except when the mother’s life is in danger. Four states passed "heartbeat bills"—which ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy: Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. Montana banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Other pro-life actions around the country included banning abortions of those born-alive, banning abortions of those diagnosed with Down syndrome or birth defects, and placing more regulatory safeguards on abortion providers. The initiatives have grown bolder as lawmakers look to a Court widely seen as more receptive to the pro-life position after former president Donald Trump appointed three justices during his term.
