WASHINGTON — After a devastating state supreme court ruling last week, Florida joins 16 GOP-led states with extreme bans on abortion at or before 6 weeks of pregnancy. Most women don’t know they’re pregnant at 6 weeks, yet Republicans in state legislatures across the map have wielded their power to inflict dangerous extreme bans on lifesaving reproductive health care. In fact, after the fall of Roe, every state with a Republican trifecta has passed legislation to ban abortion, with most of these bans becoming state law.
Read more about abortion bans in the South here.
The future of abortion care is playing out in the states:
Fourteen states—Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia—have passed laws to ban abortion in nearly all circumstances.
Three states—South Carolina, Georgia and now Florida —have passed laws to ban abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy, when many women don’t know they’re pregnant.
As the DLCC outlined in a memo last month, twenty-five states – all controlled by Republican legislatures – have enacted laws to ban or restrict abortion earlier than the standard previously protected by Roe. State legislative elections this year will decide the future of abortion, and supporting the DLCC and electing Democratic majorities in the states is the strongest way to protect fundamental reproductive freedoms in post-Dobbs America.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Sam Paisley issued the following statement:
“Attacking reproductive freedom is the first priority in Republicans’ playbook in the battle for state legislatures. Florida Republicans passed a restrictive abortion ban last year that was just greenlit by the conservative state supreme court – but they’re not alone. Every state with a Republican trifecta has passed legislation to ban abortion, and a whopping 17 states now ban abortion at 6 weeks or less – before most women know they’re pregnant. From jeopardizing access to contraception and IVF to undermining life-saving health care, Republicans’ crusade knows no bounds. This is about controlling women. State legislatures are the most important ballot level shaping the future of abortion rights, and the DLCC is leading this fight. Electing Democrats to state legislatures across the country is the only path to combat the dangerous reality that Republicans have created.”
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the official Democratic Party committee dedicated to winning America’s state legislatures and building state infrastructure. Over the last decade, we have fought cycle-over-cycle to gain a dozen new legislative chamber majorities and we are leading the effort to bring national attention and investment to our ballot level. State legislatures are the building blocks of our democracy and have the closest connections to Americans’ day-to-day lives. From protecting fundamental freedoms and voting rights to growing the middle class, the DLCC and state legislators are moving the Democratic agenda forward and shaping the future of this country.
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