While Congress gets off to a slow start, GOP majorities in the states are fast-tracking attacks on the rights of nearly 70 million Americans
WASHINGTON — As 2025 legislative sessions begin across the country, Republican legislators are quickly prioritizing extreme restrictions on reproductive freedom – filing egregious anti-abortion bills as state legislative sessions get underway. The anti-abortion extremism laid out in Project 2025 is already progressing in state legislatures weeks ahead of the Trump administration taking office.
Here’s a snapshot of GOP bills filed across the country that are escalating the attack on reproductive rights:
- An Oklahoma Republican filed a bill to classify abortion as a felony and revive a law that was struck down by the state Supreme Court.
- A Tennessee Republican introduced legislation to make it a federal crime to mail or deliver abortion pills.
- A Texas Republican filed a bill that would make abortion medication controlled substances.
- Wyoming Republicans plan to introduce anti-abortion bills after the state’s abortion bans were struck down in court, including imposing burdensome regulations on the state’s one remaining abortion provider and creating a 48-hour ultrasound requirement for patients seeking abortions.
- In Missouri, House Republicans are moving forward with at least 11 proposed anti-abortion bills after voters passed a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights, including measures to define life as beginning at conception, overturn the amendment, and ban nearly all abortions and gender-affirming care.
- In Arizona, Republican Rep. Rachel Jones is plotting to restrict abortion medication despite voters passing a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights.
- New Hampshire Republicans proposed several pieces of legislation to restrict abortion access, despite an abortion ban already being in place.
- A Pennsylvania Republican announced that she planned to introduce an extreme abortion ban.
As Republicans take control in Washington, they will continue to move their Project 2025 agenda through the states where GOP state legislatures are already proving to be willing partners in cruel and extreme laws. Meanwhile, state Democrats will continue to be a critical firewall and an important counterweight to this agenda.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Interim Communications Director Sam Paisley issued the following statement:
“Emboldened by Donald Trump’s incoming administration, state Republicans are ramping up their anti-abortion playbook for 2025 legislative sessions. From trying to classify abortions as felonies to criminalizing mailing abortion pills to classifying abortion medication as controlled substances, these GOP policies are extreme and out of touch. It’s clear that Republican legislators across the country are leading the GOP’s strategy to strip reproductive freedoms. State Democrats are the only line of defense against this dangerous crusade on reproductive freedom.”
The DLCC is the official arm of the Democratic Party with the sole mission of building Democratic power in the states and setting the national agenda at the state level. 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.
###
