Twenty-three states could move to immediately ban or restrict abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, a 1973 ruling that argued the Constitution protects the right to access abortion.
This legal precedent has superseded state laws on abortion for nearly 50 years. But 13 states have laws banning or heavily restricting abortion that are designed to take effect immediately or with quick action if Roe were officially overturned.
These laws are known as “trigger laws,” according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group.
These 13 states have ‘trigger laws’ restricting abortion
ArkansasIdahoKentuckyLouisianaMississippiMissouriNorth DakotaOklahomaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahWyoming
In addition to “trigger laws,” other states’ restrictive abortion laws from before 1973 could potentially return. And four states have amended their state constitutions to forbid any protections on abortion rights.
Some states’ abortion bans have been blocked by court orders and would need further court proceedings to take effect.
“If it’s left to each state to decide, then we’re going to see ‘purple states’ like Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, places like that, considering whether they’re going to ban abortion too,” Florida State law professor and historian Mary Ziegler said in a December 2021 interview with NBCLX.
How overturning Roe will affect Americans
“If you imagine a map of the United States post-Roe, there are going to be large regions, mostly across the South and Midwest, where abortion is entirely illegal. And it’s going to be much more difficult for people in the United States to get an abortion,” Ziegler said in December 2021.
The Guttmacher Institute has a map showing the closest states where abortions are protected. Many people would have to drive hundreds of miles or cross through multiple states to find a state where abortions are protected, the map shows.
