Both pro-lifers and pro-abortionists expect the Supreme Court to strike down Roe v. Wade, with its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case slated to be released in June. The Roe ruling legalized abortion nation-wide, so if that decision is overturned, unless the judges rule otherwise, the issue would revert to the states.
States are already passing “trigger bills” that will go into effect one way or the other is Roe is overturned. Some states have passed bills to put limits on abortion. My own state of Oklahoma has passed a law that will ban abortion altogether.
The law, which will be enforced only if Roe v. Wade is overturned, will make performing an abortion a felony punishable by a fine of up to $100,000, up to 10 years in prison, or both. The woman seeking the abortion would not be punished, just those who perform the abortion. An exception may be allowed to save the life of the mother “in a medical emergency,” but this was a decisive action.
Meanwhile, on Oklahoma’s border, Colorado passed a law ensuring that abortion is legal for any reason and at any stage, past viability, for the entire nine months of pregnancy. Colorado’s law is so extreme that Meghan McCain called it ““heinous, pure, unadulterated evil.”
As Ian Millhiser points out, abortion was already illegal in Oklahoma–as well as 21 other states–since their pre-Roe laws are still on the books. A pro-abortion institute estimates that if Roe is thrown out, at least 26 states–just over half of them–will either ban or severely restrict abortion.
So we are likely to see “abortion tourism,” with women who want an abortion travel from states that forbid it to states that have no restrictions. I still think that such a legal climate will make the total number of abortions go down, but the task of persuasion about the sanctity of life will continue.
I also predict that the Supreme Court, alarmed at the prospect of such wide variance in the law, will not completely throw out Roe v. Wade. Rather, they will “fix it.” That is, they will preserve the legality of abortion, but allow states to set parameters and restrictions on the procedure. That would not be a victory for the cause of life, though, again, the number of abortions would, in practice, go down.
I suspect that, whether or not the law goes into effect, Oklahoma will be demonized and boycotted, that woke corporations will refuse to do business here, that we will pay a price. Still, I’m proud to be an Okie.
Illustration by TUBS – This SVG locator map includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this locator map:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15949264
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