The Attack on Legal Protection for the Unborn Moves to State Courts

Heritage take: By overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the U.S. Constitution allows legislatures to protect the unborn. Abortion advocates, therefore, will attack pro-life laws in state courts under state constitutions. Six state constitutions reject any right to abortion; 14 of them, explicitly or by interpretation, protect abortion; and 14 others have an equal rights amendment that could do so. Pro-life Americans, however, have new opportunities to protect the unborn: Voters in each state elect the legislators and governor responsible for that state’s abortion laws; have a direct role in changing the state constitution; elect the attorney general who must defend those laws; and, in many states, determine who sits on the supreme court. Heritage Expert: Thomas Jipping