EMILYs List Statement on Republicans Following Texas’ Anti-Choice Example
For Immediate Release
September 7, 2021
EMILYs List Statement on Republicans Following Texas’ Anti-Choice Example
Republicans across the country have expressed their support for the dangerous and unconstitutional abortion ban enacted in Texas last week. Many GOP leaders have indicated their intent to pass similar bans in their own states, including in Florida, South Dakota, North Dakota, Mississippi, Indiana, and Arkansas. Emily Cain, executive director of EMILYs List, released the following statement in response:
“Americans strongly believe that we should all have the right to make our own health care decisions, yet Republicans across the country are promising to enact extreme anti-woman, anti-family bans on our bodies that take those rights away. These anti-choice leaders are betraying their constituents and voters will hold them accountable. It is time to use the power of the vote to ensure that any leader who undermines and attacks our reproductive freedoms is voted out of office.
With dangerous anti-choice legislation moving through state legislatures and the Supreme Court’s failure to protect Roe v. Wade, it has never been more urgent to elect Democratic pro-choice women to state governments. EMILYs List will continue to support and elect Democratic pro-choice women who will fight against these unconstitutional restrictions on abortion.”
Below is a roundup of GOP-led states and GOP elected officials who have indicated support for similar unconstitutional restrictions in their states.
Republicans in six states rush to mimic Texas anti-abortion law, The Guardian
By Samira Sadeque, September 3, 2021
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On Wednesday, the law went into effect in Texas, banning abortion past six weeks of a pregnancy, including for victims of incest or rape, and giving any private citizen the option to sue someone providing an abortion or anyone even believed to be peripherally assisting someone to get an abortion.
Within a day of the law going into effect, six other states – North Dakota, Mississippi, Indiana, Florida, South Dakota and Arkansas – have said they are looking to adopt a similar ban, according to numerous reports.
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Which states' lawmakers have said they might copy Texas' abortion law, ABC News
By Oren Oppenheim, September 3, 2021
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Arkansas:
Arkansas Republican state Sen. Jason Rapert, who represents the state's 35th District and is running for lieutenant governor in 2022, tweeted on Thursday morning, “As the original sponsor of the first #HeartbeatBill to pass in America in 2013, today I have ordered a bill be filed in Arkansas to update our law to mirror the Texas SB8 bill.”
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South Dakota:
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted Thursday that she's asked someone in her office to look into Texas' new anti-abortion law and how it compares to South Dakota's.
“Following the Supreme Court's decision to leave the pro-life TX law in place, I have directed the Unborn Child Advocate in my office to immediately review the new TX law and current South Dakota laws to make sure we have the strongest pro life laws on the books in SD,” she tweeted from her official Twitter account.
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Idaho:
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The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that the Texas law, when approved by a federal appeals court ahead of the Supreme Court ruling, nearly triggered the Idaho law. But because the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the law, it did not go into effect.
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Oklahoma:
Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Sitt signed various bills into law in April that would significantly limit abortions in the state, including by deeming performing most abortions to be “unprofessional conduct” that could get a physician's license suspended, and a “heartbeat ban” similar to Texas' new law that prohibits abortions if the fetus' heartbeat can be detected, which can happen even only six weeks into pregnancy.
But on Thursday, in the wake of the Texas law, a group of reproduction rights groups and abortion providers, among others, sued to block the laws before they would take effect on Nov. 1. Before the Texas law, every other “heartbeat” ban was blocked by courts as unconstitutional following Supreme Court precedent.
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Virginia GOP lt. gov. nominee says she would support heartbeat abortion legislation, The Hill
By Julia Manchester, September 4, 2021
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Virginia Republican lieutenant gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears said on Friday that she would support heartbeat abortion legislation amid the fallout over a Texas law that bans abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
“Well, I can tell you that would be me, that I would support [it],” Sears told Newsmax on Friday.
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Ayala touted the importance of electing a lieutenant governor in favor of abortion rights in a statement on Saturday, citing the lieutenant governor's tiebreaking role in the state Senate, which is currently split 20-20.
“As Lieutenant Governor, I’ll never stop fighting to protect our fundamental rights,” Ayala said. “Unfortunately, my opponent simply can’t say the same.”
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What Texas' New Abortion Law Means For Pennsylvania, Spotlight PA
By Danielle Ohl, September 2, 2021
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Abortion is still legal in Pennsylvania up to about 24 weeks into a pregnancy, but Republican-backed legislation would ban the procedure after a doctor identifies a fetal heartbeat, usually around six weeks. Another bill that passed the state House in June would prohibit abortions sought solely because of a Down syndrome diagnosis.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has previously vetoed similar efforts to curtail abortion rights and said Wednesday he would do so again, should either bill reach his desk before he leaves office in January 2023. But next year’s gubernatorial election could put a Republican in office, likely clearing a path for a strict abortion ban to become law. Republicans already control the legislature and are not expected to lose it next year.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin) is the lead sponsor of legislation that would require a doctor to seek a fetal heartbeat before performing an abortion. Doctors who detect a heartbeat could not legally perform the procedure.
“I am obviously very excited and happy about this,” said Mastriano, who is widely seen as a likely candidate for governor himself. State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R., Clinton) introduced identical legislation in the House, but the measure has been tabled.
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Could North Carolina follow Texas’ lead in trying to ban abortions after six weeks?, The News & Observer
By Lucille Sherman, September 7, 2021
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The court’s ruling also comes as North Carolina’s Republican-led state legislature is gearing up to draw political districts that will be used in elections for the next decade. How they draw those maps and the Supreme Court’s ultimate ruling will determine whether conservative lawmakers can emulate Texas and pass a similar abortion ban as early as 2023.
Republicans need to win just a handful of seats in the 2022 elections to regain a supermajority. Such a victory would give the party enough conservative votes to override vetoes by the state’s Democratic governor, who has blocked abortion restrictions in recent years.
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After 'closely watching' Texas, Indiana House Speaker is open to similar abortion ban, The Indy Star
By Kaitlin Lange, September 2, 2021
Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston said House Republicans are watching what's happening in Texas after the Supreme Court denied the request to stop a new Texas law that bans abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen at six weeks.
That could mean more restrictive abortion legislation during the 2022 legislative session.
“We're closely watching what's happening in Texas in regards to their new pro-life law, including any legal challenges,” Huston said in a statement Thursday. “Indiana is one of the most pro-life states in the country, and we'll continue to examine ways to further protect life at all stages.
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Florida Lawmakers Pledge to Pass Abortion Ban Following Texas’ Model, Mother Jones
By Becca Andrews, September 2, 2021
It’s already happening. Just hours after the Supreme Court refused to block an extreme Texas abortion law, Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson said state Republicans are “already working on” an abortion ban to present in the 2022 legislative session, according to local news reports. Republican State Rep. Anthony Sabatini has echoed the pledge, saying there’s “no question” such legislation will be considered.
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If Florida were to pass such legislation, it would obliterate access to abortion care in the Southeast, as the state has the largest number of clinics in the region. The Guttmacher Institute clocks it at 65 clinics as of 2017.
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If Roe v. Wade is overturned, Michigan has an abortion ban on the books, Associated Press
By David Eggert, September 2, 2021
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It is unclear whether the 1931 law, which dates to the 1800s, automatically would take effect if the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court precedent were overturned. The law makes it a felony to use an instrument or administer any substance with the intent “to procure the miscarriage” of a woman unless necessary to preserve her life.
Genevieve Marnon, legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan, said: “When Roe is overturned, Michigan will be an abortion-free state, and we are hopeful that will take place next year after the (Mississippi) case is heard.” She said it would not make sense to mirror Texas’ law in Michigan because it still allows abortions until medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks.
Democrats’ attempts to repeal the 1931 law have been blocked in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
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EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 158 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.
