Record number of pro-life laws passed in 2021

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – This year has seen 106 new pro-life laws passed, a record which overtook the previous record of 100 anti-abortion laws passed in 1973, The 19th reports. The 2021 laws were passed by 19 states, with twelve of the new acts incorporating some kind of total ban on abortion, The 19th said.

Of the 19 states which passed pro-life laws, Arkansas ranked first, with 20 new laws, The 19th said. Then came Oklahoma with 16 new restrictions on abortion; one of Oklahoma’s new pieces of legislation includes a “trigger law” that would immediately ban abortions if the US Supreme Court overrules the right to abortion until viability that was established in the 1973 landmark case of Roe v Wade.

The 19th notes that not all of the new laws and regulations have had an impact as there are legal questions concerning their constitutionality in light of Roe v Wade and the second landmark Supreme Court case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1992. In Casey, it was established that states can place some restrictions on abortion pre-viability as long as they do not put any “undue burden” on a woman seeking to end her pregnancy

However, other laws will take effect this year, The 19th said. These laws include restricting physicians from sending out abortion pills in the mail to women wanting a medical termination at home.

In any event, the US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case centered on the constitutionality of a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks. Presenting a challenge to Roe v Wade, the Mississippi case will be heard in December by a 6-3 conservative majority court that is understood to be hostile toward abortion rights.

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