The Supreme Court Just Blocked The Harshest Abortion Ban In The Country

The Supreme Court Just Blocked The Harshest Abortion Ban In The Country




Pro-abortion rights signs during the March for Life 2016, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016


The Supreme Court won’t allow North Dakota to implement a law that criminalizes abortion after just six weeks — a point before many women even realize they’re pregnant — in a move that effectively blocks the harshest abortion ban in the country. Although North Dakota’s six-week ban was first passed in 2013, it has been prevented from taking effect ever since then. A lower court decision determined the law violates women’s constitutional right to an abortion under Roe v. Wade. North Dakota officials appealed to the Supreme Court hoping for a reversal of that decision, but on Monday, the justices declined to take up the case.

The Supreme Court also recently turned away a similar case from Arkansas, where officials are seeking to implement a 12-week abortion ban, ensuring that law will remain blocked as well.

Both North Dakota’s and Arkansas’ abortion laws are known as “fetal heartbeat” bans. This legislation seeks to criminalize abortion after a fetal heartbeat can first be detected, though the two laws define different points in pregnancy because they rely on different kinds of ultrasound technology.

It makes sense that these states’ aggressive efforts to ban abortion have been unsuccessful in the courts. Under Roe v. Wade, abortion is legal up until the point of viability — generally understood to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy — and at least while Roe still stands, courts have been hesitant to dramatically narrow the available window for legal abortion services. Although some states are testing the bounds by enacting 20-week abortion bans, particularly blatant attempts to curtail Roe‘s protections represent a riskier strategy for abortion opponents.

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http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/25/3742346/north-dakota-abortion-scotus/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tptop3&utm_term=3&utm_content=53&elq=69b84c15e80742c5883acfb6c60a0f37&elqCampaignId=4871&elqaid=28900&elqat=1&elqTrackId=c1b5336bb7464ed0bd96bf0cdeafe8a2