By FOCUS, a Leonine Business
A decision on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case from the U.S. Supreme Court is expected this week. The court stipulated, via calendar update, that decisions would be handed down on Monday, June 13 and Wednesday, June 15; however which decisions were not specified. Last month’s leaked opinion has already reshaped abortion access for millions of Americans and while the entire country anxiously awaits the final ruling, GOP governors and state legislators are planning special legislative sessions later this spring and summer to consider new measures regarding abortion rights and prepare for a post-roe reality.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order calling the legislature into a special session on June 22 to repeal the state’s 172-year-old criminal abortion ban, reports WISN 12 News. If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the state’s pre-Roe law could go into effect immediately banning abortion at any stage of pregnancy without exception for rape or incest. The majority Republican legislature is not expected to act during the special session and Governor Evers has received harsh criticism from the Republican candidates vying for his seat.
Indiana Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb is planning to call the legislature into a special session on June 27 to return excess state revenue to Hoosier taxpayers. Despite requests for the General Assembly to simultaneously tackle new abortion restrictions, Governor Holcomb’s intent for a quick special session suggests he is against it. He has said he is waiting on the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in the pending Mississippi abortion case before deciding whether to heed the request of 100 Republican lawmakers to reconvene regarding further abortion restrictions.
Nebraska Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts has said he will call a special session to pass a total ban on abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. The Republican led South Carolina legislature added a provision to their sine die resolution giving themselves the ability to reconvene to pass abortion restrictions in the case Roe is overturned and South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has also pledged to reconvene lawmakers to pass new restrictions in a post-roe reality. Furthermore, Idaho Republican Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, a far-right conservative challenging Republican Gov. Brad Little in this year’s primary, has urged a new special session to remove exceptions from her state’s trigger law, reports The Hill.
The cascade of restrictive abortion legislation passed this year by Republican-led legislatures indicate what a post-Roe reality looks like to the GOP, who are chomping at the bit to take legal matters of abortion into their own hands.
