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A Texas pro-life law took effect in September, banning abortion after a heartbeat is detected and enabling private citizens to sue abortion providers.
As Church Militant’s James Fedewa explains, Republicans in other states around the country are looking to mimic the law in the Lone Star State.
Earlier this month, Oklahoma state representative Sean Roberts announced plans to file a pro-life bill modeled after Texas’ Heartbeat Act. Roberts’ bill would likewise enable citizens to sue abortionists.
He said in a press release Jan. 7, “The pro-life citizens of Oklahoma should have the ability to help hold these doctors accountable.”
And South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has announced plans to introduce heartbeat legislation in her state.
Noem: “Today I am asking all of you to protect the heartbeats of these unborn children. I am bringing legislation to ban all abortions once a heartbeat can be detected.”
Meanwhile, North Dakota’s pro-life caucus has plans to take up a heartbeat bill, also modeled after the Texas measure.
In Florida, lawmakers have introduced bills in both houses that would ban abortion after 15 weeks. But state Rep. Anthony Sabatini has supported going a step further — with heartbeat legislation.
Sabatini: “Although this bill I’ll file is a mirror copy of the Texas bill … [in the] great majority of cases, it’s a perfectly healthy person that’s within the mother, and so that’s what we want to decrease.”
Three other states — Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri — have seen a push for heartbeat bills in recent months.
As the U.S. Supreme Court looks at a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks, the new push for heartbeat bills in red states may be a further sign of hope for pro-lifers.
Idaho passed a heartbeat bill last year that will only take effect if and when the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of a similar law in another state.