Months after state lawmakers around the country approved some of the most restrictive limits on abortion seen in decades, some states want to push still further.
Leading the way is Ohio, where Republicans are contemplating banning nearly all abortions from the time of conception, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and the highly unusual step of allowing women who have abortions to be prosecuted for murder.
Especially contentious in the Ohio proposal is a provision that would direct doctors treating women with a sometimes life-threatening condition when a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus to try to “reimplant an ectopic pregnancy into the woman’s uterus.”
After last spring’s wave of state-led campaigns to limit abortions, a second surge is expected in early 2020 as legislators in Republican-dominated states begin new lawmaking sessions. Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Idaho could all quickly approve bills next year that would in effect ban abortion. With a presidential election looming, the issue will be used by Democrats and Republicans alike to raise campaign funds and to spur election turnout.
