WASHINGTON – It's now up to the states whether to ban, allow, or restrict abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, not to mention so-called "self managed" abortions.
Emotions continue to run high outside the court and across the country. "Women in almost half the country could see their access to abortion severely limited," Vice President Kamala Harris recently warned.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama urges abortion supporters to "double down" and "get even more organized."
As pro-life groups like Live Action urge supporters to remain vigilant, warning "work to make abortion unthinkable must shift urgently to your local community."
Your backyard is where the fight is heading – setting up a patchwork of abortion bans and enhanced access. Twenty-six states either have trigger laws or will take steps to ban or restrict abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, with a number of liberal states taking the opposite approach.
Connecticut is working to expand the pool of people who can perform abortions and states across the country are digging in.
"Abortion access in Pennsylvania will remain legal and safe as long as I am governor," said Gov. Tom Wolf (D-PA).
Planned Parenthood, the country's largest abortion provider, plans to boost access at clinics in states where it remains legal, like Colorado and Illinois - two states that border places where abortion is or will become illegal.
"We need to be defending our children, unborn or born. We need to be defending them. We need to be supporting them. We don't need to be killing them," argues Barbara Beavers, a pro-life activist in Mississippi.
Some activists say without the protection of Roe, abortionists everywhere will fear legal action. "I think that this will have the kind of chilling effect that doctors just simply will not perform this procedure really under any set of circumstances because they don't want to get dragged in the court," says Attorney General Dana Nessel (D-MI).
New York's governor has signed a law expanding legal protections for people seeking and performing abortions. For now, there aren't enough votes in the U.S. Senate to make abortion rights the law of the land, but pressure is on from the highest levels to do just that. "We have to legislate it. We have to make sure we pass legislation making it a law that the federal government says this is how it works," says President Biden.
Pro-life activists are oftentimes painted as extremists by the left, yet there is a growing chorus in the Democratic Party to allow abortion without restriction, which is out of touch with most Americans.
According to a Wall Street Journal survey, 48 percent of voters favor banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, while 43 percent were opposed.
The Guttmacher Institute estimates each year as many as 63,000 abortions are performed after a baby reaches 15- weeks in the womb.
There's also a form of abortion growing in popularity that many state lawmakers have yet to address - abortion pills. That's medicine sent to pregnant women for so-called "self-managed" chemical abortions.
"We're seeing these articles pop up over and over again with how to do-it-yourself abortions. These are dangerous," says Kristan Hawkins, President of Students for LIfe of America.
Today more than half of all abortions are done by pills and depending on how laws are written, women could legally take abortion pills in states that ban or severely limit abortions. Since the FDA approved the drug in 2000, at least 26 women have died and some 500 have faced life-threatening complications.
'Severe Hemorrhaging, Excruciating Pains': Dangerous Abortion Pills Become New Battleground
If it wasn't already, abortion has now been catapulted to a top issue in state elections across the country. Candidates will be forced to answer questions about when life begins and if any limits should be placed on abortion.
The question remains as to which side of the electorate will be most motivated to show up at the polls.
CBN News has reported extensively on the chemical abortion reversal process over the years. Click below to Learn More:
300 Babies Saved After Moms Chose to Reverse Abortions - Here's How
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