In a recent attack on women’s rights, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) has signed a number of abortion restrictions into law, including a 6-week abortion ban and a measure that would force the last abortion clinic in the state to close.
Dalrymple is determined to open a legal battle against abortion in the state, and has stated that the constitutionality of the law is questionable. In fact, he has asked the state legislature to set up a cash fund for the law’s legal defense and told the Associated Press that money wasn’t an issue.
While most legal fights have been centered on a 20-week abortion ban, which cuts up to four weeks off the constitutionally protected timeframe, North Dakota has set completely new parameters for the debate. Its closest competitor is Arkansas, which recently instituted a 12-week ban.
Instead of the usual tactic of hiding behind misleading and confusing rhetoric about women’s safety, the GOP anti-choice community is making its legal intentions clearer by taking stricter bans state-to-state in hopes of a Supreme Court challenge of Roe’s protections for women’s rights.
However, their actions are completely out of touch with the general American public. According to a poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, 70 percent of Americans oppose overturning the Roe court decision.
Ashley Wright is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire.