Abortion Restrictions Pick Up Steam in GOP-Led States

Baby gives thumbs-Up in Womb

Ron Ramsey, the Republican lieutenant governor of Tennessee, helped lead the charge for a state constitutional amendment to restore antiabortion laws that had been blocked by the state Supreme Court. Now, as the Tennessee Legislature prepares to convene Tuesday, “the most important priority” is to finish the job, he says.

Backers of Tennessee’s constitutional amendment on abortion 
policy campaign for the measure this past year in Chattanooga. 
Joe Buglewicz for WSJ

After voters in November approved the amendment paving the way for abortion restrictions, the GOP-led Legislature is focusing on a trio of regulations: a 48-hour waiting period before a woman can have an abortion, informed consent by a woman, and inspections of abortion clinics. Republicans extended their dominance of the Legislature in the November elections, and the bills enjoy wide support in the state.

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GOP gains in legislatures across the U.S. are boosting abortion foes seeking to spread restrictive laws to more states or devise new approaches to limit the procedure, advocates on both sides say.

“There’s a lot of opportunity out there right now,” said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, which writes antiabortion legislation intended to serve as a model for lawmakers.

In the past four years, states have passed 231 laws aimed at curbing abortion, more than in the entire previous decade, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

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