State Democrats Begin Scouring Their Books For Old, Unenforced Laws Banning Abortion

The Associated Press: States Brace For Abortion Fights After Kavanaugh Nomination
Anticipating renewed fights over abortion, some governors and state lawmakers already are looking for ways to enhance or dismantle the right in their own constitutions and laws. President Donald Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court has raised both fears and hopes that a conservative court majority could weaken or overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that created a nationwide right to abortion. That could fan an already raging battle in states over what should and should not be legal. (7/12)

The Associated Press: States With Laws Still On The Books That Would Ban Abortion
Four states — Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota — already have laws designed to prohibit most abortions if the Roe ruling were overturned. Several other states have laws adopted before the Roe ruling that ban many abortions and that have not been removed from their statutes. It's unclear whether those laws automatically would take effect if the Roe precedent were overturned. Some state courts also have ruled that abortion rights are protected under their state's constitution. Here's a look at some states with old abortion laws still on the books or with newer laws that could be triggered if Roe were reversed. (7/12)

The Hill: Dem Senator: Kavanaugh Would 'Turn Back The Clock' On Women's Health Care
Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) announced Thursday that she will oppose Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court over concerns that he would undercut the Affordable Care Act and a landmark abortion case. “The President vowed to appoint judges to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade, and I cannot support a nominee for a lifetime appointment who would turn back the clock on a woman’s constitutional right and freedom to make her own health care choices, including access to birth control," Baldwin said in a statement. (Carney, 7/12)

The Hill: Poll Finds Strong Support For Roe V. Wade
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, according to a new Gallup poll. Sixty-four percent of Americans stand by Roe v. Wade while 28 percent would like to see it overturned, pollsters found. The poll found a wide partisan split, with 81 percent of Democrats supporting the ruling, compared to 41 percent of Republicans. Thirteen percent of Democrats opposed Roe v. Wade, meanwhile, as did 51 percent of Republicans. (Birnbaum, 7/12)

The New York Times: God Made Andrew Cuomo A Feminist. What Kind?
On an infernal afternoon this week, hundreds of women gathered in Union Square in the name of protecting reproductive rights and in protest, implicitly, of a flimflam progressivism that allows New York to market itself to the country as a polestar of liberal sanctity. The immediate impetus for the rally was the nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to fill Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court, a move that could bring the reversal of Roe v. Wade closer to reality. But the real news for anyone who might have wandered into the event, exiting from Whole Foods with locally grown strawberries and little knowledge of the state’s legal code, is that New York’s own abortion laws place it nearer to the sentiments of the “Handmaid’s Tale” than many would imagine. (Bellafante, 7/13)

Politico: ‘Kiss My You Know What’: Schumer Hamstrung In SCOTUS Fight
Chuck Schumer says he’s going to fight Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court with “everything I’ve got.” To do so, he’ll need to get centrist Democrats to hold the line. The minority leader’s problem? Those Democrats say he can’t tell them what to do. “I’ll be 71 years old in August, you’re going to whip me? Kiss my you know what,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) when asked if Schumer can influence his vote. (Everett and Schor, 7/13)