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If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, abortion law soon could be in the hands of states. And if that happens, roughly two dozen states are expected to ban or severely curtail abortion. Some lawmakers also are trying to limit patients' options even in states without such restrictions. Several weeks ago, for instance, a Missouri state lawmaker introduced a bill that would let private citizens sue someone who helps a person cross state lines to obtain abortion care. Such legislation raises a number of legal questions, NYU law professor Melissa Murray tells Morning Edition. (Treisman, 5/5)

New Hampshire Republicans on Thursday thwarted attempts by Democrats to respond to this week’s leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft by enshrining the right to an abortion in state law. New Hampshire has outlawed abortion after 24 weeks gestation since Jan. 1, thanks to a budget provision Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law last year. Anticipating the Supreme Court action, Democrats have sought to enshrine abortion rights into state law and the state constitution, only to have the bills tabled in the House earlier this year. (Ramer, 5/6)

Republicans in the Louisiana House advanced a bill Wednesday that would classify abortion as homicide and allow prosecutors to criminally charge patients, with supporters citing a draft opinion leaked this week showing the Supreme Court ready to overturn Roe v. Wade. The legislation, which passed through a committee on a 7-to-2 vote, goes one step further than other antiabortion bans that have gained momentum in recent years, which focus on punishing abortion providers and others who help facilitate the procedure. Experts say the bill could also restrict in vitro fertilization and emergency contraception because it would grant constitutional rights to a person “from the moment of fertilization.” (Kitchener, 5/5)

About a month ago, as speculation grew that the U.S. Supreme Court was preparing to overturn the landmark decision that made abortion legal throughout the country, Planned Parenthood’s Southeastern office quietly created a new position. The new staffer, based in Atlanta, was envisioned as essentially an abortion air traffic controller for a post-Roe v. Wade South, a region likely to take away or severely restrict access to the procedure if the federal constitutional protection is lifted. Among the staffer’s duties would be helping pregnant women get to states where abortion remained legal. (Hart and Hallerman, 5/6)

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, as a leaked draft opinion indicates it will, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt will soon after issue a legal opinion confirming the decision and triggering a near-total abortion ban in the state. But that will only mark the beginning of Missouri’s post-Roe fight over abortion. “It doesn’t end, trust me,” said Samuel Lee, a lobbyist for Campaign Life Missouri. The question of abortion rights almost certainly won’t be answered in any semi-permanent way until it’s settled in the state constitution, either by an amendment that affirms or rejects the right to the procedure — or a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court on whether the state constitution already protects the right to an abortion. (Shorman, Bayless and Desorchers, 5/6)

If the court reverses Roe, abortion will immediately become outlawed in nearly all instances across Oklahoma because of a “trigger law” Stitt signed in 2021. But for now, abortions are still legal in Oklahoma if they occur within the first six weeks of pregnancy, though that’s before many women know they’re pregnant. State data from 2017 through 2020 shows that the majority of abortions recorded in Oklahoma happen after six weeks’ gestation. After the implementation of Senate Bill 1503, women further along in their pregnancies may be pushed out of state to Kansas, New Mexico or Colorado to get an abortion. Here’s what we know — and what we don’t — about how Oklahoma’s restrictive new abortion law works and who it affects. SB 1503 took effect immediately Tuesday. (Branham and Forman, 5/6)

Maria laid the pregnancy test facedown on the counter in her boyfriend’s bathroom in McAllen and set a timer for the longest three minutes of her life. She watched the timer tick down, mentally running through her litany of reassurances: They’d used a condom; she’d taken the Plan B pill; maybe her missed period was just an anomaly. “I was just praying, please don’t let this be the case,” she said. “I had no idea how I’d navigate the situation. But what can I do but flip this test over?” It was positive. (Klibanoff, Ferman and Garcia, 5/6)

Abortion is moving to center stage as Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke and other Democrats move to gain politically from the possible overturning of the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. In contrast, Gov. Greg Abbott so far has remained somewhat muted on the subject, isolating his remarks to conservative talk radio. And even in those settings, Abbott has eschewed celebration of the possible ruling that was leaked to Politico on Monday. O’Rourke is now making abortion a centerpiece of his campaign, appearing Thursday at an Austin news conference with former state Sen. Wendy Davis, who rose to prominence with her 2013 filibuster of a restrictive abortion law. “This issue, I guarantee, is going to bring people out,” said O’Rourke, who also guaranteed record turnout in the November election. (Jankowski, 5/5)

California Democrats have accelerated their plan to make the nation’s most populous state a sanctuary for women seeking abortions, propelled by the release this week of an early draft of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has ignited a surge of activism among the state’s vast network of providers and advocacy groups. The draft — which could change when a final ruling is issued, likely next month — would end nearly 50 years of federal abortion protections. Just hours after a leaked copy was published, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s top legislative leaders said they would seek voter approval to make abortions a constitutional right in California, a move designed to shield the state from future court rulings and a potential federal abortion ban should Republicans win control of Congress. (Beam, 5/6)

As The Times has reported, California intends to become a haven for those seeking reproductive health care in America if the U.S. Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion overturning Roe vs. Wade becomes the law of the land. This may make the state a target, as it has been in the past for its progressive laws on immigration, the environment and other policy areas. One way that people can attack the state is through misinformation and disinformation. A misinterpretation of a California bill has already gone viral online. (Ray, 5/5)