End Of Roe Chaos. Steve Williamson and Stephen Hanks welcome attorneys Holli Ploog and Mik Jordahl back to the show to discuss the aftermath of the US Supreme Court’s decision to dismantle the protections of Roe v Wade.
Ploog says chaos is the operative word, noting that 13 states had so-called trigger laws on the books prohibiting abortion that may now be enforced. The Arizona version, which bans all abortion and punishes providers, dates to 1901 – before women had the right to vote. To complicate matters, Jordahl explains that the state recently passed a new law that will ban abortion after 15 weeks and it also has a personhood law on the books that grants full legal rights from the moment of fertilization, which theoretically could result in murder charges for anyone performing an abortion.
All of this means that women in Arizona and many other states are now afraid to seek abortions. And clinics in the 20 states which have laws protecting abortion are overwhelmed by women seeking abortions.
Worse yet, according to our guests, the abortion decision may impact other fundamental rights, including the right to privacy. “We have this mythology that the Republican party is the party of freedom. But the reality is they are going the complete opposite direction in terms of controlling the most intimate decisions in our lives,” says Jordahl.
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