DALLAS — If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, what happens to Texas state laws that were in place prior to the landmark ruling on abortion rights almost 50 years ago?
In Texas, where elective abortions already are restricted already to the first six weeks of gestation, a “trigger law” signed by the Gov. Greg Abbott would outlaw abortion within 30 days of the holding.
A court reversal of Roe would leave it to individual states to establish abortion laws. Texas and 12 other states have trigger laws that would outlaw or almost completely ban abortions if the 1973 decision in the case that originated in Dallas County is tossed in a ruling that could come as soon as this week. Before the court now is the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case from Mississippi, which had a leaked preliminary opinion indicated justices are ready to overturn Roe.
