In a post-Roe world, state legislatures have the power to protect reproductive rights

In the weeks following the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade, cruel and heartbreaking stories have dominated the headlines. From women who have experienced a miscarriage and could not get timely treatment, to a 10-year-old rape victim who had to flee her state to receive life-saving medical attention, to countless others who can no longer make fundamental decisions about their health care. 

The stories illustrate our grim new reality: without federal protections in place, your ability to access reproductive care now depends on where you live. Key electoral battlegrounds like Michigan and New Mexico tell the tale of two Americas. In one, abortion access hangs in the balance; in the other, it’s protected. For Democratic state lawmakers like us, these stories also serve as powerful reminders of what’s at stake in state legislative races across the country this fall.

On one end of the spectrum, Republican state lawmakers are aggressively carrying out their assaults on reproductive rights and health care. In places like Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and Texas, where Republicans have a stranglehold on state legislatures, abortion bans have already passed, threatening the freedom and safety of millions of people.

In stark contrast, Democratic legislatures in New Mexico, Colorado, and New Jersey have taken crucial steps to protect the rights of their citizens. In these safe havens, abortion and all other reproductive health care services remain legal. Some clinics have even announced plans to relocate to these states to provide care for those who live there and people who must travel from red states. 

In New Mexico, this is only possible because, in 2021, our Democratic legislative majority and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) repealed an abortion ban that had been on the books since 1969, ensuring it would not become enforceable again if Roe fell. 

We cannot overstate the importance of this victory. If we had not removed this ban, New Mexicans at any stage of pregnancy could have been denied health care, and anyone who performed an abortion or assisted with the process could have been charged with a crime. And in the most extreme circumstances of need, patients might have been forced to beg a panel of strangers for permission to have an abortion. 

In far too many states across the country, this nightmare scenario is on the verge of becoming reality. Take Michigan, for instance. While the state leans blue, Republicans narrowly control the state legislature. Despite the brave leadership of our Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Republican lawmakers are working relentlessly to restrict reproductive care and enforce an outdated and deeply unpopular abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, a ban that has been on the books since 1931. The Republican majority has even introduced new legislation that would send doctors who provide abortion care to jail for 10 years.

Luckily, Michigan Democrats are fighting back. We are working to strike the extreme 1931 ban from the books, pass the Reproductive Health Act to affirm and protect abortion rights, and support a citizen-led ballot measure to protect reproductive freedom. We are also working to elect great candidates like Carol Glanville — a reproductive rights champion who won a special election earlier this year in a district Donald Trump won by 16 points and is running for reelection this fall against an anti-abortion candidate. With candidates like Glanville, we have the potential to shift the direction of our state legislature and ensure Michiganders’ rights are protected.  

Poll after poll — and the overwhelming defeat of an anti-abortion amendment in ruby-red Kansas —  show that a majority of Americans want abortion to remain safe and legal. But a vocal and well-funded right-wing minority has poured dark money into state legislative races for far too many years, creating gerrymandered legislative majorities to try and inoculate Republicans from public opinion. We must keep fighting back.

Abortion access and so many other critical issues are on the ballot this fall. States have the power to protect reproductive rights, voting rights, and our environment. We cannot afford to sit this election out while Republicans undermine the will of the people by abolishing our fundamental freedoms state by state.

Brian Egolf is speaker of the New Mexico House and Donna Lasinski is Michigan House Democratic leader.