Abortion rights may rest on governor’s races in some states

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — All four leading Republicans in Pennsylvania’s governor’s race have vowed to ban abortion if given the chance.

In Georgia, one top Republican candidate for governor wants to outlaw all abortions.

The sitting Republican governor is backed by the anti-abortion lobby, but refuses to clarify his position.

And in Michigan, all but one of the five leading Republicans running for governor oppose abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

The fight for Congress often dominates midterm elections, but the revelation this week that the Supreme Court may soon overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision has thrust candidates for governor — and their positions on abortion — into the forefront of the 2022 campaign.

Some states, including Pennsylvania and Georgia, have primary elections this month, but the ultimate fight won’t be decided until the November general election.

In a handful of battleground states with Republican-controlled state legislatures, every GOP candidate for governor supports severe abortion restrictions, if not a complete ban with no exceptions.

That’s prompting urgent warnings from Democrats that women’s access to abortion in some states may rest almost entirely on which party wins the governor’s race this fall.

“This is an issue that is now front and center in this governor’s race,” said Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, his state’s presumed Democratic nominee for governor.

“The battle will be in the states.” 

Thirteen deep-red states have so-called “trigger laws” that would ban abortion almost immediately if Roe is overturned, but the future of abortion access is less certain across several other more moderate states with Republican-controlled legislatures: Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin, among them. 

In almost every case, GOP legislatures have already approved restrictive abortion laws, including so-called “heartbeat” bills that would outlaw abortions before most women know they’re pregnant.

Some legislation is tied up in the courts, while others have yet to move through Republican legislatures.

But if Roe falls, such laws — or more restrictive bans — could only be stopped by a veto from a Democratic governor or Democrat-backed court challenge, if at all. 

Some states, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Texas, have decades-old abortion bans predating Roe that would presumably take effect almost immediately after a formal Supreme Court reversal of the case.

But even in those states, Democratic governors would have an opportunity to fight the change in their state courts.