States introduce new laws after Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said he and the state's attorney general are filing a challenge to a pre-Roe abortion law.

The law dates back to 1849 and makes an abortion a felony in Wisconsin, even in cases of rape or incest.

Confusion surrounding the law and whether it is enforceable caused abortion providers in Wisconsin to suspend abortion procedures in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Access to safe and legal abortion stopped in Wisconsin last Friday. With this lawsuit, we are fighting to restore reproductive freedom in Wisconsin,” Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement.

He continued, “The Republican-led legislature’s failure to act during last week’s special session has left Wisconsin law regarding abortion in a state of uncertainty. This lawsuit is asking the court to clarify that Wisconsin’s 19th century abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest has not gone back into effect.”

-ABC News' Ely Brown

Tennessee’s ban on abortion starting at around six weeks of pregnancy has gone into effect after a federal court removed an injunction blocking the law in 2020.

The law prohibits the procedure after a fetal heartbeat can be detected and if the providers knows the woman is seeking an abortion due to the fetus's sex or race or due to a Down syndrome diagnosis.

The only exception is if the woman's life is in danger.

“This is just the beginning,” Rabia Muqaddam, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights -- one of the groups that filed a lawsuit that initially blocked the law -- said in a statement.

She continued, “We will continue to see many, many states ban abortion, creating huge abortion deserts in parts of this country resulting in serious harm to people and their families. We will do everything we can to maintain as much abortion access in Tennessee as possible -- for as long as possible.”

Tennessee is one of at least 13 states that have ceased nearly all abortion services.

A state court blocked Tuesday enforcement of a Texas pre-Roe ban on abortion.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, said Texas' trigger ban would not go into effect for about two months.

But he added that abortion providers could immediately face criminal charges based on a 1925 law that had gone unenforced since Roe was decided in 1973.

In response, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, Morrison & Foerster, LLP, Hayward PLLC filed a lawsuit on behalf of several abortion clinics in the state, arguing that the statute had previously been declared unconstitutional.

The temporary blocking means abortions up to six weeks of pregnancy can resume at some clinics.

A hearing has been scheduled for July 12.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said the state’s abortion ban is now in effect after a federal judge lifted the injunction June 27.

The so-called Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act prohibits abortion if cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks of pregnancy -- before many women know they're pregnant.

If a heartbeat is detected, an abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or if the mother's life is in danger.

“The Heartbeat Law is now in effect. Once Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, the decision on legally protecting the lives of unborn babies was returned to the states, so there was no longer any basis for blocking South Carolina’s Heartbeat Law,” Wilson said in a statement.

He continued, “Our state is now carrying out a government’s most sacred and fundamental duty, protecting life.”