(Reuters) – Abortion rights groups are flooding state courts with lawsuits seeking to stop the enforcement of bans that began taking effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.
Meanwhile, Democratic-led states are trying to pass legislation that would strengthen protections for abortion providers and patients, anticipating an influx of women from abortion-hostile states seeking to terminate pregnancies.
Here are the latest legal and legislative developments in the shifting U.S. abortion landscape:
* In Ohio, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights on Wednesday sued to block the state from enforcing a ban on abortions past six weeks of pregnancy. The ban went into effect on Friday when a federal judge lifted an order that had blocked the law for three years on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
The case will be heard by the Ohio Supreme Court, where four of the seven justices are conservative.
Judges in Texas, Utah and Louisiana have granted temporary injunctions on abortion bans in those states since the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion ruling on Friday.
* In Massachusetts, lawmakers were expected to vote on a bill that would protect healthcare workers for providing abortions and gender-affirming care, and would bar state agencies from complying with federal or other states’ attempts to prosecute Massachusetts abortion providers.
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Bill Berkrot)
