Roe v. Wade: state supreme courts as a last resort for abortion rights

And at least at the national level, Republicans are outgunning and outspending Democrats in those races.The Supreme Court overturning Roe is also likely to fuel state legislatures to combine new abortion bans with efforts to manipulate their court systems in their favor through partisan interference with state courts and impeachment threats against judges who stand in their way. They include "trigger" laws that would ban abortion as soon as Roe is overturned, pre-Roe abortion bans that are currently unenforceable but could be put back into effect, post-Roe abortion bans that are currently blocked by courts, and amendments establishing no right to abortion under state constitutions.Other states, like Florida, have abortion restrictions set to go into effect later this summer which are likely to be challenged in state courts too.Democratic strategists are hoping that the Supreme Court gutting Roe will be a motivating factor boosting turnout in the 2022 midterms.But the issue alone isn't guaranteed to save the party's chances of holding onto control of Congress. Even if Democrats hold onto key state supreme court seats, the overturning of Roe will spur more efforts by Republican-controlled legislatures to curtail state courts' ability to provide judicial review of abortion laws and target the independence of the courts. Already, Republican state lawmakers in Louisiana responded to the draft Supreme Court opinion leak by pushing a new, draconian bill that classifies abortion as homicide, opens the door to abortion patients being charged with murder, and subjects judges who block or overturn the law to impeachment or removal from the bench."It's crucial in this moment for the public to know how important these courts are," Keith said.