If Roe falls, some DAs won't enforce anti-abortion laws

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — As the Supreme Court appears on track to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, progressive prosecutors around the U.S. are declaring they won't enforce some of the most restrictive and punitive anti-abortion laws that GOP-led states have waited years to implement.

The move is sure to rankle Republican lawmakers and governors, with about half the states poised to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade — the 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion — is weakened or overturned. Many of those Republican-led states have abortion clinics nestled in the large metro areas represented by Democratic district attorneys.

Anti-abortion laws in the U.S. largely shy away from explicitly punishing pregnant women and instead tend to target physicians, who could face loss of their medical license and lengthy prison sentences for performing the procedure illegally. But some abortion restrictions would penalize those who assist in an abortion and others could require women who secured the procedure to testify against those who helped her.

Yet enforcement of these laws will fall largely onto the shoulders of district attorneys, who wield wide discretion over whom to charge with crimes. Currently, it's not unusual for prosecutors elected in Democratic counties to voice their resistance to bringing charges under various GOP-backed mandates— ranging from voting restrictions, limits on certain protest activity, laws aimed at LGBTQ people, and restrictions on mask requirements throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/if-roe-falls-some-das-wont-enforce-anti-abortion-laws/ar-AAYxQnx

[SharonClark]

1. I'm sure the antis already have plans to sue the DAs who don't.

[LiberatedUSA]

4. Well what would we do for DAs not enforcing gun laws we like?

Whatever you come up, that is your answer.

We will end up having red and blue pockets enforcing or not enforcing federal laws depending on who likes and who dislikes the law. The cracks are forming.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. I know that some Texas district attorneys have stated that they will not prosecute

[former9thward]

3. Largely irrelevant.

If a state does not allow abortion then clinics will not be allowed business or operating permits and they can't open. What the local DA does or does not do doesn't really matter.