Blue states want to create havens for abortion rights. Can they?

Anticipating a country that no longer allows a constitutional right to an abortion – and spurred on by a draft Supreme Court opinion that telegraphs this seismic change – blue states are strengthening their reproductive-rights laws. The move is not only to protect reproductive choice and care for women and girls who reside in their states, but also to offer themselves as a “safe haven” for those who live in states where abortion is expected to be banned.

In Connecticut, the legislature passed a bill last month to shield providers and patients from lawsuits taken by states where abortion is illegal. In March, lawmakers in Oregon approved $15 million for expanded abortion access – in part to help with an influx of patients from neighboring Idaho, which has passed a six-week abortion ban. And in California, about a dozen reproductive-rights bills are working their way through the legislature, while the governor and lawmakers are promising to enshrine those