Republican lawmakers are getting ready to make a definitive statement on government regulation in 2015: they're all for it when it involves the right of women to make their own medical decisions.
Now that Republicans control nearly 70 percent of state legislatures, abortion access is likely to be severely restricted in 2015.
"Brace yourself," says Molly Redden of Mother Jones, which has assembled a list of anti-abortion bills that were prefiled in nine different states across the country. Republicans control both legislative chambers in eight of those states (only Iowa is split between the two parties).
Here's a sample of what's to come:
•Iowa and Arkansas lawmakers are targeting "telemedicine" procedures, where doctors counsel women remotely on how to induce abortions through medication.
•Missouri lawmakers are really pulling out the stops with seven potential new regulations, including this:
Consent from the father: A measure that would force women seeking an abortion to get "written, notarized consent" from the man who impregnated her.
•South Carolina legislators are following the lead of nine other states with an attempt to ban abortion at 20 weeks.
Similar bills in the House and Senate would ban abortion 20 weeks after fertilization, based on the scientifically discredited notion that fetuses at that age can feel pain. There is an exception if the abortion is necessary to save the life or health of the mother; in those cases, the provider must use a method of abortion that "provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive."
•Tennessee politicians hope to jump on the mandatory ultrasound bandwagon.
And that's just the beginning. Other states with big plans for restricting the rights of women include Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Texas.