Other states with trigger laws — like Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming — require government certification before they go into effect. “So the attorney general or governor has to read through the Supreme Court’s decision and say, ‘Yes, it overturned Roe, so our trigger ban can go into effect,” says Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate of state issues at the Guttmacher Institute. “That could take a couple of hours, or it could take a day or two. Many [trigger bans], though, will go into effect super fast. Could be 24, 48, or zero hours.” In the case of Missouri, it’s already happened. The state’s attorney general and governor today outlawed abortion after eight weeks, with some medical exception, but none for rape, incest, or human trafficking.
