Preparing for Possible High Court Action on Roe.

• Position: HEALTH CARE

With several state abortion cases having the potential to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, state lawmakers have considered a fair amount of legislation to fortify their views on the issue.

Legislatures have passed 423 abortion restrictions since 2010, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based research group that supports abortion rights.

Most recently, the Alabama House passed a bill criminalizing abortion to force the challenge. If it passes the Senate and is enacted, it will be the strictest abortion law in the country.

Arkansas recently joined Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota in enacting a law that would ban abortions if the high court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortions nationwide. The Arkansas law, approved by 78% of lawmakers, bans all abortions, except during medical emergencies, and does not exempt cases of rape, incest or fetal abnormalities.

Altogether, as of March 1,18 states have laws to restrict abortion if Roe is overturned, according to Guttmacher. Several of those states, including Arizona, Michigan and Oklahoma, had passed abortion bans before Roe was decided, some forbidding the procedure unless the mother's life is at risk.

Other states are preparing for a possible reversal on Roe by strengthening laws protecting access to abortion.

New York now permits abortion after the 24th week when the pregnancy is nonviable or the woman's life or health is in danger. New Mexico, Vermont and...