From WNYC Studios, it's Brian Lair, a daily politics podcast. It's Tuesday, May 3rd.

Well, you've certainly heard by now that Politico published what it says is a leaked draft of a Supreme Court ruling that would completely

overturn Roe v. Wade and return the country to what was the case before the 1973 landmark ruling.

Abortion rights would no longer be considered a constitutional right in this country, but would be up to

each state. Also, a draft opinion at this stage is not a final

version, and it could yet change. And maybe you've heard by now that many U.S. states have near

or total abortion bans already on the books that would automatically take effect if Roe is overturned.

The Pro-abortion Gutmacher Institute counted 22 states

in that category. You ready? They are in alphabetical order. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho,

Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee,

Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Some of those states you might have

predicted. Some of those states might have surprised you, that from the Gutmacher Institute.

And how would those states compare to countries around the world that you might be curious about?

Well, abortion is considered a woman's right under the law, at least in the first trimester,

in the famously Catholic countries of Italy and Ireland.

In 2019, the Israeli newspaper Haarets ran an article called Alabama, Iran, or Saudi Arabia.

We checked where abortion laws are better for women.

That article in Haarets begins by saying abortion will be more lawful in Saudi Arabia and Algeria than Alabama and Georgia

if the near total bans passed by their state

legislatures are allowed by the courts. The article also notes that an Alabama anti-abortion

rights activist named Eric Johnston drafted Alabama's 2014 law that prohibits Sharia law in Alabama

on the grounds that quote, Sharia law in Alabama on the grounds that, quote,

...