Wyoming lawmakers use pro-natalist arguments to justify proposed new partial abortion ban

When the University of Wyoming's 25,000-seat football stadium is exceeds the population of all but four cities in the state. Jamie Schwaberow/ hide caption toggle caption Jamie Schwaberow/ At the anti-abortion March for Life rally in D.C. last year, Vice President J.D. Vance had a clear message. "So let me say very simply, I want more babies in the United States of America," Vance said to a cheering crowd. As birth rates fall in the U.S., prominent conservatives such as Vance are encouraging Americans to have more children. They say that's crucial to maintaining the nation's workforce, so there will be enough caregivers for an aging population. Now, those arguments are being cited to pass new state-level restrictions on abortion, including in Wyoming, which recently passed a law to outlaw abortions once there's a "detectable fetal heartbeat." According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, it is "clinically inaccurate" to describe what can be heard via an ultrasound during very early pregnancy as a heartbeat. Cardiac cells in an embryo may exhibit electrical activity that is detectable, but there are no cardiac valves that could generate the sound that people know as a heartbeat. The Wyoming law — which has now been temporarily blocked in court — prohibits abortions after cardiac activity can be detected, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy. …