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You can tell which side of the aisle is optimistic about the politics of the abortion bans in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and elsewhere. When asked about the Alabama ban, Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) (who lost her race for Senate but was then appointed to the seat originally held by the late senator John McCain) ducked. “That’s a state issue. I’m focused on my work here," she insisted. In a press call Thursday morning NARAL Pro-Choice America executives, NARAL’s president Ilyse Hogue rebuked McSally. (Jennifer Rubin, 5/16)

When Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed that state’s obnoxious new bill criminalizing abortion Wednesday afternoon, she offered a little toast to victory on Twitter. Or maybe we should call it a partial victory, since the ban was enacted as a ploy to try to get the right to abortion, affirmed in the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, back before the retooled conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. (Scott Martelle, 5/16)

Roe v. Wade may still be the law of the land, but states such as Georgia and Alabama are moving aggressively to change that. The draconian bills both states recently passed reveal the legal strategy at work here: Even if the court of appeals and Supreme Court do not let these highly restrictive laws stand, the states are giving the court cover to dramatically cut back on reproductive rights without having to explicitly overturn Roe. Roe , which was decided in 1973, established the principle that a woman has a right to an abortion. The court has refined that principle over time; a woman now has a right to an abortion before her fetus could viably survive outside the womb. (Leah Litman, 5/16)

Beyond the general outrage among progressives over Alabama’s passage Tuesday of the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, some activists and commentators have voiced additional anger over the fact that the state legislature is nearly 85 percent male, with a mere four women in the state Senate. But given the domination of conservative Republicans in state politics, it’s unlikely that more women would have changed the outcome of the vote. The bill passed the Senate along party lines, 25 to 6. The House sponsor of the legislation, which bans abortion at the moment of conception, and provides no exceptions in the case of rape or incest, was a woman. The measure was quickly signed Wednesday by the state’s female governor, Kay Ivey (R). (Vanessa Williams, 5/17)

The commonwealth has an opportunity to respect the dignity of women in Massachusetts and to trust them to make their own medical decisions by passing the ROE Act (An Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access), which would change existing laws that restrict abortion. But some leaders, including Governor Baker, seem intent on interfering in a woman’s personal medical decisions by opposing the legislation. (Aaron Hoffman, 5/16)

Like the southern states that enacted Jim Crow laws after the Civil War, the anti-abortion movement is a force to be reckoned with. But the generations of women liberated by Roe v. Wade are as unlikely to resume their former status without a fight as the slaves freed by the 13th Amendment.In the short term, though, many Republicans legislators have decided they have little to lose by appeasing the vital bloc of GOP voters who want to turn the clock back to 1972. They know the hurdles they erect will impede only those who lack the means to travel; as long as unrestricted abortions remain legal elsewhere, the legislators' know, their own wives, daughters and girlfriends will have access to them. (Brian Dickerson, 5/15)

As a pediatrician, I still want to save babies. And as we look at the high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality in this country, especially as we celebrate National Women’s Health Week, I’m reminded again that we must also continue to focus on saving their mothers.America’s future depends on the health of mothers and their children. Not only do we want more babies to reach their first birthday, we want their mothers to be there to celebrate with them. Promoting health across a woman’s life course gives us the best opportunity to do that. (Michael D. Warren, 5/16)