Republican Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota on Monday signed one of the nation’s most draconian abortion bans into law, just weeks after the state’s GOP lawmakers shot down a proposal to provide free school lunches to low-income students.

The new forced pregnancy law, which takes immediate effect, prohibits abortion care in nearly all cases. Abortion is allowed in cases of rape or incest, but only during the first six weeks of pregnancy—before many people realize they are pregnant. Abortion is also allowed without gestational limits if terminating a pregnancy could prevent the pregnant person’s “death or a serious health risk.”

North Dakota is one of several states where dormant abortion bans took immediate effect last June when the U.S. Supreme Court’s reactionary majority overturnedRoe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had legalized the healthcare procedure nationwide.

However, “North Dakota’s trigger ban was […]