New House speaker celebrated abortion penalties after fall of Roe v Wade

Mike Johnson of Louisiana has continued to champion anti-abortion bills even as some in his party beware US voter backlash

The day after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June last year, Mike Johnson of Louisiana celebrated his home state’s new penalties for abortion providers. “The right to life has now been RESTORED!” the Republican crowed on X, formerly known as Twitter, on 25 June. “Perform an abortion and get imprisoned at hard labor for 1-10 yrs & fined $10K-$100K.”

Opposition to abortion is virtually a job requirement for Republicans these days. But Johnson, the newly minted speaker of the House, is a committed abortion opponent even by the standards of his fellow conservative colleagues.