Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Tex.) emphatically praised God, while Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) described the day as a defining moment for the “greatest human rights issue of our generation.” Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) espoused the wonder of carrying a child: “Over those nine months is a sacred miracle — it is something you feel in every moment.”

Republican lawmakers were jubilant Friday, celebrating the 6-3 Supreme Court vote overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision establishing the constitutional right to abortion nearly 50 years ago. And as dozens of House Democrats marched across a fortified Capitol to the Supreme Court, chanting and holding signs advocating for abortion rights, some Republicans were already eyeing new abortion restrictions, making clear that the momentous decision was just the beginning for the antiabortion movement.

“We’re working on something along those lines,” Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) told reporters about plans to pass a nationwide ban on abortion. He added that he’s working to reintroduce his bill, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks — and lower it to a 15-week ban.

Supreme Court reversal leaves states free to outlaw abortion

Democrats now have few legislative options in a post-Roe landscape after a bill guaranteeing abortion access nationwide failed last month in the Senate, where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority. Even if all Democratic senators voted in support of the bill, Democrats would still have to eliminate the filibuster to guarantee passage of the right to an abortion with a simple majority — a rule change that Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) both oppose.

But there was no sign Friday of an appetite among Democrats to re-litigate various proposals that could change the filibuster rules to pass such a bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was the lone Democratic leader to mention the issue ― and only in the context of electing two more Democrats to the Senate this fall to overcome Manchin and Sinema’s opposition.

“There is a plan, and that plan is to win the [midterm] election, hopefully to get two more Senators so that we can change the — the obstacles to passing laws … for the good of our country,” Pelosi said Friday at a news conference.

Some Republican lawmakers have advocated deferring the issue of abortion restrictions to the states but Friday’s decision could open the floodgates for an embrace of a national abortion ban as voters become increasingly polarized on the issue. Nearly a dozen House GOP lawmakers demurred when asked whether they supported plans to move to pass a nationwide ban on abortion — a reflection of the politically tenuous terrain the party faces as it weighs what comes next while Democratic interest in protecting abortion rights has ticked up ahead of November’s midterms.

“[Federal legislation is] something we’re going to have to talk about,” said Rep. Roger Williams (R-Tex.), who represents a state where abortions have ceased following Friday’s ruling. “Of course, it’s been passed to the states — I’m a 10th Amendment guy, so let the states decide. But all these things we need to look at because life has been attacked by the liberal left for so long.”

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) refused to say if there should exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother, or if House Republicans should legislate on the issue.

“I’m not punting, I just think right now we should recognize the ruling for what it is — putting Roe in its rightful place,” Roy said.

Pence calls for national abortion ban as Trump, GOP celebrate end of Roe

And Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), a prominent antiabortion advocate who represents a state where nearly all abortion is now banned, said piecemeal legislation, like her bill that bans abortions on the basis of sex, should be a priority for House Republicans if they take back the majority in November.

But Smith, the chair of the Pro-Life Caucus, decisively stated the end game for antiabortion advocates that others avoided clearly spelling out: passing more restrictive federal abortion legislation before Democrats moved to invalidate restrictions at the state level.

“We’re at a crossroads,” Smith said. “We have to argue and persuade like we’ve never argued and persuaded before.”

All but conceding that any potential for change is now in the hands of their voters, Democrats immediately highlighted the possibility of a national ban, and pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion as a road map of what other restrictions may come.

Thomas wrote that “in future cases,” the court “should reconsider” three landmark cases that protect the right to contraception, same-sex relations, and same-sex marriage, arguing that the court has a “duty to correct the error.”

“They consider all of this free game,” said Rep. Katherine M. Clark (D-Mass.), assistant Democratic leader of the House. Asked if House Democrats are considering codifying access to contraception into law, Clark vaguely replied that they are looking into “a lot of different things.”

Pelosi also issued a statement torching the decision that ended with a call for Democrats to turn out at the ballot box in November and previewed Democrats’ campaign message.

“The Republicans are plotting a nationwide abortion ban. They cannot be allowed to have majority in the Congress to do that,” said Pelosi.

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) on Friday also called on Congress to codify abortions protections. The duo have been working with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) since the Democratic bill to ensure abortion protections failed last month. Those negotiators have expressed a new sense of urgency but it’s unlikely any legislation protecting abortion would gain the support of ten Republicans to overcome the filibuster.

At a legislative dead-end, President Biden delivered remarks that reflected the White House’s view of abortion rights as a galvanizing issue in November.

If there aren’t enough lawmakers willing to protect access to abortion, he said, then Americans must “elect more senators and representatives to codify a woman’s right to choose into federal law [and] elect more state leaders to protect this right at the local level.”

Roe v. Wade overturned: The Supreme Court has struck down Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years has protected the right to abortion. The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health was the most anticipated of the court’s term, with tension surrounding the fight over abortion erupting in May with the leak of a draft opinion indicating a majority of justices intended to end the long-standing precedent. Read the full decision here.

What happens next? Now that the Supreme Court has overturned the 1973 precedent, the legality of abortion will be left to individual states. That likely will mean 52 percent of women of childbearing age would face new abortion limits. Thirteen states with “trigger bans” will ban abortion within 30 days. Several other states where recent antiabortion legislation has been blocked by the courts are expected to act next.

State legislation: As Republican-led states move to restrict abortion, The Post is tracking legislation across the country on 15-week bans, Texas-style bans, trigger laws and abortion pill bans, as well as Democratic-dominated states that are moving to protect abortion rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade.

Who was Jane Roe, and how did she transform abortion rights? “Jane Roe” was a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey, who as a 22-year-old unmarried woman in Dallas in 1970 wanted to terminate her pregnancy. Her case against a Dallas County district attorney went to the Supreme Court. They ruled in her favor, 7-2, in 1973.