Americans United for Life today released its annual report about the most pro-life and pro-abortion states when it comes to passing pro-life legislation that protects women and unborn children.
The AUL list is a ranking the 50 states based on how well each protects life in law. For the second year in a row, Oklahoma earned the top ranking, followed by Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Arizona. For the eighth year in a row, Washington remained the state where women have the fewest pro-life legal protections, followed by California, Vermont, New Jersey, and Oregon.
Most Protective States
1. Oklahoma (best; second year in a row; 2017All-Star)
2. Kansas (same as last year)
3. Louisiana (same as last year; previous top state [6years])
4. Arkansas (same as last year; 2017All-Star)
5.Arizona (2017 All-Star)
6.South Dakota
7.Mississippi (2017 AllStar)
8.Georgia
9.Michigan
10.Pennsylvania
Least Protective States
1.Washington (worst state for 8thyear in a row)
2.California (#4 last year)
3.Vermont
4.New Jersey
5.Oregon
6.Nevada
7.New York
8.Connecticut
9.Massachusetts
10.Hawaii
AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs Denise Burke, who oversees the legal and legislative analysis, said that once again, legislators are using “increasingly creative and effective ways to protect women from abortion industry abuses.”
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Overall, 43 states considered more than 360 abortion-related measures in 2016. A majority of states considered measures related to federal and state funding of abortion and abortion providers. Other significant abortion-related measures in 2016 included late-term abortion limitations, prohibitions on abortions based on sex, race, or genetic abnormalities, ultrasound requirements, and financial or other support for abortion alternatives.
Four states earned AUL’s 2017 All-Star Status for their implementation of the goals of and component legislation in AUL’s innovative Women’s Protection Project and Infants’ Protection Project: Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Burke noted that new tools from AUL mean that even more laws may be passed in 2017.
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“When the Supreme Court rejected Texas’ abortion safety standards, abortion advocates celebrated, but they ignored the fine print,” said Burke. “In fact, the Court found that such laws could survive a legal challenge if well-supported by medical evidence.”
Burke continued: “New this year is a unique AUL report, Unsafe, documenting horrific conditions in abortion clinics across the country. This groundbreaking report will equip legislators as they argue for better and more comprehensive pro-life protections. In addition to AUL’s model legislation that has been updated to respond to the Supreme Court’s decision and the evolving legal and medical landscape surrounding abortion, AUL has a draft a letter that legislators can use to call for inspections of abortion clinics in their states, as well as a new legislative resolution documenting abortion industry abuses, including those detailed in Unsafe, critiquing the Supreme Court for putting abortion industry profits over women’s health and safety, and calling on Congress to reject abortion industry attempts to mainstream substandard abortion care through federal legislation that makes it impossible for states to effectively respond to the growing epidemic of dangerous abortion providers.”
Unsafe, AUL’s investigative report documents that at least 227 abortion providers in at least 32 states were cited for more than 1,400 health and safety deficiencies between 2008 and 2016. Unsafe also reveals more than 750 significant violations of state laws regulating abortion.
“It should be clear to all that the abortion industry operates as the red-light district of American medicine, fighting the kinds of common-sense regulations that protect women in reputable medical settings,” said Burke. “Legislators who care about the dangers of abortion for women and their unborn children and who are horrified by substandard conditions in abortion clinics will be empowered in 2017 with new and updated model legislation, new analysis in Unsafe, and new tools for exposing substandard abortion care and remedying it through better inspections and more comprehensive health and safety mandates.”
