AUL report on 2009 state legislative sessions concerning pro-life bills

2009 State Legislative Sessions in Review

Overview

Despite Congress and the Obama Administration’s pursuit of an incremental strategy to implement a regime of unregulated and unrestricted abortion-on-demand, fund unethical and destructive biotechnologies, and coerce and undermine the consciences of health care providers, the majority of states continue their pursuit of life-affirming laws and policies.

In 2009, approximately 60 pro-life measures[1] were enacted in the states, a marked increase from 2008. This accomplishment is especially notable given that there was a nearly one-third decline in the number of pro-life measures introduced in the states in 2009 (as compared to 2008 activity levels).

Several notable and promising developments and trends also emerged in 2009:

1. The states considered approximately 300 abortion-related measures, the vast majority of them life-affirming, and virtually every state considered at least one pro-life measure.
2. Several states introduced resolutions opposing the federal Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a radical piece of legislation that would enshrine abortion-on-demand into American law and override all federal and state laws regulating or restricting abortion. Meanwhile, attempts in five states to enact state versions of FOCA were handily defeated.
3. Informed consent, ultrasound requirements, enhanced parental involvement requirements, and comprehensive health and safety regulations for abortion clinics continued to receive significant attention in the states.
4. States continued to seek to protect the unborn in contexts other than abortion by enacting protections for unborn victims of violence, encouraging substance-abuse treatment for pregnant woman, and providing legal recourse for families whose unborn children are killed through the criminal acts or neglect of others.
5. Measures to regulate biotechnologies and to prohibit or restrict technologies that destroy nascent life increased by nearly 20 percent – the first increase in such legislation in three years.
6. Legislation to protect health care providers’ freedom of conscience declined by 50 percent However, for the first time in three years, measures to protect conscience outpaced measure to violate or compel conscience by a margin of 2 to 1.
7. States legislation on end of life issues doubled from 2008 activity levels.

These life-affirming trends – especially during an economic crisis – bode well for the 2010 state legislative sessions and the continuing pursuit of a renewed Culture of Life."-Click on link above for full report.