A new report by Planned Parenthood's Guttmacher Institute documents the phenomenal pro-life swing in state legislatures across America.
For background, read Pro-life Legislation Floods America because 'Life' Won the 2010 Election, and also read about state pro-life laws immediately thereafter.
-- From "Abortion battle rages in state legislatures" by Michael Martinez and Moni Basu, CNN 4/14/11
"It's pretty much an all-out, anti-abortion free-for-all out there," said Elizabeth Nash, public policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute.
"I've been doing this for almost 12 years now, so I feel like I have some historical sense. This year is just unlike any other year we've seen before."
Consider that 374 anti-abortion bills were introduced in state legislatures this year, 200 more than last year, said Ted Miller, spokesman for NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Of those, 61 bills in 25 states focus on prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortions. Another 20 in 10 states make ultrasounds mandatory before abortions.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Report: More states 'hostile' to abortion" posted at UPI 4/14/11
This week, Kansas became the second state in the nation after Nebraska, to enact a "fetal pain" law banning abortions after 21 weeks based on studies that "fetuses can feel pain beginning after the 21st week of pregnancy," a statement by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's office said.
Sixteen other states are considering measures modeled after Nebraska's law, one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in recent years, the Guttmacher report indicated.
The Guttmacher Institute report said lawmakers introduced 916 abortion-related to measures in 49 state legislatures convened for their regular session through March 31. Louisiana's Legislature doesn't convene until late April. In the same time frame, seven states enacted 15 new laws on these issues.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "States Seeking To Limit Abortion Rights To Unprecedented Degree In 2011: Report" by Laura Bassett, Huffington Post 4/14/11
More than 120 bills limiting abortion rights have been approved by at least one chamber of the legislature so far, and the 15 bills that enacted into law include a bill in Utah that limits abortion coverage in all private health plans and laws in Utah and Virginia that require their health departments to develop new regulations governing abortion clinics.
In addition to imposing pre-abortion waiting periods, legislators in 13 states have introduced laws forcing women to obtain an ultrasound procedure before having an abortion. Bills in seven of those states -- Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas -- would require the woman view the fetus and hear a detailed verbal description of it before undergoing the mandatory waiting period.
Nash, an expert on state abortion policy, said she sees the wave of new legislation seeking to roll back abortion rights as a result of several factors: the recent influx of conservative state legislators (Republicans picked up 20 state legislative chambers in the 2010 elections); the health care law, which spotlighted abortion as an insurance issue; and a few recent anti-abortion legislation successes at the state level that are serving as model legislations.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read America Turns Against Abortion on Demand
