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2015 a "Watershed" Year as States Enacted 47 Pro-Life Bills

Ben Johnson : Dec 9, 2015
LifeSiteNews

"State legislatures across the country continue to break new ground protecting women from the negative consequences of abortion and ensuring that the abortion industry is subject to medically appropriate regulation and oversight." -Denise Burke

(Washington, DC)—Nearly 400 pro-life bills were introduced in state legislatures nationwide in the last year, and 47 passed, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR).

Over the last year, "extremist state lawmakers continued their assault on reproductive freedom, introducing almost 400 bills and enacting 47 new restrictions on access to reproductive health care," the CRR noted in its "2015 State of the States" report, subtitled "Fighting Back by Pushing Forward." These included laws ranging from a ban on abortions for children capable of feeling pain, to defunding Planned Parenthood, to mandatory waiting periods and parental consent laws.

That assessment is similar to that offered by CRR's pro-life opponents.

"In 2015, 48 states considered approximately 315 measures related to abortion" - a 17 percent increase from the previous year, according to Americans United for Life. In 2014, 41 states considered "approximately 270 measures," many of them based on AUL-drafted model legislation.

One state stood out above all others in the CRR report. "The Arkansas legislature unleashed an all-out assault on access to 'safe, legal abortion care' in 2015, enacting the highest number of...

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