Pro-life and pro-abortion groups may not agree on much, but reports from leading organizations on each side last week show they agree at least that America's state laws are increasingly pro-life.
In its annual “Life List” report, Americans United for Life (AUL) ranked Louisiana as the number one pro-life state in the nation for the sixth year in a row. Filling out the top five were Mississippi, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
AUL's report says that “ALL STAR States” include Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arizona, Texas, and Indiana. The five worst states when it comes to “overall advances since Roe v. Wade toward re-building a culture of life” were New Jersey, California, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, in descending order.
“In the last 4 years, states have enacted more than 200 pro-life laws protecting women and girls from abortion industry abuses,” said AUL President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest in a statement about the Life List. According to Yoest, “legislators and pro-life Americans worked together at the state level nationwide to protect women and girls from an abortion industry that puts profits over people.”
Also released last week was the NARAL Pro-Choice America “Who Decides” report. According to NARAL, America's states averaged a “D” in terms of “the status of women's reproductive rights in America.”
California was the only state to receive an “A+” by NARAL, though a number of other states received “A” grades.
Both the AUL and NARAL reports note Louisiana led the nation in 2014, with NARAL criticizing the state for enacting four pro-life laws.
The NARAL report attacked the 2003 partial-birth abortion ban, calling it a law that “outlaws certain safe, medically appropriate abortion care often necessary to protect a woman's health.” It also decried the 20-week abortion ban that has seen success at the state level, which puts NARAL in opposition to bans on abortion when babies can feel pain and are able to survive outside the womb.
AUL's “Defending Life” booklet, which outlines dozens of state-level pro-life strategies for 2015, was also released last week. The foreword was written by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a pro-life Catholic Republican who is considered a likely presidential candidate in 2016.
Americans United for Life’s full ranking:
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Arkansas
- Missouri
- Indiana
- North Dakota
- Nebraska
- Texas
- South Dakota
- Arizona
- Pennsylvania
- Michigan
- Georgia
- Ohio
- Alabama
- Wisconsin
- Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Idaho
- Tennessee
- Illinois
- North Carolina
- Rhode Island
- Florida
- Utah
- Colorado
- Minnesota
- Delaware
- Maine
- Alaska
- West Virginia
- New Hampshire
- Iowa
- Wyoming
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- New Mexico
- Connecticut
- Nevada
- Montana
- New York
- Hawaii
- New Jersey
- California
- Oregon
- Vermont
- Washington