How Pro-Life Is Your State?

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Wednesday, January 13, 2016

A major pro-life organization released its annual list of the most pro-life states in America.

Americans United for Life released the 2016 Life List, which ranked the 50 States according to the extent to which the state advanced legislative and legal prolife endeavors.

The top 10 states on the list were, in order from first to tenth, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Indiana, North Dakota, Missouri, and Texas.

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The least prolife was Washington State, followed by Vermont, New Jersey, California, Oregon, Nevada, New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

Denise Burke, vice president of Legal Affairs at AUL, told The Christian Post that the states which ranked high on their list this year "have long histories of enacting laws designed to protect women and their unborn children from the dangers inherent in an abortion procedure."

"For example, in 2015, Oklahoma enhanced the potential penalties for violations of its abortion laws and enacted protections for minors considering abortions," continued Burke.

"Arkansas became one of the first states to enact AUL's Abortion Pill Reversal Information Act, ensuring that women are told that dangerous chemical abortions can be reversed."

Burke also told CP that while the 2016 Life List "largely reflected what we have seen in prior years" regarding the rankings, there were some shifts to note compare to last year's list.

"In 2016, AUL's Life List honored a new top state: Oklahoma. It moved from 4th in 2015 to first this year. Tennessee jumped five spots to number 18 this year," said Burke.

Based upon an analysis of legal and legislative endeavors on the abortion debate, the AUL's 2016 Life List honored three states — Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas — as "All Stars" for their efforts over the past year.

This included Texas implementing parts of the controversial House Bill 2, an omnibus pro-life law passed in 2013 that is being challenged in the court system.

On the opposite end was Washington State, which has gotten the ranking of least pro-life state in the country for seven years in a row.

Presently, Washington is dealing with its own legal challenge over a state-mandated requirement that pharmacists must provide abortifacients regardless of any religious or moral objections.

When asked by CP on which direction she felt the states were going in general on the issue of abortion, Burke of AUL replied that since 2011 "states have enacted nearly 300 life-affirming measures."

"As more and more Americans come to understand the dangers of abortion and realize that abortion harms both women and their unborn children, they are demanding that their representatives … take action to protect women from dangerously substandard abortion clinics," continued Burke.

"Over the last five years, the states have led the way in addressing these concerns, and we anticipate that this trend will continue in 2016 as life issues are expected to figure prominently in this year's elections."

Follow this link to find where your state ranks.