“Mothers and their unborn children should not be abandoned to a callous, profit-motivated abortion industry that lobbies for us to ‘Trust but Never Verify’ women’s health and safety,” said AUL’s Dr. Yoest.
Click here to download a copy of AUL’s 2015 State Legislative Sessions Mid-Session Report.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (04-27-15) – “Innovative additions to informed consent enhancements on health risks and realities of abortion, medically appropriate health and safety standards for abortion providers, abortion limits at 5 months of pregnancy, and dangerous legislation targeting the sick and elderly represent key legislative trends across the country on life issues,” noted Americans United for Life President & CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest, in releasing AUL’s mid-session legislative analysis.
“Despite efforts to shut down pro-life legislation at the federal level, pro-life Americans across the country have worked together at the state level to ensure that mothers and their unborn children are not abandoned to a callous, profit-motivated abortion industry that lobbies for us to ‘Trust but Never Verify’ women’s health and safety,” said Dr. Yoest. “Successes across the country illustrate the growing national conviction that the reality of human life in the womb and the dangers of abortion to women must be addressed in the law.”
Number One Trend: Informed Consent Enhancements, Chemical Abortion CAN be Reversed
“Innovative informed consent laws have been enacted in Arizona and Arkansas, based on AUL model legislation, that require women to receive vital information on the possibility of reversing a chemical abortion. This represents another victory for Life as a result of AUL’s mother-child strategy,” said Dr. Yoest. “With chemical abortions now accounting for 1 in 4 abortions, women need to know what all their options are.” Click here to learn more about chemical abortion reversal.
Number Two Trend: Continued Protections for Women in Abortion Clinics
Question: Is Your State Rated “Dangerous” Because of Poor Legal Protections?
In addition to enhancements to informed consent laws and limits on abortions at 5 months, abortion clinic regulations and admitting privileges requirements continue to advance at the state-level. Abortion advocates are actively opposing such protective legislation and, in 2015, have spearheaded the consideration of at least 25 measures to rollback recent pro-life gains at the state level. Click here to learn whether your state has been rated “Dangerous” because of poor legal protections for women.
Number Three Trend: The Elderly and Sick More Vulnerable to Pressure to End their Lives
“While we see increasing national consensus to protect life in the womb as a pregnancy advances, most disturbing is a trend to make the sick and elderly less safe,” noted Dr. Yoest. At least 24 states and the District of Columbia are considering measures to legalize physician-assisted suicide, a more than threefold increase in such measures. Much of the momentum supporting these measures derives from the publicity surrounding the assisted-suicide death of Brittany Maynard in November 2014.
A number of measures based on AUL model language have been enacted or have made significant progress this legislation session. As of April 23, 2015, six AUL measures have been enacted and three AUL model resolutions have been adopted. Further, AUL has assisted in the enactment of chemical abortion regulations in Idaho and in the defeat of anti-life measures in New York and Connecticut.
To read AUL’s analysis of life-related laws during this 2015 legislative session, click here.
To learn more about AUL’s cutting-edge model legislation, found in Defending Life, click here.