Legislation

While much of the attention of pro-life Americans is on Congress and the courts, it is a fact that the vast majority of our pro-life laws are enacted and enforced at the state level.

Access our 2019 state legislative session report

No matter how well-intentioned a law is, it won’t have the intended effect if it isn’t worded correctly; in fact, sometimes it can actually make matters worse. AUL attorneys are highly-regarded experts on pro-life legal language and the Constitution, consulting on bills and amendments across the country. In addition, our model legislation enables legislators to easily introduce bills without needing to research and write the bills themselves, helping ensure that their efforts will have the desired impact and withstand judicial scrutiny.

In 1992 the Supreme Court clearly opened the door for states to put legal limits on abortion in the decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Since that time, AUL has focused on helping state legislators to pass the best pro-life laws they can, and then helping the state Attorney General to defend those laws in court against lawsuits by Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and Center for Reproductive Rights.

We are continually working to help legislators enact new pro-life laws that will go into effect and not be unnecessarily tied up in court so they can save lives today while continuing to roll back Roe v. Wade in the courts. To do that, we educate legislators on the issues and provide them with model legislation and legal advice on legislative language. We work hand-in-hand with legislators to minimize avoidable problems so activist judges can’t easily tie a good law up for years in court or strike it down completely.

Areas of Legislative Activity

AUL Model Legislation and AUL Legislative Guides are linked below. Request more information for your state by emailing Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel, at katie.glenn@aul.org.

Women’s Protection Project
Enforcement Module
Women’s Right to Know Act (Informed Consent for Abortion)
Women’s Ultrasound Right to Know Act

Coercive Abuse Against Mothers Prevention Act
Women’s Health Protection Act
Abortion Reporting Act
Abortion Inducing Drugs Information Act
Parental Involvement Enhancement Act
Child Protection Act
Joint Resolution on Epidemic of Substandard Abortion Practices and Abortion Industry Efforts to Mainstream Dangerous Abortion Facilities

The Infants’ Protection Project
Unborn Infants Dignity Act
“Missouri Preamble”
Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act
Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act
Perinatal Hospice Information Act
Born-Alive Infant Protection Act
Unborn Wrongful Death Act