By Dave Andrusko
Last June, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe, it came (as CNN noted) when state legislatures had limited time to act. “By the time the Supreme Court overruled Roe, nearly every state had already wrapped up its legislative session for the year, making it almost impossible for lawmakers to respond with legislation in the immediate wake of the ruling,” Jessica Schneider and Devan Cole wrote.
CNN looked to Ingrid Duran, NRL’s Director of State Legislation, to put the upcoming frenzy in perspective. “We’re definitely preparing for an absolutely crazy year,” said Duran. NRL “has tracked more than 200 bills related to abortion in the last year, and she expects that number to skyrocket.”
“We can see maybe a 100% increase in states on both sides of the issue,” Duran said.
Duran also told Roll Call “We’re just going to see a little bit of a kaleidoscope of laws dealing with protecting unborn children right now, as well as laws dealing with medication abortion.”
To take just one example in his State of the Commonwealth address delivered last week, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked the state’s lawmakers to “choose life” on the first day of the state’s legislative session.
“As we embark on the next 46 days…when it comes to unborn children, we can come together. We can choose life, and choose to support mothers, fathers, and families in difficult decisions,” Gov. Youngkin said.
“This session, I have asked the General Assembly to come together to protect life at 15 weeks, the point when a baby can feel pain. It is clear, Virginians want fewer abortions, not more.”
Elsewhere today, Casey Romanoff Coffin, Legislative Assistant, Department of State Legislation, added more insight:
2022 was an historic year that saw the U.S. Supreme Court finally end the so-called constitutional right to abortion. The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the abortion issue to state legislatures, was a joyous moment for mothers and unborn children. It was the culmination of decades of work for all of us in the pro-life movement who had worked diligently alongside hundreds of dedicated pro-life state legislators across the country to legally defend the vulnerable at the state level.
2023, she said,
is our opportunity to do even more to expand protections for unborn children and increase support for moms during and after pregnancy.
Pro-lifers are prepared to make 2023 a bonanza year for unborn babies and their mothers.