Many states have contributed to this year's record 106 new laws restricting abortion. Though Congress has not been a part of that, Ingrid Duran, director of state legislation at the National Right to Life Committee, says things have changed over the years, so there is reason to believe Congress will come around.
"In 1995, [one of] our go-to states was South Dakota; if we wanted to pass a lot of pro-life laws, we did it in South Dakota," Duran recalls. "Now we get to really pick from places like South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Indiana, Alabama, [and] Georgia."
Ohio and Mississippi are also on that list, and some of states even want to enshrine the issue in their constitutions.
"In 2021, we already have two states, Kansas and Kentucky, that have passed legislatively constitutional amendments," the pro-lifer continues. "In Kansas the Value Them Both Amendment will appear on their August 2022 election ballot, and in Kentucky their No Right to Abortion will appear on their ballot in November 2022."
So even though the progress of late has only been in the states and not on a federal level, Duran points out that every time a pro-life bill is considered in Washington, it serves to educate the public and the members of Congress on the life issue. It also puts the members' votes on record for everyone to see.
2021 is reportedly the first time that the Guttmacher Institute, which has compiled this data annually since 1973, has counted more than 100 abortion restrictions passed in a single year. In 2011, the only other year since 1973 to come close, 89 restrictions on abortion were passed across the country.
