States enact near-record number of abortion restrictions

By Julian Pecquet - 01/19/12 12:43 PM ET

States enacted 67 anti-abortion measures last year, NARAL Pro-Choice America says in a new report, the most since the group started tracking such laws in 1995.

These included five states that enacted bans on abortion after 20 weeks that critics think don't include adequate exceptions to protect women's health or for cases of rape or incest; eight that prohibited insurance coverage for abortion; and seven that restricted or banned state funding for Planned Parenthood and other healthcare centers that provide abortions.

Simultaneously, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives took eight votes to curtail abortion rights, the most since 2000.

"Last year we predicted that our opponents would ignore the public's call for elected officials to focus on the nation's immediate challenges, including the economy," the group's president, Nancy Keenan, said in a statement accompanying the release of the 21st edition of 'Who Decides? The Status of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States'. "Sadly, our predictions came true."

On the other side of the issue, Americans United for Life (AUL) released a similar report that draws an entirely different conclusion.

"As the legal arm of the pro-life movement, the AUL legal team has created the legal architecture for reversing Roe v. Wade," AUL President and CEO Charmaine Yoest said in a statement. "The states are preparing for the day after Roe. And as the Life List documents, we're seeing tremendous gains in defending life in law."