State Legislative Roundup

"A Depth and a Quality"

By Dave Andrusko

With state legislatures adjourned, it is time to ask the perennial question: how did pro-lifers fare?

From the vantage point of NRLC Director of State Legislation Mary Spaulding Balch, the 2003 legislative cycle was exceedingly productive, made even more so by the fact that there was real movement in historically difficult states.

"The quality of legislation was exceedingly high this time 'round," Balch said. "All pro-life laws help, but some have exceptional potential to save lives immediately."

What accounts for the successes? A lot of things came together, Balch said, and pro-lifers were quick to take full advantage of the confluence.

"To begin with, there are simply a lot more pro-lifers in state legislatures than ever before," Balch said. Greater numbers help not just in proposing legislation, but also in helping to sidestep or leap over pro-abortion hurdles and to override potential gubernatorial vetoes.

"And if we take the state I live in, Virginia, as but one example, there have been a number of lawmakers elected recently for whom abortion is the number one priority," Balch said. "Abortion is their burning issue."

Such passion is crucial, especially in providing the necessary motivation and stamina needed to break the inevitable logjams that crop up as sessions approach their end.

"And the more pro-life state legislatures become, the broader and deeper is the pool from which congressional candidates can be drawn," she noted. As a consequence, the message is sent to all elected officials in a given party: being pro-life is the wave of the party's future, a bandwagon which they should not miss jumping on.

Beyond sheer numbers and single-mindedness, pro-lifers are also assuming leadership roles in state legislatures. "This is very important," Balch said, "because a single pro-abortion legislator in a key position can slow down, even kill, protective legislation." All of this forward movement, Balch said, "is thirty years in the making." "There was a depth and a quality to the legislation that is very encouraging," Balch said.

And, in one sense, that is not surprising. Given the greater number of pro-life legislators, the expertise gained over decades of battling to pass protective legislation, and the ascension of pro-lifers to leadership positions, it follows that chances are much improved to pass legislation in states with a history of such successes and even in states that historically have been very difficult.

"In the early years, certain states were quick out of the box - - able to propose and in some cases pass pro-life legislation," Balch said. "They continue their exemplary work, but what's new are the advances made in other states, particularly in the middle Atlantic area and the South." As examples of the latter, Balch cited Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, and Texas.

"But we shouldn't forget New Hampshire," she emphasized. "Its ability to pass a parental notification law this session wonderfully illustrated the ingredients of pro-life success."

According to Balch, those include, "Determination that goes back decades, creative, resolute leadership from state legislative leaders and the NRLC affiliate, Citizens for Life, a boost from a pro-life governor, and what I call the 'You're kidding?!' factor."

By the latter, Balch meant the ability of pro-life leaders to break through the disinformation barrier. During the prolonged debate, many parents discovered for the first time that their minor daughters could obtain abortions without any input from their parents.

Balch explained that the three "Women's Right to Know" laws that passed (in Minnesota, Texas, and West Virginia) had what she characterized as a "cutting edge" component.

Such statutes typically require that a woman considering abortion be given certain information - - about her child and his/her development, about possible abortion-related complications, about alternatives, about the father's responsibilities - - and be given 24 hours to assimilate that information.

"But the laws in Minnesota, Texas, and West Virginia go beyond offering the pregnant woman the opportunity to look at a pamphlet," Balch said. "She now can go to a web site and see great pictures that not only show fetal development but also outline the steps her baby has taken in his or her developmental journey." At a time when virtually all young women are familiar with and daily utilize the Internet, this is a highly important step.

In other good news, Texas passed a budget that made sure that no tax dollars would go to organizations which perform abortions. "Just because a judge has slapped a temporary injunction on the measure shouldn't detract from the effort made, or lead anyone to believe that ultimately pro-lifers won't prevail," Balch said. "What it should do is remind us how important it is to have judges on the bench who do not substitute their policy judgements for the legislature's."

In addition, two absolute bans on human cloning were passed this session - - in Arkansas and in North Dakota.

Making future prospects bright is that grassroots pro-lifers are "more motivated" than ever, Balch said. "They sense that what's happened is only the first step."