Americans United for Life releases annual state rankings

Americans United for Life has released its 2017 Life List, which ranks the 50 states and the District of Columbia on their legal protections for unborn children and regulation of the abortion industry.

Unsurprisingly, the west coast states and New England have awful records. The most pro-life states are more evenly spread out.

The ten least protective states are in purple; the ten most protective are in gold.

The worst state, for the eighth consecutive year, is Washington. The best state is Oklahoma, which was also named to AUL’s All-Star list along with Arizona, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Those who claim that abortion laws make no difference might be interested to know that, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, 9 of the 10 most pro-life states enjoy an abortion rate that is below the national average—in most cases, far below. (The sole exception is Georgia, where the abortion rate is the same as the national average. None of the most pro-life states have an above-average abortion rate.) Conversely, 7 of the 10 states at the bottom of the Life List have an abortion rate higher than the national average. The worst offender? New York; its abortion rate is more than double the national average.

In addition to the state-by-state rankings, you’ll find an overview of AUL’s model legislation, highlights of the past year, and priorities for next year—including some ideas about how to effectively fight unsanitary and dangerous abortion businesses in the wake of Hellerstadt. Stay tuned for the upcoming edition of Defending Life, which will explore the legal landscape in more detail.