State Affiliates of National Right to Life Commended for Their Work as They Prepare for Upcoming Legislative Sessions

WASHINGTON, D.C.— National Right to Life praised the work of its state affiliates and pro-life legislatures for introducing hundreds of pro-life laws this past legislative session—including bills protecting preborn babies after six weeks of pregnancy.

“In the first legislative session post-Dobbs, we saw unprecedented results in our efforts to protect preborn children,” stated Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “The pro-life laws passed in legislatures not only provide protections for unborn children but also show that the child in the womb is a welcome member of our society.”

“We thank and praise our state affiliates and pro-life state legislators for their untiring efforts in introducing these laws and seeing many of them pass,” said Tobias.

Tobias continued, “We also thank pro-life governors for signing these bills and state attorneys general who have defended them in the courts.”

State laws that passed this legislative session include bills protecting babies throughout pregnancy including protecting babies after six weeks of pregnancy—with Florida’s law also providing $25 million dollars for pregnancy resources and material support. In addition, Idaho’s HB 242 prevents an abortion—whether surgical or procured using abortion drugs—from being performed on a minor without the knowledge of her parents or guardians. Additionally, states such as Mississippi provide emergency baby drop-offs at emergency services locations.

Many of the laws, including those passed by Florida and West Virginia, include exceptions in circumstances such as life of the mother, rape, incest, and medical emergencies.

“The laws passed in these states will protect many more babies than would have been possible before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs,” stated Tobias.

In Dobbs, the question before the Court was whether all prohibitions on abortions performed pre-viability were unconstitutional. Ninety-five percent (95%) of all abortions occur before 15 weeks. The earliest known surviving premature infant was born at 21 weeks and one-day gestation.

“The laws passed in this last legislative session are in deep contrast to laws being pushed by pro-abortion groups and their Democratic supporters in Congress, state legislatures, and the Biden-Harris Administration,” stated Tobias. “The Biden-Harris Administration and the Democratic Party have an extreme pro-abortion agenda that is out of step with the majority of Americans.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.