"It's Been a Great Year".

Mary Balch, NRLC's director of state legislation, has never been known for hyperbole or overstatement. That's why her conclusion in a recent interview with National Right to Life News was so significant.

"It's been a great, great year," Mary said unhesitatingly. "We passed genuinely substantive legislation in a lot of places."

The list of achievements is so lengthy that the following overview only captures a rough sense of how well pro-lifers fared in their state legislatures.

Oklahoma passed a trifecta plus one--an omnibus pro-life measure that included four components: parental notification, woman's right to know, unborn victims of violence, and wrongful death.

"Both Republicans and Democrats worked on this bill, and both want to claim credit," Balch said. "They put aside their partisan differences on other issues to do the right thing."

Many legislatures did the right thing. For example, besides Oklahoma, West Virginia and Arizona passed Unborn Victims of Violence Acts (UVVA). Maryland, a notoriously difficult state for pro-lifers, passed a much more limited UVVA that applies after viability.

A new thrust, Balch explained, is that six states--Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, and Louisiana--appropriated money for pregnancy care centers and maternity homes. Ever creative, they accomplished this desirable outcome in different ways: by a free-standing bill, by using federal Temporary Aid to Needy Children funds, or by including dollars as a line item in the state budget. ...