RIGHT TO LIFE SEES GAINS IN THE STATES.

The pro-life trend that swept America November 5, so easy to see at the national level, was equally evident at the state level. By electing a majority of pro-life legislators in many states, citizens have sent a clear message: more than ever pro-lifers are a force to be reckoned with.

Space permits discussing only a representative handful of states. But the common denominator is the defeat of many entrenched pro-abortionists and the elevation of pro-lifers eager to introduce commonsense, mainstream legislation.

In West Virginia, for example, pro-lifers overpowered their pro-abortion opponents in virtually every state Senate race. Remarkably, no pro-life incumbent lost to a pro-abortion challenger, while a number of pro-abortion incumbents lost to pro-life challengers.

Several outspoken pro-abortion legislators were defeated by pro-life candidates, including the ardently pro-abortion Senate Judiciary Chairman Bill Wooton (D). Wooton lost to Russ Weeks (R), a well-known local pro-life advocate and vice president of West Virginians for Life's Raleigh County chapter.

"None of us saw this train coming," House Majority Leader Rick Staton (D-Wyoming) admitted to the Gazette Mail. (Staton's county is in Wooton's senatorial district.)

Pro-life West Virginians were victorious in other big Senate races as well. Pro-life Republican challengers Steve Harrison and Jesse Guills defeated pro-abortion Democratic incumbents John Mitchell and Mary Pearl Compton, respectively, in the House of Delegates.

Cumulatively, 16 of the 17 senators elected to the state Senate November 5 are pro-life, leaving only 5 pro-abortionists out of 34 state senators. "It is clear that the issue of abortion weighed heavily in the hearts of the voters," said Melissa Adkins, West Virginians for Life legislative coordinator. "The defeat of Bill Wooton and several other pro-abortion legislators removed the biggest roadblocks to legally protecting unborn children in our state."