NRL News
Page 32
January 2011
Volume 38
Issue 1

NRLC State Legislative Strategy Conference Plans 2011 Pro-Life Agenda

By Dave Andrusko

Even before it became clear there were massive pro-life electoral gains made on November 2, National Right to Life knew that the potential for good in 2011 would be greatly enhanced if pro-life lobbyists, executive directors, and legislative aides from around the country came together to ensure a common state legislative agenda.

That’s exactly what happened December 7 at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel located just outside of Washington, D.C. Attendees at the NRLC State Legislative Strategy Conference learned from the best legislative analysts and strategists in the Movement. (For more, see also pages 2, 6-7.)

With a net gain of 11 pro-life governors and an infusion of hundreds of additional pro-life members of state Houses and state Senates, it was critical to bring key pro-lifers in to make sure they had a common set of issues to advance and a coordinated way of broaching the legislative bodies.

NRLC President Dr. Wanda Franz offered an excellent overview which set the table for the all-day meeting. The breadth and depth of the action items she outlined were sources of encouragement and excitement for all of those in attendance.

At the top is protecting unborn children capable of feeling pain from abortion. The model is Nebraska’s “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” that prohibits abortion after 20 weeks gestation based on compelling medical evidence that by 20 weeks, if not before, unborn children have the capacity to experience pain.

Nebraska abortionist LeRoy Carhart, famous for performing abortions late in pregnancy, responded by looking for new opportunities in Iowa, Indiana, and Maryland. (He is now already performing abortions in Germantown, Maryland.) All the more reason to pass laws similar to Nebraska’s in as many states as possible.

But Director of State Legislation Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D., had much more on her plate to share with the people “who walk the legislative halls.” Those initiatives included ensuring that ultrasounds are available to women contemplating abortion; preventing public funds from being used to subsidize health insurance that covers abortion as permitted by the ObamaCare; and (at the other end of the life spectrum) fighting the increasingly common practice by which so-called ethics committee in health care facilities authorize denial of lifesaving medical care—including food and fluids—against the will of the patient or his or her surrogates.

Balch explained that many of the newly elected state officials will be serving their first terms. “They will be looking to pro-life lobbyists from NRLC’s state affiliates for help not only in promoting the right legislation but also in navigating through and around legislative potholes,” she explained.

Balch believes that the lobbyists who listened so attentively for seven hours “were happy to see that other states are working on pro-life legislation and that so many are confident legislation can be enacted in 2011.” She added, “But how much we take advantage of these opportunities depends on grassroots pro-lifers contacting their state officeholders to make sure they know that these are priority items.”

2011, Balch said, “can be one of the best years in a long, long time.”