The number of states regarded as "extremely hostile" to abortion has more than tripled during the past four years, according to a new report by an abortion-rights research organization.
In 2010, five states had six or more abortion restrictions on the books, enough to get that label from the
Guttmacher Institute. By 2014, the number of states listed as "extremely hostile" to abortion had more than tripled, rising to 18.
The increase is part of a longer-term trend. The number of states listed as "hostile" (having enacted four or more restrictions on abortion) rose from 13 in 2000 to 22 in 2010 and 27 last year,
The Washington Post reported.
The entire South "is now considered hostile to abortion rights, and much of the South, along with much of the Midwest, is extremely hostile to abortion rights,” according to Guttmacher.
In all, the percentage of American women living in states listed as "hostile" to abortion has nearly doubled since 2000, rising from 31 percent then to 57 percent last year.
Pro-life groups cited the Guttmacher report findings as evidence that abortion-rights groups are losing the political battle.
"No wonder abortions are at historic lows and 73 abortion facilities closed last year,"
LifeNews.com said. "These huge pro-life victories have come about in part because states have approved 231 pro-life laws to stop abortions since 2010."
Although some people are skeptical that "electing pro-life candidates makes a difference, the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute is bemoaning the fact that, in the last four years, mostly Republican lawmakers in states across the country have passed a record number of pro-life laws," the website added.
Republicans are expected to press for more pro-life legislation this year. Mallory Quigley, a spokeswoman for the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List,
told the Post that measures banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy will advance in West Virginia, Wisconsin, and South Carolina.
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