AUL - Watch Video of AUL's Roe Symposium

Roe Symposium Video Now Online

Our recent symposium, The Future of Roe: Women, Health and Law in the Obama Era is now available on our website.

This symposium, held January 24, 2013 at the National Press Club, examines the political, medical and legal impacts of abortion on women and American culture.  Distinguished speakers include Americans United for Life President and CEO, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, commentator Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard; Gerard Bradley of Notre Dame Law School; Dr. Monique Chireau of Duke University School of Medicine; Dr. Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green State University; Dr. Donna Harrison, Director of Research and Public Policy for AAPLOG; Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Institute; Helen Alvaré of George Mason Law School; Laura Garcia of Boston College; and a special message by disabilities spokesperson, Joni Eareckson Tada.

AUL Demands Real 1st Amendment Protections as HHS releases "Phony Compromise" Regulations in Obamacare

“The Obama Administration is trying to gerrymander the regulations but continues to leave most Americans without their Constitutional freedoms,” said AUL’s Dr. Charmaine Yoest.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (2/1/13) – “With another phony compromise, the Obama Administration continues to insult the intelligence of the American people and trample our Constitutionally-guaranteed rights,” said AUL’s President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest, as the Health and Human Services Department released additional regulations for Obamacare. “Our Freedom of Conscience, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment has been violated by Obamacare and these new regulations do not resolve the offense.” At issue are Obamacare mandates which force Americans to purchase insurance coverage for life-ending drugs and devices mislabeled as contraception as well as engage in other abortion-related activities.

“Today’s phony compromise from Health and Human Services only serves to illustrate the problem with Obamacare,” said Dr. Yoest. “The Obama Administration is trying to gerrymander the regulations but continues to leave most Americans without their Constitutional freedoms. The regulation is clear that the Obama Administration’s intent is to limit religious liberty to houses of worship. Meanwhile Christian universities, for-profit businesses - like the Bible publisher Tyndale and Hobby Lobby - or individuals are still forced to subsidize Big Abortion. The Obama Administration’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) violates the First Amendment Conscience rights of Americans, and that must be stopped.”

More detailed analysis of the regulations will be available within the hour at www.aul.org.

As the pro-life source of model legislation, AUL developed an opt-out bill that has been used by eight of the 18 states that have opted-out of offering insurance plans that cover abortion in the state Exchanges required under Obamacare. AUL has also filed amicus briefs in the following on-going cases, arguing that parts of Obamacare are not Constitutional because of violations of First Amendment Conscience Rights: Belmont Abbey College v. Sebelius, Wheaton College v. Sebelius, Nebraska v. Sebelius, and O’Brien v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  In addition, AUL filed a joint brief with other pro-life allies in United States Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida before the United States Supreme Court. For more on AUL’s efforts to protect Conscience rights, click here to learn more and view a unique video, “Who put THE CON in contraception?”

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Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization whose vision is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law. The first national pro-life organization in America, AUL has been committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial, legislative, and educational efforts at both the federal and state levels since 1971.

AUL's legal team has been involved in every abortion-related case before the U.S. Supreme Court including the successful defense of the Hyde Amendment. AUL also publishes Defending Life, the most comprehensive state-by-state legal guide of its kind, which is distributed annually to legislators across the nation.

Recently, Americans United for Life detailed the facts on taxpayer-funding of abortion during the debate over federal health care legislation, provided legal assistance to states working to opt out of abortion provisions created by federal health care law, and has played a major role in educating policymakers on the record of President Obama’s then-nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court.

AUL Releases 2013 Life List, Honoring New Life Leaders as AUL Legislative Models Make their Mark in the 50 States

Also Out on the 40^th Anniversary of Roe: AUL Life List All Stars Commend Legislative Achievements in 2012

“This analysis of cumulative successes across the country illustrates the effectiveness of AUL’s models, laying the foundation for rolling back and reversing Roe v. Wade,” said AUL’s Dr. Charmaine Yoest.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (1/17/2013) – Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest released AUL’s annual “Life List,” a well-respected ranking of the 50 states based on their on-going legal efforts to create and sustain a culture of life. While the “Life List” notes legislative accomplishments from the previous year, it also takes into account each state’s cumulative record in defending and protecting the lives of their citizens – from conception to natural death.

THE 2013 LIFE LIST honors the accomplishments of the top ten most pro-life states: 1. Louisiana, 2. Oklahoma, 3. Pennsylvania, 4. Arkansas, 5. Arizona, 6. Nebraska, 7. Indiana, 8. Missouri, 9. Georgia, 10. Virginia. To view the complete list, click here.

Most improved this year was Arizona, moving from No. 14 to No. 5 as a result of becoming the first to enact AUL’s groundbreaking “Women’s Health Protection Act,” prohibiting abortions at or after 20 weeks gestation based on growing medical evidence of the risks of late-term abortions on women’s health as well as the pain experienced by an unborn child.

“Americans United for Life has been leading the way in innovative legislation that protects women and girls from a profit-hungry Big Abortion industry, bloated with taxpayer dollars,” said Dr. Yoest. “I predict that we’ll see a large number of bills this year that also work to protect the First Amendment Freedom of all Americans who do not want to be forced into business with Big Abortion.”

AUL is the premier source for innovative, life-affirming legislation and will soon release Defending Life, its annual guidebook on abortion, bioethics, healthcare freedom of conscience, and the end of life, which includes AUL’s cutting-edge model legislation. Supported by this innovative tool, AUL was active in 8 of the top 10 states including: Oklahoma (#2), Arkansas (#4), Arizona (#5), Nebraska (#6), Indiana (#7), Missouri (#8), Georgia (#9), and Virginia (#10). Nationally, AUL helped enact 19 pro-life bills in 2012.

“LIFE LIST” ALL STARS: New this year, the AUL Life List All Stars commend legislative contributions during the 2012 state sessions. With outstanding track records of pro-life successes, the AUL All Stars are Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire, Virginia, and South Carolina.

• Arizona became the first state to enact AUL’s “Women’s Health Defense Act,” prohibiting abortions at or after 20-weeks gestation based on the well-documented dangers of late-term abortions to women’s health and the pain experienced by unborn children.
• Georgia enacted a prohibition on abortions at or after 20-weeks gestation and revised the state’s reporting requirements for late-term abortions, requiring an abortion provider to report the medical diagnosis that necessitated the procedure. Georgia also enacted a measure that includes abortion clinics, or “reproductive healthcare facilities,” in the definition of mandatory reporters for suspected child sexual abuse. 
• New Hampshire legislators overrode Governor John Lynch’s veto of a prohibition on partial-birth abortion, joining 19 other states that have also banned the dangerous and grisly practice.
• Virginia enacted an ultrasound requirement that is based, in substantial part, on AUL’s model language.  Recognizing that the performance of an ultrasound is the “gold standard” of patient care, the measure requires the performance of an ultrasound before an abortion and that the woman be given an opportunity to view the ultrasound and have it explained to her.
• South Carolina became the eighth state to enact AUL’s “Abortion-Mandate Opt-Out Act,” prohibiting insurance plans that cover abortions from participating in any Exchanges (required to be operational in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare”) operating within the state.

For more on the AUL All Star track records of 2012 successes, click here.

The 2012 state legislative year produced significant victories for Life across the United States, building on 2011’s historic progress and laying the groundwork for future victories in 2013 and beyond.  Through its state representatives and other significant relationships with state-based allies, AUL actively worked in 39 states to enact life-affirming laws and to defeat anti-life initiatives.  In 2012, AUL realized several important victories for life, including the enactment of 19 life-affirming laws.

TRENDS IN LEGISLATION: In 2012, the most popular abortion-related legislative measures included prohibitions on government funding and insurance coverage for abortion, legislation and resolutions related to pregnancy care centers, informed consent for abortion, ultrasound requirements, restrictions or regulations on abortion-inducing drugs and so-call “telemed” abortions, and abortion clinic regulations and other abortion provider requirements.

Importantly, there was a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of measures introduced to protect healthcare freedom of conscience.  Moreover, as a result of a substantial increase in the number of bills related to pain management and palliative care, measures related to end-of-life issues increased nearly two-fold.

For more on AUL’s “Life List” and the “Life List” All Stars as well as for information on Defending Life’s model legislation, click here.

Join Us in Washington, D.C. as We Remember 40 years of Roe v. Wade

Please click here for more information.

ALG's Daily Grind - Get ready for Obamabonds

Jan. 9, 2013

Get ready for Obamabonds

Pelosi: "[I]f I were president, I would use the 14th Amendment, which says that the United States will always be paying [the debt] . I would just go do it, right."

Cartoon: Al Gorzeera

A convenient hypocrisy.

The Left's Target of the Week

Hobby Lobby was recently denied an exemption from providing, through their insurance plan, morning-after and week-after birth control pills for their employees by U.S. District Court Judge Joe Heaton.

Krieger: Inflation Since the American Revolution

"Nothing like livin' the debt slave dream!"

AUL - Time Magazine Recognizes Pro-Life Gains

Dear Friends and Supporters, 

This week, the media recognized AUL’s astonishing success in fighting “Big Abortion” in the states. And this time, the news of our work has made it into the cover story of Time Magazine! As the cover aptly states, “40 Years Ago, Abortion-Rights Activists Won an Epic Victory with Roe v. Wade: THEY’VE BEEN LOSING EVER SINCE.”

In the article, reporter Kate Pickert observes how both legal restrictions and the tide of popular opinion have rendered pro-abortion advocates less and less effective. On the legal front, she notes, “In 2011, 92 abortion-regulating provisions – a record number – passed in 24 states after Republicans gained new and larger majorities in 2010 in many legislatures across the country.” 

This legal contribution has been made, in significant part, by the work of AUL – we were instrumental in helping to enact 28 of all pro-life laws passed in 2011. Pickert noted AUL President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest’s perspective, “As we work on this common-ground package of legislation, we are more where the American people are.” 

Recently the work of AUL and Dr. Charmaine Yoest brought us to the attention of several additional major media outlets including The New York Times, Mother Jones, and the The New Republic. Our work has also been reaffirmed with the data coming from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, citing the “tidal wave” of pro-life legislation as a “troubling-trend” as they see it, and The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) referencing pro-life legislation as contributing to a 5% drop in abortion according to their most recent data. 

Our common ground approach has not only served to advance the cause of AUL’s constitutionally sound, pro-life legislation, but it also corresponds with current public opinion, as the majority of Americans now support the cause of life. Through the law, AUL is affecting the culture, and national media has taken note. 

Yours for Life,

Jeanneane Maxon
Vice President for External Affairs & Corporate Counsel
Americans United for Life