Arizona ranked as the nation's most pro-life state

Americans United for Life (AUL) has named Arizona in its annual Life List as the most pro-life state when it comes to passing legislation that protects human life from conception to natural death.

Joining Arizona on AUL's 2018 Life List was Arkansas at second place, followed by Oklahoma, Louisiana and Kansas. At the bottom of the list was Washington state, followed by California, Vermont, New Jersey and Oregon.

"We are excited to announce that Arizona has gained our highly coveted number one ranking this year...sadly, for the ninth year in a row, Washington remained the state where women and their children have the fewest legal protections," AUL president Catherine Glenn Foster stated in a press release.

Alabama and Texas both moved up five places in the rankings for passing significant pro-life measures during their 2017 legislative sessions. Illinois, on the other hand, fell seven spots after the passage of several pro-abortion laws.

Steven Aden, AUL's Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, told Life News that lawmakers across the U.S. are continuing their efforts to oppose "an increasingly business-driven abortion industry that is determined to put its profit margins before the health and safety of women and children."

He noted that at least 19 states have adopted 60 life-affirming legislation in 2017, making it the most productive year for the pro-life movement since 2013. Some of the measures include late-term abortion limits, restrictions on abortions based on sex and genetic abnormalities, ultrasound requirements, and financial or other support for abortion alternatives.

Additionally, states also resisted efforts to pass legislation that would have legalized physician-assisted suicide, as well as attempts to pass proactive prohibitions to protect the elderly, disabled and vulnerable.

Last year, Oklahoma held the top ranking on the list of most pro-life states in the U.S., followed by Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Arizona.

According to Life News, more than 360 abortion-related legislation were considered by 43 states in 2016, with a majority of the states considering measures related to federal and state funding of abortion and abortion providers.

At the time, Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma earned AUL'S 2017 All-Star Status for implementing the goals of and component legislation in the pro-life group's innovative Women's Protection Project and Infants' Protection Project.

In January 2017, AUL also released its investigative report called Unsafe, which documented what the group described as "horrific conditions in abortion clinics across the country."

According to the report, at least 227 abortion clinics in at least 32 states were cited for more than 1,400 health and safety deficiencies between 2008 and 2016. It also found that there were more than 750 significant violations of state laws regulation abortion.