Three state officials regarded as champions of the unborn are expected to grace the January 18 conference of the country's largest pro-life network meant to address the "pro-life momentum" in the face of the United States Supreme Court's pending decision on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case in June.
Susan B. Anthony List released a media advisory last week regarding a virtual conference with "state officials to address (the) growing pro-life momentum in states ahead of (the) landmark Dobbs decision." The said conference will be held on Tuesday "ahead of the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision and the annual March for Life," which is on January 22 and January 21, respectively.
The said officials are Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem who will be joined by SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. The conference aims to discuss the "growing pro-life momentum at the state level" and the "role of state lawmakers in protecting life in anticipation of the Dobbs case."
"With courage and compassion Governor Noem, Lieutenant Governor Evette, and Attorney General Cameron have championed the protection of unborn children and their mothers. They represent thousands of elected officials nationwide who are poised to lead fearlessly on the life issue after the Dobbs decision," Dannenfelser said.
The conference comes after pro-life legal experts in December said that the oral arguments of the Supreme Court show that the justices are gearing towards taking the side of states having the authority to ban abortions for pregnancies 15 weeks and beyond that is the issue in focus of the Dobbs v. Jackson case through the Mississippi Gestational Age Act. The pro-life experts said the justices left "good clues" that even suggest the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned when the decision is released this year.
Last week, veteran pro-life organization Americans United for Life urged legislators to focus on crucial priorities on abortion while waiting for the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson. Americans United for Life underscored that the best measure at the moment would be to enforce "strong" abortion laws that would curtail "the number of abortions," protect women, and save lives in the level of the state.
SBA List stressed the importance of state level efforts in the pro-life movement, which their conference intends to act upon in preparation of what is to come.
"State executives are expected to play an increasingly important role in leading and implementing pro-life policy in anticipation of a Supreme Court decision in the Dobbs late abortion case, likely to be announced this summer. The Supreme Court has said it will address the constitutionality of pre-viability limits on abortion," SBA List said in its media advisory.
In an op-ed in Newsweek, Dannenfelser highlighted that the Supreme Court's decision is expected to restore to the American people the "power to protect unborn children and their mothers in the law," which was "decades in the making." Dannenfelser then raised the role of states in a "post-Roe America," which is to be "at the forefront of America's pro-life revolution," and emphasized their need to act now.
"In a post-Roe America, each state will resume a debate that was unjustly stifled for two generations concerning how we protect the most vulnerable. American democracy will work as designed, with the people, through their elected representatives, determining the laws that govern them. Pro-life advocates must take the initiative in every state, and future pro-life presidents and members of Congress must act to defend life," Dannenfelser said.
