[img_assist|nid=154|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=68|height=100]With the recent banning of abortion in South Dakota and 11 other states following suit, Focus on the Family seems publicly invigorated by the news, “pro-lifers have good reason to be hopeful.” Privately, Daily Kos reports Dobson is whipping the White House to do more. Quoting Dobson, “There’s just very, very little to show for what has happened and I think there’s going to be some trouble down the road if they don’t get on the ball,” referring to the paultry successes the far right has won for its loyalty to the Bush White House.

As the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade continues to be grist for the media mill, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports, “With no national statute or ruling either protecting or outlawing abortion, the issue would move to state Legislatures and attorneys general. Meanwhile, Congress would be pressured from both sides to quickly enact a federal law.”

Interviewing Jeffrey Rosen about his piece in the Atlantic Online Rosen says, “Part of the fun of this futuristic scenario that I was invited to play out in the piece is to ask whether, now that pro-life and pro-choice groups are pushing their Republican and Democratic legislators to the extremes, you might have situations where state Legislatures and Congress are unable to represent the will of the moderate majority.”

Across the country, state legislation abounds from triggering bans on abortion to codifying the rights guaranteed under Roe – all in an effort to address the day when the power to decide is no longer the constitutional right of a woman, but rather the right of each state. “Now is the time to get moving on this.” says Tom Brinkman, an Ohio legislator who has introduced a bill banning most abortions in the state. In South Dakota, the recently passed “… anti-abortion law, described as one of the most restrictive in the nation” is headed for the ballot this fall with petitions nearly complete. While attacks on Roe continue, real efforts to prevent the need for abortion by preventing unintended pregnancies struggle on across the United States.

The group West Virginia Free recently discovered that “Incredibly, about four-fifths of West Virginia druggists won’t sell ‘morning after’ birth-control pills.”In Ohio, a bill labeled with “no chance of passing” was introduced. The measure would make birth control more accessible and mandate the teaching of sex education. “But lawmakers have shot down milder versions of the proposal in the past, and are considering a competing measure that would restrict access to emergency contraception used after unprotected sex.”