Pregnancy help centers have expanded dramatically, with Care Net’s affiliates growing from about 550 in 1999 to 1,130 in 2010. Meanwhile, abortion clinics have shrunk from about 2,200 in 1991 to 689 in 2011

The 20th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling and the two decades since that disheartening decision for pro-lifers actually have produced significant progress for their movement, senior counsel Clarke Forsythe of Americans United for Life wrote in a post at National Review Online.
In 1992, pro-life advocates hoped the high court would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 opinion that legalized abortion nationwide. The justices, however, reaffirmed Roe while concurrently giving states permission to provide some regulation of the lethal procedure.

“While Casey failed to overturn abortion, it did open a crack in the door to state regulation, which began immediately,” Forsythe wrote.

“One clear gain from Casey was that the Court indicated – for the first time – that it would permit the states to require that women be given detailed information about the nature, risks, and alternatives before an abortion.”

After Casey, states started adopting health and safety regulation, though it took until the 2007 Gonzales v. Carhart ruling, which upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortion, for federal courts to defer to the states, Forsythe said. Among the results, he said:

— Fifteen states approved informed consent laws after Casey, and another 14 significantly enhanced such laws.

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