A good argument could be made that it is more important that there be pro-life legislators at the state level than the federal level because of the many ways in which states can restrict and regulate abortion. According to Americans United for Life, there are now 14 more pro-life governors although there are two potential losses: there will be an election at some pointto replace West Virginia’s pro-life Governor Joe Manchin (D) who was elected that state’s senator on Tuesday and the results aren’t known in Minnesota where it is likely that a pro-abortion Democrat will replace the retiring pro-life Governor Tim Pawlenty (R), who will probably seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Currently, the pro-abortion Democrat Mark Dayton is leading the pro-life Republican Tom Emmer by 0.4%.
Furthermore, as AUL points out, the Republicans took the state house and senate in six states and either the house or senate in six others. While not all Republicans are pro-life, party affiliation is a good enough proxy. It will be much easier to get pro-life legislation introduced, passed and signed into law.
The political priorities of politicians in the next year or so will certainly be economic, but governance is not an either/or proposition. The focus can be economic, but legislators can still work to enact life-affirming and life-saving laws.
