INSTITUTE INDEX: The South's widening war on abortion rights

Date on which North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed into law a bill that requires the state's abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers, despite a campaign promise that he would not sign any legislation that further restricts abortion: 7/30/2013

Additional cost to build a clinic that meets ambulatory surgical center standards: $1 million

Number of bodyguards that accompanied McCrory the following day when he left the executive mansion and stepped into the street to deliver cookies to abortion rights advocates protesting outside, who returned them with a note that said, "We want women's health care, not cookies": 4

Number of days after the cookie incident that the McCrory administration revoked the license of the Femcare abortion clinic in Asheville after reportedly finding problems with equipment, maintenance, and personnel: 1

Besides the Femcare facility, whose owner says she intends to fix the problems and reopen soon, number of North Carolina's other 15 abortion clinics that currently meet the ambulatory surgical center standards: 0

Over the past three months, total number of abortion clinics whose operations North Carolina regulators have suspended for various violations: 3

Total number suspended over the previous 14 years: 2

Number of abortion clinics still operating in Mississippi following the passage of laws that impose strict regulations on providers: 1

Date on which the state's lone abortion clinic won a federal court stay blocking enforcement of a 2012 law that would have closed it by requiring providers to have hospital admitting privileges: 4/15/2013

Month in which the Arkansas legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Mike Beebe (D) to ban abortions occurring more than 12 weeks after a woman's last menstrual period: 3/2013

Number of months later that a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the Arkansas law: 2

Date on which Texas state Sen. Eddie Lucio, a Democrat, filed a bill that would require women seeking an abortion in the state to first take a course on adoption: 7/29/2013

Date on which Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed into law a bill that prohibits abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and imposes new regulations that may shut down most of the state's abortion providers: 7/18/2013

Date on which the U.S. House passed a ban on abortion after 20 weeks, a measure now being advanced in the U.S. Senate by Republican leaders including Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas: 6/18/2013

Year in which the first 20-week abortion ban, which is based on a disputed theory of fetal pain, was adopted by a state legislature: 2010

Number of states that have since enacted such bans, which have become a major tactic of the anti-abortion movement: 12

In the three states where the 20-week abortion bans have been legally challenged, number where they have been blocked by the courts: 3

Weeks of pregnancy at which a fetus is deemed viable, which is the current cutoff for banning abortion under established constitutional law: 24

Aside from abortion, number of other winning social issues some conservatives see as having left in their political arsenal: 0

Since the mid-1990s, percentage points by which opposition to abortion rights has increased in the U.S. South Central region including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas: 12

Percent of adults in the region who say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases: 52

Percentage-point difference in support for legal abortion between the South Central region and New England, where abortion rights have broad backing: 35

(Click on figure to go to source.)