Tom McCluskey, vice president of FRC Action, the legislative arm of the Washington-based Family Research Council, said the effort to ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution may provide a better analogy for state-by-state campaigns to restrict abortion than efforts to abolish the death penalty. But McCluskey admitted even that analogy isnt perfect, since the language of any constitutional amendment would remain the same when considered by each state, while legislation on abortion would likely vary in each state—as would the degree to which abortion could be successfully restricted. "The lower-hanging fruit is trying to pass more pro-life legislation in the states," McCluskey said. He added that, in the 36 years since Roe v. Wade became law, pro-life networks are "already working in the states" to restrict abortion.    

"Each state is different," agreed Mary Spaulding Balch, director of the department of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee. "Some states have laws on the books that would already say that abortion is illegal, and those are on the books still. There are other states that would have to enact that kind of law."