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(Contributed photo/The Guttmacher Institute)

Alabama is one of 18 states that has been deemed "extremely hostile" to abortion rights, according to a recently released report.

The Guttmacher Institute study showed in 2000, 13 states were considered hostile to abortion rights, meaning they had multiple laws on the books to restrict access to the procedure. At the time, Alabama was not among that list.

That changed by 2002, when Alabama was one of 17 considered hostile to abortion rights with five others - Mississippi, Louisiana, Utah, North Dakota and Ohio - moving to the "extremely hostile" category. Hostile states are those that have between 4-5 laws restricting abortion; 6-10 anti-abortion laws merits an "extremely hostile" designation.

By 2014, there were 18 extremely hostile states - including Alabama - with nine more having some restrictions on the procedure. The block of states restricting abortions is centered in the South and the Midwest.

"The entire South is now considered hostile to abortion rights, and much of the South, along with much of the Midwest, is extremely hostile to abortion rights," the report notes.

Nationwide, state lawmakers introduced 341 provisions aimed at restricting access to abortion. By the end of the year, 15 states enacted 26 new abortion restrictions, including Alabama's extending its waiting period before one can receive an abortion from 24 to 48 hours.

In all 57 percent of women live in a state that is considered either hostile or extremely hostile to abortion rights.