Most people would consider California predominantly pro-choice. So, unless you are following what's going on nationwide, you might be unaware that the anti-choice movement has been more energized this legislative season than ever before.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2011 there have been 916 pieces of legislation proposed in 49 states related to reproductive health. Many have already passed and have been signed into law. In fact, there were 33 new anti-choice laws passed in nine states in April alone.

We've seen dozens of measures meant to restrict women's ability to terminate pregnancies after 20 weeks, without a health or fetal abnormality exception, or a rape or incest exemption. This issue will probably go to the Supreme Court, as it arguably violates federal abortion law, which affirms a right to an abortion up until viability, which is generally from 24 to 28 weeks.

We've seen several bans on private insurance coverage - a trend this year. Many states are now mandating ultrasounds (even though ultrasounds are commonplace in abortion clinics) before the decision to have an abortion.

Kansas, where Dr. George Tiller, a nationally known late-term abortion provider, was killed at his church in Wichita on May 31, 2009, exactly two years ago today, has mandated that the medical staff tell a woman that the fetus is a "whole, separate, unique, living human being."

There are bills that penalize the abortion provider as well. In South Dakota and Nebraska, there are laws written so broadly that one could claim justifiable homicide for killing an abortion provider. Another bill would leave doctors vulnerable to steep fines, lawsuits by family members, prison time and even possibly the death penalty for providing health care to women.

At the federal level, we've witnessed an intense campaign to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would deny tax credits to small businesses that offer insurance plans that offer abortion coverage. Eighty percent of private insurance policies cover abortion care. Additionally, women would not be able to take a medical expense deduction for abortion services or receive reimbursement under their medical savings accounts.

So why is this happening now?

It started with the 2008 election. Many of the conservatives who became angry at President's Obama agenda, including his health care reform law, are abortion opponents. They came out in large numbers to vote in 2010. Traditionally, abortion opponents have been more aggressive with a pro-choice, Democratic president. It happened with President Bill Clinton, and it is happening now.

We need to stop this tide. These attempts are working because they are sneaky. These legislative leaders know they can't overturn Roe vs. Wade and so are trying to evade its force and reach by going around it. And in many ways, their attempts are working.

They are slowly chipping away a woman's right to choose, leaving women in some rural states with no family planning alternatives. What's even more wrenching is to watch these legislators say that these laws are meant to "protect the woman."

If they only knew that what these women really need is a chance to make up their own minds, with laws that protect their own choices and their own bodies.