‘Abortion abolitionists’ push for more restrictions : Consider This from NPR – NPR
Anti-abortion activists who describe themselves as "abolitionists" protest outside a fertility clinic in North Carolina in April 2024. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption
Anti-abortion activists who describe themselves as "abolitionists" protest outside a fertility clinic in North Carolina in April 2024.
Two years ago next month, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision guaranteeing a federal right to an abortion.
It was an outcome decades in the making but to abortion opponents, the fight is unfinished. Now they're setting their sights on banning mifepristone, a drug commonly used in medical abortions. Abortion rights opponents have filed several lawsuits, including one awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court.
Abortion medication has made the procedure more accessible. Since June 2022, the number of abortions performed in the U.S. has actually gone up: On average, there were about 4,000 more abortions per month in 2023 compared to 2022, according to the Society of Family Planning's WeCount project.
One factor driving that increase has been the rise in telehealth abortion where patients receive abortion medication in the mail after consulting with a clinician. Telehealth abortions now make up 19% of all abortions in the U.S., according to Wecount.
"It's affordable. It's convenient, and it feels more private," says Jillian Barovic, a midwife and one of the cofounders of Juniper Midwifery, which offers medication abortion via telehealth in six states where abortion is legal.
You're reading the Consider This newsletter, which unpacks one major news story each day. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to more from the Consider This podcast.
As abortions continue despite state bans, activists are pushing for further restrictions, including the criminalization of patients who pursue abortions, and banning procedures like IVF.
T. Russell Hunter leads a group opposing all abortions, with no exceptions they call themselves "abortion abolitionists." He accuses mainstream anti-abortion groups of being too willing to accept incremental restrictions inconsistent with their messaging.
"You can't say, 'Life begins at conception ... but we're going to allow abortion in the first five weeks,'" Hunter says. "If life begins at conception, and you believe that human life must be protected, well, you're stuck logically."
Hunter, who is based in Oklahoma, opposes IVF and believes that embryos should have legal rights. He argues that patients who seek abortions and anyone who helps them should be charged with murder.
Kristine Harhoef lives in Texas and has been involved in anti-abortion activism for over a decade. She's frustrated that even where abortion is banned, patients are still accessing abortion medication. She's been talking with lawmakers in Texas and neighboring states, trying to promote legislation that would treat abortion identical to homicide.
"And the penalty could be anything from nothing at all, if she was truly innocent, truly forced into that abortion," she says, "to a fine or community service, to, yes, some jail time and possibly even the death penalty."
The issue of abortion rights could be a difficult needle to thread for Republicans.
Several recent polls by Pew and the Public Religion Research Institute confirm that a clear majority of voters say abortion should be legal in many or all cases.
And while abortion abolitionists take aim at IVF, Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, are voicing support for the procedure. After an Alabama Supreme Court decision ruled that embryos should be legally considered children, Republicans there rushed to pass a law designed to protect IVF providers.
Activists like Harhoef, who support the death penalty for abortion patients, are still in the minority of abortion opponents. But they've made strides in state legislatures, including a bill that made it to the Louisiana House floor in 2022.
Rachel Bitecofer, a Democratic political strategist, says the line between the mainstream anti-abortion rights movement and the abortion abolitionists is quite thin.
"[Republicans] have been targeting those folks for 25, 30 years now with ever-increasing hyperbolic rhetoric about abortion and defining any kind of abortion as an act of murder," Bitecofer said.
"So if you accept that abortion is murder, then it makes sense that you have pretty rigid requirements to stop it at all costs," she added.
In today's episode of Consider This, NPR national political correspondent Sarah McCammon dives into the abortion abolitionist movement. Click the play button at the top of the page to hear the full story.
This episode was produced by Karen Zamora and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Megan Pratz and Courtney Dorning. Elissa Nadworny contributed reporting. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
View original post here:
'Abortion abolitionists' push for more restrictions : Consider This from NPR - NPR
- Republicans outraged over possible assassination attempt: They are going to keep trying to kill Trump - POLITICO - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Why House Republicans still cant manage to fund the government - The Washington Post - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Republicans are Losing the Vote-By-Mail Battle in Court - Democracy Docket - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Out-of-touch Republicans get shocking dose of reality in abortion stories - MSNBC - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Half dozen House Republicans break with Trump in vow to accept 2024 election results - Axios - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Trump endorsed more Republicans in 2024 than ever before - ABC News - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Republicans schedule hearing blitz aimed at Harris - E&E News by POLITICO - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Republicans for Harris Keeps Expanding With the Help of Ex-Reagan Staffers - Mother Jones - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Republicans drive efforts to block civil rights protections against pollution - Environmental Health News - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Why House Republicans Are Targeting China Weeks Before the Election - The New York Times - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Fairfax County Republicans make push to get more people to sign up for absentee ballots. Why that matters. - Cardinal News - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Republicans cut into early voting to sweeten conditions for Trump - MSNBC - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Republicans break with Trump, back Fed ahead of rate cut - POLITICO - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- The Republicans who stood up to Trump after the 2020 election - NPR - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Kamala Harriss endorsements show Republicans may be paying the price for their newfound anti-business rhetoric - Fortune - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Republicans call to boost security for Trump after second assassination attempt - Fox Baltimore - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Letters to the Editor: Taylor Swift should remember that Republicans buy her music too - Los Angeles Times - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Most Republicans Think Trump's 'Eating the Pets' Debate Remarks Are 'Weird' - Newsweek - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Full List of Republicans Vowing to Certify 2024 Election Results - Newsweek - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- How Republicans became the party of raunch - Vox.com - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Yes, New York, there are pro-choice Republicans. I'm one of them - The Journal News - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Republicans Need to Take a Stand on Abortion - National Review - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Texas Republicans accused of intimidation after raiding homes over voter fraud claims - The Guardian US - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Colorado Republicans remove party chair after his email attacking LGBTQ people, call for Pride flag to be burned - CBS Colardo - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Colorado Republicans vote to oust Dave Williams as state party chair, but he rejects meeting as 'illegal' - coloradopolitics.com - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- With eyes on November, Colorado Republicans keep voting against certifying elections - USA TODAY - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Tim Walz posed with two different dogs but Republicans think he's lying: Viral post - The Times of India - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Here are the Republicans that spoke at the 2024 DNC in Chicago - NBC Chicago - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Second District Republicans to decide whether to back Joe Teirab after primary win - Star Tribune - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- As Republicans flail from one stupid jackass thing to another, Harris strives to define vision - The Guardian US - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Republicans push country over party at the DNC. Will it move the needle? - Spectrum News NY1 - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Republicans Have Their Own Version of the Just Transition for Trade - National Review - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- A new era for Republicans: Balancing womens rights and the right to life - The Hill - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Are Republicans losing the culture wars? - POLITICO - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Opinion | Republicans Are Right: One Party Is Anti-Family and Anti-Kid - The New York Times - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Opinion | Republicans Better Get on the Ball - The Wall Street Journal - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Opinion | Republicans and Democrats agree: Its all about Trump - The Washington Post - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Tim Miller goes off on Republicans not speaking up ahead of election: 'Where is Chris Christie?' - MSNBC - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Anti-Trump Republicans at DNC offer tips on approaching swing voters - Roll Call - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Opinion | How Democrats snatched freedom back from Trump and the Republicans - The Washington Post - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Brian Schimming on 2024 DNC impacts, attitude of Republicans - PBS Wisconsin - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- These Republicans denounced Trump and endorsed Harris at the DNC. Here's what they said. - CBS News - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Republicans Are Being Weird to Kids at the 2024 DNC - Vanity Fair - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- All Those Republicans Were at the DNC for a Reason - The Daily Beast - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Democrats Show That Republicans Arent the Only Ones Who Can Wrap Themselves in the Flag - The New York Times - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- The Republicans who came out in force at DNC for Harris and ditched Trump - The Independent - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- Your audience is filled with Republicans. The Democratic convention is underway. How to cover it? - The Associated Press - August 24th, 2024 [August 24th, 2024]
- The Democrats Are Destroying the Republicans at Their Own Game - The New Republic - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Republicans New, Dangerous Attempt to Break the Election - The Atlantic - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Republicans 'sick and tired of making excuses' for Trump should vote Harris, says GOP ex-Lt. Gov. of Georgia - CNBC - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Which Republicans are speaking at the DNC: See who will take the stage in Chicago - USA TODAY - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Opinion | How Walz and DNC speakers are appealing to independents and Republicans - The Washington Post - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Who are the anti-Trump Republicans showing up at the DNC? - Al Jazeera English - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- With primaries over, how did the 8 Republicans who helped oust McCarthy do? - The Washington Post - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Florida Republicans had their favorite in this legislative primary. Then Trump got involved. - POLITICO - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Your audience is filled with Republicans. The Democratic convention is underway. How to cover it? - Boston Herald - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Why protesters outside the DNC have far outnumbered those at the Republicans convention - NBC News - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Stephanie Grisham, John Giles and more: List of Republicans set to address 2024 DNC - NBC Chicago - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Republicans judicial oversight committee to subpoena witnesses, require oaths - Daily Montanan - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Democrats' chants of 'USA' at DNC strike fear into Republicans - MSNBC - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Opinion: Gutsy Republicans take stand at DNC - Lawrence Journal-World - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Arizona Republicans are so desperate, they want to rewrite election rules to win - The Arizona Republic - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Kamala Harris and Tim Walzs Secret Weapon Against the Republicans - The New Republic - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Republicans ask the Supreme Court to disenfranchise thousands of swing state voters - Vox.com - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Prominent Republicans supporting Harris will speak at the Democratic National Convention - NPR - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Republicans scrambled to get Cornel West on the Arizona ballot. The left-wing academic is OK with it - The Associated Press - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Its not just South Texas. Republicans are making gains with Latino voters in big cities, too. - The Texas Tribune - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- US House Republicans say Biden committed impeachable offenses - Reuters - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- John Oliver Begs Republicans to Stop Being So Fking Weird - Vanity Fair - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Why Iowa Republicans who once opposed Trump are ready to vote for him - CNN - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Here Are The Biggest DNC SpeakersBidens, Obamas, AOC And These Republicans - Forbes - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Republicans Will Weaponize Rural Suffering as Long as Democrats Ignore It - In These Times - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Republicans feel they need to rewrite history because they have no choice: author - MSNBC - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Washington County Democrats and Republicans open election headquarters - KFSM 5Newsonline - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Democrats Lean Into Liberty and the Language of Republicans - The New York Times - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Oregon Republicans opposed to ranked choice voting while Idahos GOP is split - Oregon Capital Chronicle - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- House Republicans target Democratic VP candidate Tim Walz with new investigation - Axios - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Former Minnesota GOP operative joins growing list of Republicans for Harris - MPR News - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Sour Grapes Republicans Say Biden Should Still Be Impeached - The Daily Beast - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]
- Republicans launch Biden impeachment report - without proof - The Times of India - August 20th, 2024 [August 20th, 2024]