Jump to content

United States anti-abortion movement: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Undid revision 1150941160 by PalauanReich (talk)Please do not edit-war and do not mislabel contentious edits as "minor", see WP:BRD. Take to talk-page if you want to change stable version of the lead.
No edit summary
Line 24: Line 24:
''Roe v. Wade'' was considered a major setback by anti-abortion campaigners. The case and the overturning of most anti-abortion laws spurred the growth of a largely religious-based anti-abortion political and social movement, even as Americans were becoming, in the 1970s and 1980s, increasingly pro-choice. The first major anti-abortion success since ''Roe's case'' came in 1976 with the passing of the [[Hyde Amendment]] prohibiting the use of certain federal funds for abortions. In ''[[Harris v. McRae]]'', anti-abortion advocates won a 1980 challenge to the Hyde Amendment. That same year, anti-abortion politicians gained control of the Republican Party's [[Party platform|platform]] committee, adding anti-abortion planks to the Republican position, and calling for a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, banning abortion.<ref name="Encyclopedia of women in American politics"/> Four anti-abortion U.S. Presidents&nbsp;– [[Ronald Reagan]], [[George H. W. Bush]], [[George W. Bush]], and [[Donald Trump]]&nbsp;– have been elected.
''Roe v. Wade'' was considered a major setback by anti-abortion campaigners. The case and the overturning of most anti-abortion laws spurred the growth of a largely religious-based anti-abortion political and social movement, even as Americans were becoming, in the 1970s and 1980s, increasingly pro-choice. The first major anti-abortion success since ''Roe's case'' came in 1976 with the passing of the [[Hyde Amendment]] prohibiting the use of certain federal funds for abortions. In ''[[Harris v. McRae]]'', anti-abortion advocates won a 1980 challenge to the Hyde Amendment. That same year, anti-abortion politicians gained control of the Republican Party's [[Party platform|platform]] committee, adding anti-abortion planks to the Republican position, and calling for a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, banning abortion.<ref name="Encyclopedia of women in American politics"/> Four anti-abortion U.S. Presidents&nbsp;– [[Ronald Reagan]], [[George H. W. Bush]], [[George W. Bush]], and [[Donald Trump]]&nbsp;– have been elected.


Lisa Miller of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote about the younger, more feminine face of the anti-abortion movement with the rise of leaders such as [[Lila Rose]] of Live Action, [[Marjorie Dannenfelser]] of the [[Susan B. Anthony List]], [[Charmaine Yoest]] of [[Americans United for Life]], Penny Nance of [[Concerned Women for America]], and Kristan Hawkins of [[Students for Life]], all "youngish Christian working mothers with children at home" who seek to combat the image of the anti-abortion movement as made up of "old white men" who cannot relate to the experience of pregnant women.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/a-feminine-face-for-the-anti-abortion-movement/2011/11/02/gIQAwd7kiM_story.html |title=A feminine face for the anti-abortion movement |newspaper=Washington Post|date=October 24, 2011 |access-date=November 16, 2011}}</ref>
Lisa Miller of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote about the younger, more feminine face of the anti-abortion movement with the rise of leaders such as [[Lila Rose]] of Live Action, [[Marjorie Dannenfelser]] of the [[Susan B. Anthony List]], [[Charmaine Yoest]] of [[Americans United for Life]], Penny Nance of [[Concerned Women for America]], and [[Kristan Hawkins]] of [[Students for Life]], all "youngish Christian working mothers with children at home" who seek to combat the image of the anti-abortion movement as made up of "old white men" who cannot relate to the experience of pregnant women.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/a-feminine-face-for-the-anti-abortion-movement/2011/11/02/gIQAwd7kiM_story.html |title=A feminine face for the anti-abortion movement |newspaper=Washington Post|date=October 24, 2011 |access-date=November 16, 2011}}</ref>


The anti-abortion movement has been successful in recent years in promoting new laws against abortion within the states. The [[Guttmacher Institute]] said eighty laws restricting abortion were passed in the first six months of 2011, "more than double the previous record of 34 abortion restrictions enacted in 2005—and more than triple the 23 enacted in 2010".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guttmacher.org/media/inthenews/2011/07/13/index.html |title=States Enact Record Number of Abortion Restrictions in First Half of 2011 |work=Guttmacher.org |date=July 13, 2011 |access-date=November 16, 2011}}</ref>
The anti-abortion movement has been successful in recent years in promoting new laws against abortion within the states. The [[Guttmacher Institute]] said eighty laws restricting abortion were passed in the first six months of 2011, "more than double the previous record of 34 abortion restrictions enacted in 2005—and more than triple the 23 enacted in 2010".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guttmacher.org/media/inthenews/2011/07/13/index.html |title=States Enact Record Number of Abortion Restrictions in First Half of 2011 |work=Guttmacher.org |date=July 13, 2011 |access-date=November 16, 2011}}</ref>

Revision as of 01:13, 28 April 2023

Demonstrators at the 2004 March for Life

The United States anti-abortion movement (also called the pro-life movement or right-to-life movement) contains elements opposing induced abortion on both moral and religious grounds and supports its legal prohibition or restriction. Advocates generally argue that human life begins at conception and that the human zygote, embryo or fetus is a person and therefore has a right to life. The anti-abortion movement includes a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body.[1] There are diverse arguments and rationales for the anti-abortion stance. Some anti-abortion activists allow for some permissible abortions, including therapeutic abortions, in exceptional circumstances such as incest, rape, severe fetal defects, or when the woman's health is at risk.

Before the Supreme Court 1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, anti-abortion views predominated and found expression in state laws which prohibited or restricted abortions in a variety of ways. (See Abortion in the United States.) The anti-abortion movement became politically active and dedicated to the reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision, which struck down most state laws restricting abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.[2][3] In the United States, the movement is associated with several Christian religious groups, especially the Catholic Church and Evangelical churches, and is frequently, but not exclusively, allied with the Republican Party.[4][5] The movement is also supported by secular organizations (such as Secular Pro-Life) and non-mainstream anti-abortion feminists.[6] The movement has campaigned to reverse Roe v. Wade and to promote legislative changes or constitutional amendments, such as the Human Life Amendment, that prohibit or at least broadly restrict abortion.[1]

On the other side of the abortion debate in the United States is the abortion-rights movement (also called the pro-choice movement), which argues that pregnant women should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, ending federal abortion rights and allowing individual states to regulate their own abortion laws.[7]

History

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a movement to liberalize abortion laws gained momentum due in part to the second-wave feminist movement and to a number of high-profile therapeutic abortion cases, such as that of Sherri Finkbine.[8] In 1965, a Supreme Court decision in Griswold v. Connecticut set a precedent for an expansive right to privacy in the area of reproductive healthcare. In the late 1960s, in response to nationwide abortion-rights efforts, a number of organizations were formed to mobilize opinion against the legalization of abortion.[9] Most of these were led by Catholic institutions and communities; most evangelical Christian groups did not see abortion as a clear-cut or priority issue at the time. The first major U.S. organization in the modern anti-abortion movement, the National Right to Life Committee, was formed out of the United States Catholic Conference in 1967.[8]

The description "pro-life" was adopted by the right-to-life (anti-abortion) movement in the United States following the Supreme Court 1973 decision Roe v. Wade,[1] which held that a woman may terminate her pregnancy prior to the viability of the fetus outside of the womb and may also terminate her pregnancy "subsequent to viability ... for the preservation of the life or health of the mother."[10] The term pro-life was adopted instead of anti-abortion to highlight their proponents' belief that abortion is the taking of a human life, rather than an issue concerning the restriction of women's reproductive rights,[1] as the pro-choice movement would say. The first organized action was initiated by U.S. Catholic bishops who recommended in 1973 that the U.S. Constitution should be amended to ban abortion.[1]

Roe v. Wade was considered a major setback by anti-abortion campaigners. The case and the overturning of most anti-abortion laws spurred the growth of a largely religious-based anti-abortion political and social movement, even as Americans were becoming, in the 1970s and 1980s, increasingly pro-choice. The first major anti-abortion success since Roe's case came in 1976 with the passing of the Hyde Amendment prohibiting the use of certain federal funds for abortions. In Harris v. McRae, anti-abortion advocates won a 1980 challenge to the Hyde Amendment. That same year, anti-abortion politicians gained control of the Republican Party's platform committee, adding anti-abortion planks to the Republican position, and calling for a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, banning abortion.[1] Four anti-abortion U.S. Presidents – Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump – have been elected.

Lisa Miller of The Washington Post wrote about the younger, more feminine face of the anti-abortion movement with the rise of leaders such as Lila Rose of Live Action, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, and Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life, all "youngish Christian working mothers with children at home" who seek to combat the image of the anti-abortion movement as made up of "old white men" who cannot relate to the experience of pregnant women.[11]

The anti-abortion movement has been successful in recent years in promoting new laws against abortion within the states. The Guttmacher Institute said eighty laws restricting abortion were passed in the first six months of 2011, "more than double the previous record of 34 abortion restrictions enacted in 2005—and more than triple the 23 enacted in 2010".[12]

In 2019, six U.S. states (Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio) enacted fetal heartbeat abortion bills.[13] These heartbeat bills generally restrict abortion to the time period in pregnancy before a fetal heartbeat can be detected (which can be as early as six weeks of gestation or as late as twelve weeks). The bills face legal challenges, with their supporters stating they hope the legislation will allow the United States Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v Wade.[13] Other abortion-related laws passed in several US states during this time period, which were upheld by the judicial system, include laws requiring an ultrasound before an abortion[14] and laws that mandate fetal burial or cremation after an abortion.[15]

In June 2022, by its 6–3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending a constitutionally protected nationwide right to abortion and allowing states to make their own separate abortion laws.[7]

Overview

The anti-abortion movement includes a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body.[1] There are diverse arguments and rationales for the anti-abortion stance.

Many socially conservative organizations are involved in the anti-abortion movement. Some groups focus solely on promoting the anti-abortion cause, such as American Life League, the Susan B. Anthony List, National Right to Life Committee, Americans United for Life, and Live Action, among many others. Other groups support not only the anti-abortion cause but the broader family values cause, such as Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, American Family Association, and Concerned Women for America, among many others.

Abortion opponents generally believe that human life should be valued either from fertilization or implantation until natural death.[citation needed] The contemporary anti-abortion movement is typically, but not exclusively, influenced by conservative Christian beliefs and has influenced certain strains of bioethical utilitarianism.[16][vague] From that viewpoint, any action which destroys an embryo or fetus kills a person. Any deliberate destruction of human life is considered ethically or morally wrong and is not considered to be mitigated by any benefits to others, as such benefits are coming at the expense of the life of what they believe to be a person. In some cases, this belief extends to opposing abortion of fetuses that would almost certainly expire within a short time after birth, such as anencephalic fetuses.

Some abortion opponents also oppose certain forms of birth control, particularly hormonal contraception such as emergency contraception (ECPs), and copper IUDs which may prevent the implantation of a zygote. Because they believe that the term pregnancy should be defined so as to begin at fertilization, they refer to these contraceptives as abortifacients[17] because they cause the fertilized egg to be flushed out during menses. The Catholic Church endorses this view.[18] There are, however, anti-abortion physicians[19] who concur with the view that hormonal contraception does not block implantation.[20]

Attachment to an anti-abortion position is often but not exclusively connected to religious beliefs about the sanctity of life (see also culture of life). Exclusively secular-humanist positions against abortion tend to be a minority viewpoint[citation needed] among anti-abortion advocates; these groups say that their position is based on human rights and biology, rather than religion.[21][22][23] Some holding the anti-abortion position also hold a complementarian view of gender roles, though there is also a self-described feminist element inside the movement.[24]

Views in opposition to abortion

The variety in opinion on the issue of abortion is reflected in the diverse views of religious groups. For example, the Catholic Church considers all procured abortions morally evil,[25] while traditional Jewish teaching sanctions abortion if necessary to safeguard the life and well-being of the pregnant woman.[26]

Christian groups

Anti-abortion monument of a parish church in Brooklyn, New York

The only coordinated opposition to abortion in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s before the Roe v. Wade decision was from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and its Family Life Bureau. Mobilization of a wide-scale anti-abortion movement began immediately after 1973 with the creation of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).[27]

Before 1980, the Southern Baptist Convention officially advocated for loosening of abortion restrictions.[28] During the 1971 and 1974 Southern Baptist Conventions, Southern Baptists were called upon "to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother."[28] W. Barry Garrett wrote in the Baptist Press, "Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the [Roe v. Wade] Supreme Court abortion decision."[28] By 1980, conservative Protestant leaders became vocal in their opposition to legalized abortion,[28] and by the early 1990s Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition of America became a significant anti-abortion organization.[29] In 2005, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said that making abortion illegal is more important than any other issue.[30]

Much of the anti-abortion movement in the United States and around the world finds support in the Roman Catholic Church, the Christian right, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Church of England, the Anglican Church in North America, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).[31][32][33][34] However, the anti-abortion teachings of these denominations vary considerably. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church consider abortion to be immoral in all cases, but may in some cases permit an act [citation needed] which indirectly and without intent results in the death of the fetus in a case where the mother's life is threatened. In Pope John Paul II's Letter to Families, he simply stated the Roman Catholic Church's view on abortion and euthanasia: "Laws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion or euthanasia are in complete opposition to the inviolable right to life proper to every individual; they thus deny the equality of everyone before the law."

The National Association of Evangelicals has adopted a number of resolutions stating its opposition to abortion, but "recognizes that there might be situations in which terminating a pregnancy is warranted – such as protecting the life of a mother or in cases of rape or incest."[35][36] The position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is that "elective abortion for personal or social convenience is contrary to the will and the commandments of God" but that abortion may be justified where the pregnancy endangers life of the mother, or where the pregnancy is the outcome of rape or incest.[35] The Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality (TUMAS) was formed in 1987 to further the anti-abortion ministry in The United Methodist Church.[37] The Southern Baptist Convention believes that abortion is allowable only in cases where there is a direct threat to the life of the woman.[35]

Among Mainline Protestant denominations, the Episcopal Church recognizes a right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy, but opposes "abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection or any reason of mere convenience."[35] The United Church of Christ supports abortion rights, viewing it as a matter of reproductive health and justice.[35] The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopts the view that abortion is a personal choice, but acknowledges "diverse conclusions and actions" within the church on the issue.[35] The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's position is that abortion prior to the point of viability "should not be prohibited by law or by lack of public funding" but that "abortion after the point of fetal viability should be prohibited except when the life of a mother is threatened or when fetal abnormalities pose a fatal threat to a newborn."[35]

Consistent life ethic

Supporters of the consistent life ethic also oppose abortions as one of the acts that end human life. In 1979, Juli Loesch linked anti-abortion and anti-nuclear weapons arguments to form the group Pro Lifers for Survival. In 1987 this group defined an ethic of the sanctity of all life, and formed the group Seamless Garment Network. This group was against abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, militarism, poverty and racism.[38] Beginning in 1983, American Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin argued that abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and unjust war are all related, and all wrong. He said that "to be truly 'pro-life,' you have to take all of those issues into account."[39] Paul M. Perl studied 1996 voter statistics and found that the consistent life ethic is difficult for religious leaders to promote because it combines the generally conservative anti-abortion stance with a liberal social attitude.[40]

Democrats for Life of America demonstrates at the 2006 March for Life.

The Republican Party platform officially advocates an anti-abortion position,[41] which developed alongside the modern pro-life movement. Before Roe v. Wade, the majority of Republicans were not anti-abortion, including most of the party's leadership, which typically cited abortion rights as included within an ideology of limited government and personal freedom.[42] At the 1976 Republican National Convention, the party adopted an anti-abortion amendment as part of their platform, for strategic reasons.[42]: 1 The party's leadership hoped to appeal to Catholics, a demographic which had traditionally voted Democratic, a party at the time containing fairly liberal economic views with mixed opinions on social ones, but who might be put off by growing cultural liberalism and who made up the core of the anti-abortion movement.[42] Over time, the anti-abortion plank of the Republican platform became one rallying point for a growing conservative religious coalition in the party, which drove out many pro-choice Republicans and led to a long-term shift in the party's public image and identity.[8]

However, there are some pro-choice Republicans. The Republican group The Wish List supports pro-choice Republican women just as EMILY's List supports pro-choice Democratic women. The Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) is dedicated to "increasing the percentage of anti-abortion women in Congress and high public office,"[43] and seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S.[44] The Democrats for Life of America are a group of anti-abortion Democrats on the political left who advocate for an anti-abortion plank in the Democratic Party's platform and for anti-abortion Democratic candidates. Former vice-presidential candidate Sargent Shriver, the late Robert Casey, a former two-term governor of Pennsylvania, and former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich), a former leader of the bipartisan anti-abortion caucus in the United States House of Representatives, have been among the most well-known anti-abortion Democrats.[45] However, following his vote in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the SBA List reported that her organization was revoking an anti-abortion award it had been planning to give to Stupak,[46] and anti-abortion organizations accused Stupak of having betrayed the anti-abortion movement.[47][48][49]

The New York Times reported in 2011 that the anti-abortion movement in the United States had been undergoing a disagreement over tactics. Since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, the movement had usually focused on chipping away at Roe through incremental restrictions such as laws requiring parental consent or women to see sonograms, restricting late-term abortions, etc., with the goal of limiting abortions and changing "hearts and minds" until there is a majority on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. However, some activists were calling for "an all-out legal assault on Roe. v. Wade", seeking the enactment of laws defining legal personhood as beginning at fertilization or prohibiting abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable at six to eight weeks in the hope that court challenges to such laws would lead the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Such activists believed that then-Justice Anthony Kennedy, who nearly decided to overturn Roe in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, was open to rethinking Roe. Others feared that such a legal challenge would result in the solidification of the 1973 decision in Roe. Evangelical Christian groups tended to be in the former camp and Catholic groups in the latter.[50]

Among those who believe that abortion is murder, some believe it may be appropriate to punish it with death. While attempts to criminalize abortion generally focus on the doctor, Texas state Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R) introduced a bill in 2017 and 2019 that may enable the death penalty in Texas for women who have abortions,[51] and the Ohio legislature considered a similar bill in 2018.[52]

Demographics

Within the movement

Studies indicate that activists within the American anti-abortion movement are predominantly white and religious. Scholars continue to dispute the primary factors that cause individuals to become anti-abortion activists. While some have suggested that a particular moral stance or worldview leads to activism, others have suggested that activism leads individuals to develop particular moral positions and worldviews.

A 1981 survey of dues paying members of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) by sociologist Donald O. Granberg found that survey respondents held conservative views on sex, sex education, and contraception. Additionally, Granberg's survey provided basic demographic characteristics of his sample: 98% of survey respondents were white, 63% were female, 58% had a college degree, and 70% were Catholic. Granberg concluded that conservative personal morality was the primary mechanism for explaining an individual's involvement in the anti-abortion movement.[53]

A 2002 study by Carol J.C. Maxwell drawing on decades of survey and interview data of direct-action activists within the anti-abortion movement found that 99% of the sample was white, 60% was female, 51% had a college degree, and 29% were Catholic. Like Granberg's 1981 study, Maxwell concluded that anti-abortion and abortion-rights activists held two different worldviews which in turn are formed by two different moral centers.[54]

In 2008, sociologist Ziad Munson studied the characteristics of both activists and non-activists who considered themselves anti-abortion. The anti-abortion activists of Munson's sample were 93% white, 57% female, 66% Catholic, and 71% had a college degree. Of non-activists who considered themselves anti-abortion, Munson found that 83% were white, 52% were female, 45% were Catholic, and 76% had a college degree. In Munson's analysis personal moralities and worldviews are formed as a consequence of participation in anti-abortion activism. Munson's analysis differs from previous scholarly work in its assertion that beliefs result from activism rather than causing activism. For Munson, life course factors make an individual more or less likely to become an activist.[55]

A 2019 Gallup poll found that men and women in the United States generally hold similar abortion views: "19% of both men and women say abortion should be totally illegal; 31% of women and 26% of men want abortion to be totally legal."[56] In addition, 53% of men and 48% of women favored abortion being legal, but only under certain circumstances.[56]

Gallup polling in 2019 found that 25% of Americans believe abortion should be legal under any circumstances; 13%, under most circumstances; 39%, under only a few circumstances; and 21%, under no circumstances.[57] A 2020 poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research similarly found that 37% of Americans believed abortion should be legal under only a few circumstances. This answer was provided by 45% of Catholics and 67% of white evangelical Protestants.[58]

In the Gallup poll, when respondents were first asked about the legality of abortion, 49% described themselves as "pro-life" and 46% as "pro-choice." However, among people who were not asked about legality first, 43% described themselves as "pro-life" and 52% as "pro-choice." Gallup's 2019 polling also found that 50% of Americans believe abortion to be morally wrong, while 42% believe it to be morally acceptable, and 6% believe that it depends on the situation. When asked whether the Supreme Court should reverse their 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, 60% opined that the Court should not, while only 33% said that it should. Polling in 2020 revealed that 32% of Americans are either very or somewhat satisfied about abortion policies as they currently stand, while 24% report being dissatisfied and desire stricter policies and another 22% also express dissatisfaction but desire less strict policies.[59]

According to a 2013 Gallup poll, 15% of Americans with no religious identity are anti-abortion and slight majorities of Catholics, Protestants, Southerners, seniors and nonwhites reported as anti-abortion.[60] A 2019 Gallup poll found that Mormons, the Southern Baptist Convention, and Jehovah's Witnesses have the highest majorities who believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, while atheists, agnostics, and Jews have the highest majorities who think the reverse.[61]

Controversies over terminology

Anti-abortion advocates tend to use terms such as "unborn baby", "unborn child", or "pre-born child",[62][63] and see the medical terms "embryo", "zygote", and "fetus" as dehumanizing.[64][65]

Protest outside clinic in the Bay Area, 1986.

Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of terms labeled as political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. "Pro-choice" implies that the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life".[66] In part due to this viewpoint, the Associated Press encourages journalists to use the terms "abortion rights" and "anti-abortion".[67]

In a 2009 Gallup Poll, a majority of U.S. adults (51%) called themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion—for the first time since Gallup began asking the question in 1995—while 42% identified themselves as "pro-choice",[68] although pro-choice groups noted that acceptance of the "pro-life" label did not in all cases indicate opposition to legalized abortion, and that another recent poll had indicated that an equal number were pro-choice.[69]

A March 2011 Rasmussen Reports poll concluded that Americans are "closely divided between those who call themselves pro-life" and those who consider themselves as "pro-choice".[70] In a February 2011 Rasmussen Reports poll of "Likely U.S. Voters", fifty percent view themselves as "pro-choice" and forty percent "say they are pro-life".[71] In a July 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll of "Likely U.S. Voters", 46 percent view themselves as "pro-choice" and 43 percent "say they are pro-life".[72]

Methods and activities

Demonstrations and protests

  • Mass demonstrations: every year, American anti-abortion advocates hold a March for Life in Washington, D.C., on January 22, the anniversary date of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States. The event typically draws tens of thousands of attendees[73][74] and, since 2003, frequently features notable politicians as speakers. Similar events take place on a smaller scale in other U.S. cities, such as the Walk for Life in San Francisco, California.
  • The life chain: The "Life Chain" is a public demonstration technique that involves standing in a row on sidewalks holding signs bearing anti-abortion messages. Messages include "Abortion Kills Children", "Abortion stops a beating heart" or "Abortion Hurts Women". Participants, as an official policy, do not yell or chant slogans and do not block pedestrians or roadways. Many Right to Life chapters hold Life Chain events yearly[75] and the annual worldwide 40 Days for Life campaigns also use this technique.
  • The rescue: A "rescue operation" involves anti-abortion activists blocking the entrances to an abortion clinic in order to prevent anyone from entering. The stated goal of this practice is to force the clinic to shut down for the day. Often, the protesters are removed by law enforcement. Some clinics were protested so heavily in this fashion that they closed down permanently. "The rescue" was first attempted by Operation Rescue. Ever since President Bill Clinton signed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act into law, the rescue has become prohibitively expensive, and has rarely been attempted.
  • The truth display: Involves publicly displaying large pictures of aborted fetuses. Some anti-abortion groups believe that showing the graphic results of abortion is an effective way to dissuade and prevent others from choosing abortion. The Pro-Life Action League has used this form of activism in its Face the Truth displays. Members of one group, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, are known for setting up truth displays on university campuses. This group has faced legal battles over the use of such graphic imagery, and they have generated debate regarding the protection of such displays, by freedom of speech. "Truth displays" are controversial, even within the anti-abortion movement.[76]
  • Picketing: The majority of the facilities that perform abortions in the United States experience some form of protest from anti-abortion demonstrators every year, of which the most common form is picketing. In 2007, 11,113 instances of picketing were either reported to, or obtained by, the National Abortion Federation.[77]

Counseling

  • Sidewalk counseling: "Sidewalk counseling" is a form of anti-abortion advocacy which is conducted outside of abortion clinics. Activists seek to communicate with those entering the building, or with passersby in general, in an effort to persuade them not to have an abortion or to reconsider their position on the morality of abortion.[78] They do so by trying to engage in conversation, displaying signs, distributing literature, or giving directions to a nearby crisis pregnancy center.[78]
    • The "Chicago Method" is an approach to sidewalk counseling that involves giving those about to enter an abortion facility copies of lawsuits filed against the facility or its physicians. The name comes from the fact that it was first used by Pro-Life Action League in Chicago.[79] The intent of the Chicago Method is to turn the woman away from a facility that the protesters deem "unsafe", thus giving her time to reconsider her choice to abort.[80][non-primary source needed]
  • Crisis pregnancy centers: "Crisis pregnancy centers" are non-profit organizations, mainly in the United States, established to persuade pregnant women against having an abortion.[81][82] These centers are typically run by anti-abortion Christians according to a conservative Christian philosophy,[83] and they often disseminate false medical information, usually but not exclusively about the supposed health risks and mental health risks of abortion.[84][85][86][87]: 1 The centers usually provide peer counseling against abortion, and sometimes also offer adoption referrals or baby supplies.[88] Most are not licensed and do not provide medical services,[89] though some offer sonograms, claiming that women who see such sonograms decide not to have an abortion.[82] Legal and legislative action regarding CPCs has generally attempted to curb false or deceptive advertising undertaken in pursuit of the anti-abortion cause.[90] Several thousand CPCs exist in the United States,[83] often operating in affiliation with one of three umbrella organizations (Care Net, Heartbeat International, and Birthright International), with hundreds in other countries. By 2006, U.S. CPCs had received more than $60 million of federal funding, including some funding earmarked for abstinence-only programs,[91] as well as state funding from many states.[82]

Specialty license plates

In the United States, some states issue specialty license plates that have an anti-abortion theme. Choose Life, an advocacy group founded in 1997, was successful in securing an anti-abortion automobile tag in Florida. Subsequently, the organization has been actively helping groups in other states pursue "Choose Life" license plates.[92][93]

Abortion health risk claims

Some anti-abortion organizations and individuals disseminate false medical information and unsupported pseudoscientific[94][95] claims about alleged physical and mental health risks of abortion.[96][87] Many right-to-life organizations claim that abortion damages future fertility, or causes breast cancer,[97][98] which is contradicted by the medical professional organizations.[99][100][101][102][103][104] Some states, such as Alaska, Mississippi, West Virginia, Texas, and Kansas, have passed laws requiring abortion providers to warn patients of a link between abortion and breast cancer, and to issue other scientifically unsupported warnings.[105][106]

Some right-to-life advocacy groups allege a link between abortion and subsequent mental-health problems.[107] Some U.S. state legislatures have mandated that patients be told that abortion increases their risk of depression and suicide, despite the fact that such risks are not supported by the bulk of the scientific literature,[107][108][109][110][111] and are contradicted by mainstream organizations of mental-health professionals such as the American Psychological Association.[112][113][114]

Violence

Violent incidents directed against abortion providers have included arson and bombings of abortion clinics, and murders or attempted murders of physicians and clinic staff, especially the doctors that provide abortions. Acts of violence against abortion providers and facilities in North America have largely subsided following a peak in the mid-1990s[115] which included the murders of Drs. David Gunn, John Britton, and Barnett Slepian and the attempted murder of Dr. George Tiller. Tiller was later murdered in his church in 2009.[116]

As of 1995, nearly all anti-abortion leaders said that they condemned the use of violence in the movement, describing it as an aberration and saying that no one in their organizations was associated with acts of violence.[117][118] A small extremist element of the movement in the US supports, raises money for, and attempts to justify anti-abortion violence, including murders of abortion workers, which this fringe element calls "justifiable homicides". An example of such an organization is the Army of God.[119][120][121]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Schultz, Jeffrey D.; Van Assendelft, Laura A. (1999). Encyclopedia of women in American politics. The American political landscape (1 ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 195. ISBN 1-57356-131-2.
  2. ^ Staggenborg, Suzanne (1994). The Pro-Choice Movement: Organization and Activism in the Abortion Conflict. Oxford University Press US. p. 188. ISBN 0-19-508925-1.
  3. ^ Greenhouse, Linda (2010). Before Roe v. Wade: Voices that Shaped the Abortion Debate Before the Supreme Court's Ruling. Kaplan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60714-671-1. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013.
  4. ^ Susan Welch; John Gruhl; John Comer; Susan M. Rigdon (2009). Understanding American Government (12 ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-495-56839-1.
  5. ^ "Democrats for Life". Democrats for Life. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  6. ^ Oaks, Laury (Spring 2009). "What Are Pro-Life Feminists Doing on Campus?" (PDF). NWSA Journal. 21 (1): 178–203. ISSN 1040-0656.
  7. ^ a b Mangan, Dan; Breuninger, Kevin (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending 50 years of federal abortion rights". CNBC. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Karrer, Robert N (2011). "The Pro-Life Movement and Its First Years Under Roe". American Catholic Studies. 122 (4): 47–72. JSTOR 44195373 – via Project MUSE.
  9. ^ "The American Historian: Abolishing Abortion: The History of the Pro-Life Movement in America". tah.oah.org. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  10. ^ Roe v. Wade (98–1856) 410 U.S. 113 (1973). Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  11. ^ "A feminine face for the anti-abortion movement". Washington Post. October 24, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  12. ^ "States Enact Record Number of Abortion Restrictions in First Half of 2011". Guttmacher.org. July 13, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  13. ^ a b "Abortion Bans: 9 States Have Passed Bills to Limit the Procedure This Year". The New York Times. May 29, 2019.
  14. ^ Mairead Mcardle (December 9, 2019). "Supreme Court upholds Kentucky law requiring abortionists to describe an ultrasound to woman". National Review.
  15. ^ "Supreme Court upholds Indiana provision mandating burial or cremation of fetal remains". National Public Radio. May 28, 2019.
  16. ^ Holland, S. (2003). Bioethics: a Philosophical Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  17. ^ Finn, J.T. (April 23, 2005). ""Birth Control" Pills cause early Abortions". Pro-life America — Facts on Abortion. prolife.com. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  18. ^ "Emergency 'Contraception' and Early Abortion". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. August 1, 1998. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  19. ^ Crockett, Susan A.; Donna Harrison; Joe DeCook; Camilla Hersh (April 1999). "Hormone Contraceptives Controversies and Clarifications". American Association of Pro Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Retrieved February 22, 2011. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. ^ Belluck, Pam (September 7, 2018). "Science Does Not Support Claims That Contraceptives Are 'Abortion-Inducing'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  21. ^ Wallace, James Matthew. "Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League Homepage". Retrieved November 4, 2006.
  22. ^ "Secular ProLife". Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  23. ^ "Atheist, Secular, and Pro-Life". Catholic World Report.
  24. ^ "Feminists for Life". Feminists for Life. Archived from the original on December 27, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  25. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church para.2271, "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: 'You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish'". Vatican website. Accessed February 5, 2011.
  26. ^ ANALYSIS (September 30, 2008). "Pew Forums". Pewforum.org. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  27. ^ Munson, Ziad W. (2008). The making of pro-life activists: how social movement mobilization works. University of Chicago Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-226-55120-3. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  28. ^ a b c d Randall Herbert Balmer (July 3, 2006). They Kingdom Come. p. 12. ISBN 9780465005192.
  29. ^ McKeegan, M (1993). "The politics of abortion: A historical perspective". Women's Health Issues. 3 (3): 127–131. doi:10.1016/s1049-3867(05)80245-2. PMID 8274866.
  30. ^ Baptist Press Archived June 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine"Sparks fly in Land's appearance at black columnists' meeting"
  31. ^ Ferguson, Susan J (1999). Mapping the Social Landscape. ISBN 9780767406161. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  32. ^ Sex, Politics, and Religion: The Clash Between Poland and the European Union over Abortion by Alicia Czerwinski in the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, 2003
  33. ^ "Официальный сайт Русской Православной Церкви". Mospat.ru. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  34. ^ "Abortion". churchofjesuschrist.org. Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g Religious Groups' Official Positions on Abortion, Pew Research Center (January 16, 2013).
  36. ^ "Resolution on Abortion". National Association of Evangelicals. 2010.
  37. ^ The rebirth of orthodoxy: signs of new life in Christianity. HarperCollins. December 12, 2002. ISBN 978-0-06-009785-1. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
  38. ^ Krier Mich, Marvin L. (1998). Catholic Social Teaching and Movements. Twenty-Third Publications. p. 216. ISBN 9780896229365.
  39. ^ Kaczor, Christopher Robert (2006). The Edge of Life: Human Dignity and Contemporary Bioethics. Philosophy and Medicine. Vol. 85. Springer. p. 148. ISBN 9781402031564.
  40. ^ Hester, Joseph P. (2003). The Ten Commandments: A Handbook of Religious, Legal, and Social Issues. McFarland. p. 221. ISBN 9780786414192.
  41. ^ 2004 Republican Party Platform: A Safer World and a More Hopeful America Archived February 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine p. 84.
  42. ^ a b c Williams, Daniel (2011). "The GOP's Abortion Strategy: Why Pro-Choice Republicans Became Pro-Life in the 1970s". Journal of Policy History. 23 (4): 513–539. doi:10.1017/S0898030611000285. S2CID 154353515.
  43. ^ Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in politics., http://www.suzyb.org/blog/Elections Retrieved September 25, 2008.
  44. ^ "SBA List Mission: Advancing, Mobilizing and Representing Pro-Life Women". Susan B. Anthony List. 2008. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2010. To accomplish our ultimate goal of ending abortion in this country ...
  45. ^ PATRICK O'CONNOR (March 21, 2010). "Historic win close after Bart Stupak deal". Politico. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  46. ^ "Choice, Life Groups Slam Obama Order on Abortion Funding". Fox News. March 21, 2010.
  47. ^ "Stupak: From Prolife Groups' Hero to Villain 'In a Nanosecond' | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction". Christianity Today. March 22, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  48. ^ "Bart Stupak's Retirement Stirs Mixed Reactions, Christian News". Christianpost.com. April 10, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  49. ^ Parker, Kathleen (March 24, 2010). "Stupak's fall from pro-life grace". The Washington Post.
  50. ^ Eckholm, Erik (December 4, 2011). "Anti-Abortion Groups Are Split on Legal Tactics". The New York Times.
  51. ^ Gstalter, Morgan (April 10, 2019). "GOP Texas lawmaker reintroduces bill to allow death penalty for women who have abortions". The Hill. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  52. ^ Panetta, Grace (November 20, 2018). "Ohio's legislature is considering laws to ban abortion after 6 weeks, and could punish patients and abortion providers with the death penalty". Business Insider. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  53. ^ Granberg, Donald (1981). "The Abortion Activists". Family Planning Perspectives. 13 (4): 157–163. doi:10.2307/2134620. JSTOR 2134620. PMID 7286166.
  54. ^ Maxwell, Carol J.C. (2002). Pro-life activists in America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521660440.
  55. ^ Munson, Ziad (2008). The making of pro-life activists. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226551203.
  56. ^ a b Saad, Lydia (June 14, 2018). "Men, Women Generally Hold Similar Abortion Attitudes". News.gallup.com.
  57. ^ "Majority in U.S. Still Want Abortion Legal, With Limits". Gallup.com. June 25, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  58. ^ "White evangelicals distinct on LGBTQ rights, abortion". NBC News. AP. January 2, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  59. ^ Abortion | Gallup Historical Trends
  60. ^ "Americans Misjudge U.S. Abortion Views". May 15, 2013.
  61. ^ "American religious groups vary widely in their views of abortion". Pew Research Center. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  62. ^ Chamberlain, Pam; Hardisty, Jean (2007). "The Importance of the Political 'Framing' of Abortion". The Public Eye Magazine. 14 (1).
  63. ^ "The Roberts Court Takes on Abortion". New York Times. November 5, 2006. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  64. ^ Brennan 'Dehumanizing the vulnerable' 2000
  65. ^ Getek, Kathryn; Cunningham, Mark (February 1996). "A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing – Language and the Abortion Debate". Princeton Progressive Review.
  66. ^ "Example of "anti-life" terminology" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  67. ^ Goldstein, Norm, ed. The Associated Press Stylebook. Philadelphia: Basic Books, 2007.
  68. ^ Saad, Lydia (May 15, 2009). "More Americans "Pro-Life" Than "Pro-Choice" for First TimeAlso, fewer think abortion should be legal "under any circumstances"". Gallup, Inc. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  69. ^ "Majority of Americans now 'pro-life,' poll says". Associated Press. May 15, 2009.
  70. ^ "Americans Think New State Laws Will Reduce Number of Abortions". Rasmussen Reports, LLC. March 10, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011. While the country remains closely divided between those who call themselves pro-life and those who view themselves as pro-choice, the majority of Likely U.S. Voters think abortion is morally wrong in most cases.
  71. ^ "Half of U.S. Voters are Pro-Choice, But 53% Say Abortion's Usually Morally Wrong". Rasmussen Reports, LLC. February 17, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  72. ^ "46% Are Pro-Choice, 43% Pro-Life". Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  73. ^ Frank Somerville; Richard O'Mara (January 24, 1997). "Keeler exhorts March for Life crowd". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 12, 2018. The U.S. Park Police estimated 45,000 people marched, about 10,000 more than last year.
  74. ^ Keyes, Allison (January 25, 2013). "Anti-Abortion 'March For Life' Draws Thousands In Washington". Retrieved July 12, 2018. Tens of thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathered on the National Mall on Friday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
  75. ^ "National Life Chain". nationallifechain.org. Retrieved September 25, 2008.Template:SemiBareRefNeedsTitle
  76. ^ Pavone, Frank A."Should We Use Graphic Images?" Priests for Life Retrieved September 7, 2007. Quote: "Even among those who oppose abortion, answers to this question [Should we use graphic images?] vary".
  77. ^ "NAF Violence and Disruption Statistics" (PDF). National Abortion Federation. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  78. ^ a b Hill v. Colorado (98-1856) 530 U.S. 703 (2000). Retrieved December 13, 2006.
  79. ^ "Controversy in the Activist Movement", Pro-Life Action News, August 2000 Archived June 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  80. ^ "The "Chicago Method": Sidewalk Counseling that appeals to the Mother's concerns for her own well-being," Priests for Life.
  81. ^ Bazelon, Emily (January 21, 2007). "Is There a Post-Abortion Syndrome?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009.
  82. ^ a b c Chandler, Michael Alison (September 9, 2006). "Antiabortion Centers Offer Sonograms to Further Cause". Washington Post. p. html. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
  83. ^ a b Gibbs, Nancy (February 15, 2007). "The Grass-Roots Abortion War". Time. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007.
  84. ^ Bryant AG, Levi EE; Levi (July 2012). "Abortion misinformation from crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina". Contraception. 86 (6): 752–6. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2012.06.001. PMID 22770790.
  85. ^ Bryant-Comstock, Katelyn; Bryant, Amy G.; Narasimhan, Subasri; Levi, Erika E. (February 2016). "Information about Sexual Health on Crisis Pregnancy Center Web Sites: Accurate for Adolescents?". Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. 29 (1): 22–25. doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2015.05.008. PMID 26493590.
  86. ^ Banerjee, Neela (February 2, 2005). "Church Groups Turn to Sonogram to Turn Women From Abortions". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2013. For example, the Bowie center distributes leaflets that state there is a link between abortion and a greater risk of breast cancer. Studies by the National Cancer Institute in 2003 and the University of Oxford last year concluded that abortion did not increase such risks.
  87. ^ a b Rankin, Lauren (February 26, 2014). "The Seven Most Common Lies About Abortion". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  88. ^ Cooperman, Alan (February 21, 2002). "Abortion Battle: Prenatal Care or Pressure Tactics?". Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 23, 2002.
  89. ^ Committee on Government Reform—Minority Staff Special Investigations Division (July 2006). False and Misleading Health Information Provided by Federally Funded Pregnancy Resource Centers (PDF). United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 4, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
  90. ^ Lewin, Tamar (April 22, 1994). "Anti-Abortion Center's Ads Ruled Misleading". The New York Times.
  91. ^ Edsall, Thomas B. (March 22, 2006). "Grants Flow To Bush Allies On Social Issues". Washington Post. pp. A01. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  92. ^ Burge, Kathleen: "Driving force" Boston Globe, May 5, 2006
  93. ^ Madigan, Erin: "Choose Life Car Tags Spark Debate" Stateline.org, November 25, 2002
  94. ^ Elster, Naomi (September 29, 2017). "It's time to talk about the pseudoscience corrupting the abortion debate". The Guardian. Retrieved December 19, 2019. Despite the broadening and widening of the pro-choice movement, there remains a near-total ban on abortion and an aggravating amount of pseudoscience in the air. When researchers from Johns Hopkins University examined a large number of studies on abortion and mental health, the ones carried out to the highest standards revealed that there were very few, if any, negative mental health consequences of having an abortion. ... Despite this, we are constantly hearing that abortions lead to mental health problems. Twice in the past week, we have also encountered the insidious myth that abortion causes breast cancer because of the resultant hormone changes.
  95. ^ "Naomi Elster". Retrieved December 19, 2019. Naomi Elster is a writer and a scientist. She has a PhD in breast cancer. Her nonfiction covers science, health, and an evidence-based approach to women's issues.
  96. ^ Bryant AG, Levi EE (July 2012). "Abortion misinformation from crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina". Contraception. 86 (6): 752–6. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2012.06.001. PMID 22770790.
  97. ^ "Fetuses Feel Pain at 20 Weeks, and 4 Other Anti-Abortion Myths". Mother Jones. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  98. ^ Jasen, P (October 2005). "Breast Cancer and the Politics of Abortion in the United States". Med Hist. 49 (4): 423–44. doi:10.1017/s0025727300009145. PMC 1251638. PMID 16562329.
  99. ^ "WHO – Induced abortion does not increase breast cancer risk". who.int. Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  100. ^ Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems (PDF) (2nd ed.). World Health Organization. 2012. p. 49. ISBN 9789241548434. Sound epidemiological data show no increased risk of breast cancer for women following spontaneous or induced abortion.
  101. ^ "Abortion, Miscarriage, and Breast Cancer Risk". National Cancer Institute. February 20, 2003. Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  102. ^ "Politics & Science – Investigating the State of Science Under the Bush Administration". oversight.house.gov. Archived from the original on November 4, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  103. ^ "Is Abortion Linked to Breast Cancer?". American Cancer Society. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  104. ^ Committee On Gynecologic, Practice (June 2009). "ACOG Committee Opinion No. 434: induced abortion and breast cancer risk". Obstetrics and Gynecology. 113 (6): 1417–8. doi:10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181ac067d. PMID 19461458.
  105. ^ "Do abortions cause breast cancer? Kansas State House Abortion Act invokes shaky science for political gain". Slate Magazine. May 23, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  106. ^ "Misinformed Consent: The Medical Accuracy of State-Developed Abortion Counseling Materials". October 25, 2006.
  107. ^ a b Stotland NL (2003). "Abortion and psychiatric practice". J Psychiatr Pract. 9 (2): 139–49. doi:10.1097/00131746-200303000-00005. PMID 15985924. S2CID 37575499. "Currently, there are active attempts to convince the public and women considering abortion that abortion frequently has negative psychiatric consequences. This assertion is not borne out by the literature: the vast majority of women tolerate abortion without psychiatric sequelae."
  108. ^ Lazzarini Z (November 2008). "South Dakota's Abortion Script – Threatening the Physician-Patient Relationship". N. Engl. J. Med. 359 (21): 2189–2191. doi:10.1056/NEJMp0806742. PMID 19020321. The purported increased risks of psychological distress, depression, and suicide that physicians are required to warn women about are not supported by the bulk of the scientific literature. By requiring physicians to deliver such misinformation and discouraging them from providing alternative accurate information, the statute forces physicians to violate their obligation to solicit truly informed consent.
  109. ^ Bazelon, Emily (January 21, 2007). "Is There a Post-Abortion Syndrome?". New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2008.
  110. ^ Mooney, Chris (October 2004). "Research and Destroy: How the religious right promotes its own 'experts' to combat mainstream science". Washington Monthly. Archived from the original on April 4, 2008.
  111. ^ Stotland NL (October 1992). "The myth of the abortion trauma syndrome". JAMA. 268 (15): 2078–9. doi:10.1001/jama.268.15.2078. PMID 1404747.
  112. ^ "APA Task Force Finds Single Abortion Not a Threat to Women's Mental Health". apa.org.
  113. ^ "Study: No higher mental health risk after abortion". USA Today. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  114. ^ "The big lie about abortion and mental health". Washington Post. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  115. ^ Violence at US Abortion Clinics.
  116. ^ David Barstow (July 26, 2009). "An Abortion Battle, Fought to the Death". The New York Times.
  117. ^ "Clinic Killings Follow Years of Antiabortion Violence". The Washington Post. January 17, 1995. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  118. ^ "Pro-life Leaders Respond to Tiller Shooting". cbn.com. June 1, 2009. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  119. ^ James Risen and Judy L. Thomas: Wrath of Angels: The American Abortion War, Basic Books, 1998.
  120. ^ "The Signers | Southern Poverty Law Center". Splcenter.org. September 15, 1998.
  121. ^ Aaron Winter. "Anti-Abortion Extremism and Violence in the United States". Retrieved June 28, 2015.

Further reading

  • Critchlow, Donald T. Intended Consequences: Birth Control, Abortion, and the Federal Government in Modern America (2001) excerpt
  • Flowers, Prudence. "‘Voodoo biology’: the right-to-life campaign against family planning programs in the United States in the 1980s." Women's History Review 29.2 (2020): 331-356.
  • Flowers, Prudence. "Fighting the “hurricane winds” of abortion liberalization: Americans United for life and the struggle for self-definition before Roe v. Wade." The Sixties 11.2 (2018): 131-155.
  • Garrow, David J. "Abortion before and after Roe v. Wade: An historical perspective." Labany Law Review 62 (1998): 833+ online.
  • Haugeberg, Karissa. "'How Come There's Only Men Up There?': Catholic Women's Grassroots Anti-Abortion Activism." Journal of Women's History 27.4 (2015): 38–61. excerpt
  • Haugeberg, Karissa. Women against abortion: Inside the largest moral reform movement of the twentieth century (U of Illinois Press, 2017). excerpt also PhD dissertation version
  • Jeffries, Charlie. "Adolescent women and antiabortion politics in the Reagan administration." Journal of American studies 52.1 (2018): 193-213. online
  • Lewis, Andrew R. The rights turn in conservative Christian politics: How abortion transformed the culture wars (Cambridge UP, 2017).
  • Lowe, Pam, and Graeme Hayes. "Anti-abortion clinic activism, civil inattention and the problem of gendered harassment." Sociology 53.2 (2019): 330–346. online
  • McCaffrey, Dawn, and Jennifer Keys*. "Competitive framing processes in the abortion debate: Polarization‐vilification, frame saving, and frame debunking." Sociological Quarterly 41.1 (2000): 41–61.
  • Mason, Carol. "Opposing Abortion to Protect Women: Transnational Strategy since the 1990s." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 44.3 (2019): 665–692. online
  • Mohamed, Heather Silber. "Embryonic politics: Attitudes about abortion, stem cell research, and IVF." Politics and Religion 11.3 (2018): 459-497 online.
  • Munson, Ziad. "Protest and Religion: The US Pro-Life Movement." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics (2019).
  • Nelson, Jennifer. "Sterilization, Birth Control, and Abortion: Reproductive Politics from 1945 to the Present." in A Companion to American Women's History (2020): 299–317. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119522690.ch18
  • Risen, James, and Judy L. Thomas. Wrath of Angels: The American Abortion War (1998).
  • Rohlinger, Deana A. "Friends and foes: Media, politics, and tactics in the abortion war." Social Problems 53.4 (2006): 537-561 online.
  • Williams, Daniel K. "The GOP's Abortion Strategy: Why Pro-Choice Republicans Became Pro-Life in the 1970s." Journal of Policy History 23.4 (2011): 513-539 online.
  • Williams, Daniel K. Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement before Roe v. Wade (Oxford UP, 2016). xiv, 365 pp.