Friend,

Today, the SPLC released a report detailing the most extreme faction in the anti-abortion movement in the country. Anti-Abortion Extremism: Inside the Movement Dismantling Our Reproductive Rights takes an in-depth look at the uprise in anti-abortion sentiment and the four male supremacist groups behind the violent threats against reproductive justice.

Unlike the general pro-life movement, so-called “abortion abolitionists” believe that anyone who has an abortion and those who assist them should be prosecuted and be subject to the death penalty.

Much of this extremist and often violent movement comes after the Dobbs decision in 2022, where federal protections for the right to an abortion were stripped, marking it as one of the biggest far-right victories in recent history, rolling back 50 years of progress.

Since then, 14 states have outlawed abortion, three others have effectively banned the procedure by making it illegal after roughly 6 weeks of pregnancy, and at least 66 abortion clinics have closed or stopped offering abortion services. In 2023 alone, at least 10 states introduced abortion abolition bills.

The anti-abortion movement is fundamentally antidemocratic, and for years it has pushed the far right’s alarming agenda to maintain white power by enforcing specific family and social structures.

Women of color and those living in poverty are at the receiving end of the most draconian abortion bans and restrictions in the country. With the highest mortality rate of any wealthy nation, women in the United States are 14 times more likely to die in childbirth than during an abortion. This is especially true for Black women, who, regardless of income or education, have a mortality rate 2.6 times higher than white women.

Today, those who are seeking to get an abortion and those who provide them are facing more threats than ever before. According to the National Abortion Federation, anti-abortion violence is escalating in states that are protective of reproductive rights.

In 2023 alone, bomb threats to providers and clinics increased by 133%.

Even more troubling is the role that abortion abolitionists play in connecting white nationalists and anti-government militias to the movement. Abolitionists Rising, a militant anti-abortion extremist group, wants to criminalize women who seek abortions and restrict fertility treatments and medications.

The anti-abortion movement shows little interest in addressing the negative impacts of abortion restrictions, such as improving maternal health care or providing paid parental leave and childcare.

Protecting women’s rights to bodily autonomy is critical to upholding our democracy and despite the rise of the anti-abortion movement, most Americans oppose abortion bans.

The SPLC Intelligence Project’s work to publish and share reports with the community is a vital step to dismantling the anti-abortion extremist movement, and only with your activism are we able to push back on draconian legislation that polices women’s bodies. Friend, thank you for your unwavering commitment to seeking reproductive freedom for all.

In solidarity,

The Southern Poverty Law Center

The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people.

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