John,

There is an increasing vocal faction of anti-abortion activists that believe people who have abortions should be charged with murder – and we have the terrifying receipts to prove it. [1]

Louisiana state Rep. Danny McCormick (R) introduced a bill that would allow the state to do just that: treat those who have or provide abortions with murder. [2]

Coming right on the heels of the leaked Supreme Court draft overturning Roe v. Wade, the legislation received immediate backlash from both the pro- and anti-abortion camps, with the National Right to Life Committee releasing an open letter condemning any legislation that attempted to punish abortion patients. [3] While this letter was signed by a number of national anti-abortion organizations, a number of other notable organizations are missing – including Students for Life of America, whose representatives told Reproaction that they support criminal punishments for people who have abortions. [4]

Coupled with the National Right to Life Committee’s model legislation that would criminalize sharing information about self-managed abortion with pills – including through websites like Reproaction’s – it is clear that the same groups that cried “censorship” are willing to use the threat of criminalization to stop the spread of factual abortion information and promote their own regressive agenda. [5]

The truth is that, whether or not ‘pro-life’ activists want to admit it, criminalization of abortion, miscarriage, and pregnancy is already happening and will only get worse as they pursue their hateful abortion bans in the wake of Roe falling. Abortion bans encourage people who have abortions being criminalized – no matter how much anti-abortion activists claim to “love them [pregnant people and children] both.”

In solidarity,

Kara Mailman, Chief Research Analyst
Reproaction

P.S. No one should face criminalization for having an abortion, period.

Sources:

[1] https://reproaction.org/campaign/stop-prosecuting-abortion/

[2] https://abcnews.go.com/US/proposed-louisiana-bill-seeks-criminalize-abortion-charge-women/story?id=84668512

[3] https://www.nrlc.org/uploads/communications/051222coalitionlettertostates.pdf

[4] https://youtu.be/pZfvWyBgCpo

[5] https://www.nrlc.org/wp-content/uploads/NRLC-Post-Roe-Model-Abortion-Law-FINAL-1.pdf

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