Antiabortion Extremism

Antiabortion extremists have been committing violence against abortion clinics, reproductive health centers and advocates, victimizing abortion seekers and providers since the 1970s. The violence escalated escalated following the passing of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court case which affirmed the constitutional right to abortion. Antiabortion violence can include violent acts that target proabortion lawmakers and politicians, healthcare providers and patients seeking abortions. These acts of violence continue to be a looming threat over abortion clinics, staff and patients.

Feminist Concerns Are Democracy Concerns

PUBLISHED 5/15/2023 by

As our rights backslide, so too does our democracy—which is why feminist concerns are always and inevitably democratic concerns. This is a point we need to reinforce over and over and over again as this country gears up for the 2024 presidential election—the first since the Court stripped core rights away in Dobbs. 

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group.)

‘The Talk,’ Circa 2023

PUBLISHED 5/4/2023 by and

For generations, Black parents have sat their children down for “the talk”—not about the birds and the bees, but about the pigs.

This rite of passage occurs as adolescents become independent and need to learn what is likely to be in store, what to be wary of, and what they can do to protect themselves. With the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion has taken center stage. Parents must incorporate into their talk the stark fact of abortion restrictions and the implications for their adolescent children, especially their daughters. 

‘They Decriminalized Abortion, But They Still Judge Us’: The Mexican Fight for Reproductive Justice

PUBLISHED 5/3/2023 by

In the case of abortion, which the supreme court decriminalized in September 2021, allowing women access to abortion up until 12 weeks gestation, women are still struggling to gain proper access to legal abortion for free at public hospitals because doctors are unaware of the law or find excuses to delay the procedure.

Human rights defender and lawyer Ariadne Song has defended women’s rights cases for 19 years, including the ‘aborto legal’ campaign first started by the Green Wave, or Marea Verde, in Argentina.

Arizona ‘Medical Students for Life’ Chapter Threatens Patient Health: ‘This Contradicts What We Are Taught in Our Curriculum,’ Say Students

PUBLISHED 3/15/2023 by

Despite student government’s vote, anti-abortion group Medical Students for Life is now fully operational on Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine’s campus. 

What’s happening at Midwestern University illustrates the anti-abortion movement’s larger strategy: disseminate misinformation to confuse, deter and scare pregnant people out of getting abortions.

Arsonist in Wyoming Abortion Clinic Arrested

PUBLISHED 3/7/2023 by

Wyoming police have increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of an arsonist who set fire to a Casper, Wyo., abortion clinic on May 25, 2022. Anyone who provides information leading to the apprehension and prosecution of the arsonist will receive a cash prize of $15,000—up from $5,000 previously. The Casper Police Department has established a specific tip line and email address for individuals to provide information regarding this particular crime: Call 307-920-2862 or email PDTips@casperwy.gov, and leave as much detailed information as possible. 

Abortion Funds in Texas Are Unsure if They Will Resume Supporting People After Court Ruling

PUBLISHED 3/6/2023 by

Funds have halted abortion-related work since June, when Roe v. Wade was overturned. Resuming that work could affect hundreds of pregnant people in Texas, which is the largest state to ban abortion.

An Austin-based federal judge last month temporarily blocked Texas prosecutors from pursuing legal action against organizations that help people secure abortions in states where it is legal. The ruling offers a rare spot of relief for abortion rights proponents in Texas and comes as state lawmakers are increasingly targeting organizations that help people leave the state for an abortion. 

Abortion Restrictions Are Racist. Freedom Means Full Access for All, Full Stop.

PUBLISHED 2/28/2023 by

A Texas case could soon force the FDA to revoke its approval of the abortion pill, mifepristone—a critical lifeline post-Roe and one of two drugs commonly used in a medication abortion, the procedure that currently accounts for more than half of all abortions in the country.

This abortion restriction would impact people of color the hardest. Why? Because abortion restrictions and bans are inherently racist. 

Democratic AGs File Counter-Lawsuit to Expand Access to Abortion Pills

PUBLISHED 2/27/2023 by

As people wait nervously for an anti-abortion judge to rule in a Texas lawsuit aimed at removing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market nationwide, Democratic attorneys general from a dozen states are fighting back with a lawsuit of their own.

On Feb. 24, attorneys general of Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), asking a Washington federal court to declare that mifepristone is safe and effective and that the FDA’s approval of mifepristone is lawful and valid. Experts see the lawsuit as an attempt to produce a contrary ruling from the Texas judge, whom observers predict will order the FDA to remove mifepristone from the market.