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.

A Trump Cabinet Member Endorsed a Pastor Who Wants the 19th Amendment Repealed, and the Danger Is Growing

PUBLISHED 8/13/2025 by

Once a fringe warning, the threat to women’s right to vote is now out in the open—and in the halls of power.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted a video on Aug. 7 with the endorsement “All of Christ for All of Life,” in which a far-right conservative pastor, Doug Wilson, co-founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), argued that women should not have the right to vote.

As Wilson told the Associated Press, “He was, in effect, reposting it and saying, ‘Amen,’ at some level.”

But a deeper dive into CREC reveals troubling gender politics where women cannot hold church leadership positions and married women are expected to submit to their husbands.

‘Giving Women a Chance to Choose When the World Didn’t’: Massachusetts Doctors Provide Telehealth Abortion in States with Bans

PUBLISHED 7/25/2025 by

As abortion bans have swept the country, Massachusetts doctors are stepping up by providing thousands with lifesaving telehealth abortion care, regardless of their ability to pay. 

On July 12, reproductive health advocates and local office holders filled the common room of a Northampton, Mass., co-housing community to celebrate and support the vital work of The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (The MAP). Based in Cambridge, the MAP is one of a handful of medical practices in the U.S. providing telehealth abortion care to patients in states with abortion bans or severe restrictions. Each month, MAP provides abortion pills to 2500 patients—nearly a third from Texas—using an asynchronous telemedicine platform built to provide prompt, private and convenient abortion care that is affordable to all.

“I want to thank The MAP from the depths of my soul,” one patient said. “You have saved me.”

Biotech CEOs to FDA: Don’t Let Politics Override Science on Abortion Pill

PUBLISHED 7/10/2025 by

Fifty-three biotechnology industry leaders and investors representing dozens of companies and organizations issued a letter late last month advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Follow the science on mifepristone, not political ideology.

The Biotech CEO Sisterhood initiated the letter, with Grace Colón as lead author and dozens of senior biotechnology leaders signed on in support. “We are urging the agency and the department to continue to follow the science,” said Colón, who warned that political interference in drug regulation undermines both public trust and the FDA’s authority.

The Minnesota Shooting Wasn’t Random—It Was a Predictable Resurgence of Violence

PUBLISHED 7/9/2025 by and

Minnesota experienced an act of devastating political violence last month: Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, were killed in their home. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette are recovering from life-saving surgeries after shielding their adult daughter from the gunman.

In recent years, we’ve seen attacks escalate against elected officials across the political spectrum. However, we must recognize that Hortman, Hoffman and the other targets on the gunman’s list are uniquely vulnerable because of the way that we treat abortion: We isolate abortion from mainstream care, in law and practice; and we exclude it from insurance coverage, hospital systems and routine medical training.

By treating abortion as unsafe and morally suspect, rather than as legitimate medicine, we further normalize hostility towards it, its providers, and the policymakers who uphold access to it.

War on Women Report: MAGA Republicans Hope to Turn Miscarriage Into a Crime and Gut Planned Parenthood

PUBLISHED 6/30/2025 by and

MAGA Republicans are back in the White House, and Project 2025 is their guide—the right-wing plan to turn back the clock on women’s rights, remove abortion access, and force women into roles as wives and mothers in the “ideal, natural family structure.” We know an empowered female electorate is essential to democracy. That’s why day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

Since our last report:
—On June 14, between 4 and 13 million people attended No Kings rallies nationwide to protest President Trump’s immigration and economic policies.
—Four states—California, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey—have petitioned the FDA to undo restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone.
—Some good news out of Montana: This month, the state supreme court struck down three abortion restrictions that Republican lawmakers passed in 2021.

… and more.

Keeping Score: Americans Oppose Mass Deportations; Supreme Court Upholds Free Preventive Care Under ACA

PUBLISHED 6/27/2025 by

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week:
—marking three years since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade
—”Deep cracks are showing in the Trump and Miller mass deportation agenda,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice.
—Rest in power, Minnesota Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who were assassinated in an act of political violence. “Political violence of any kind has no place in our democracy,” said Democratic Women’s Caucus chair Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.).
—The Supreme Court upheld bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
—Harvey Weinstein was again convicted of a criminal sex act.
—raising awareness for LGBTQ Equal Pay Day
—82% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans believe funding for childcare should increase. 

… and more.

Three Years After Dobbs, a Coordinated Campaign Aims to Eliminate Abortion Pills Nationwide

PUBLISHED 6/23/2025 by

Medication abortion has become the most popular form of abortion in the U.S. post-Dobbs, providing potentially lifesaving access to people residing in states with abortion bans in place. Because of this, the antiabortion right-wing machine’s dogged attacks on mifepristone should be seen for what they are: an attempt at a backdoor national abortion ban.

Revoking access to mifepristone is key in the antiabortion machine’s fight to maintain control over pregnant women’s bodies and lives.

Political Violence Is Becoming America’s New Normal

PUBLISHED 6/20/2025 by

Among the myriad headlines that roiled the nation last week, rising political violence in the United States was a sickening drumbeat—one that culminated and resounded most loudly during a weekend of targeted shootings directed at two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses.

Though the shooter’s motivations are still unconfirmed, news reports reveal that notebooks found in his car were “full of plans, lists of names, surveillance efforts and home addresses.” Among those listed are Democratic elected officials, including state Rep. Kelly Morrison, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, as well as state and federal leaders from other states; and local Planned Parenthood contacts, including abortion providers and advocates. Accounts by the shooter’s friends as well as his social media footprint indicate his vehement opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights—an opposition he made especially clear.

All of it is worrisome, but the combination of antiabortion extremism, anti-democratic fury and actual violence is growing exponentially more potent. The federal government is communicating with utter precision that abortion is the exception, the excuse, the issue for which violence is an acceptable response. We ignore that message at our collective and societal peril.

As Antiabortion Violence Surges, Republicans Vote to Strip Federal Protections for Providers

PUBLISHED 6/16/2025 by and

Early Saturday morning, news broke of the assassination of Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state legislator and former speaker, along with her husband Mark. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot multiple times; both survived and are fighting for their lives following emergency surgery. The suspect had a list of more than 50 additional “targets,” including other Democratic officials, some from outside Minnesota, as well as abortion facilities and leading abortion rights advocates in the state.

Although we don’t yet know if his extremist views on abortion were the driving cause in his murderous rampage, it is proof of the ongoing threats to abortion providers in this climate of escalating political violence.

Yet, just weeks after the suicide bombing of a Palm Springs fertility clinic, and despite rising rates of threats and violence against abortion clinics after the Dobbs decision, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to advance HR 589, the FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025. The bill would repeal the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a statute protecting clinicians’ and patients’ right to safely provide and access reproductive healthcare. All Democrats on the committee voted against the proposed bill.

What Comes After Roe? Fear, Surveillance and Felony Charges

PUBLISHED 6/12/2025 by

A new survey reveals that a majority of likely voters oppose policies that grant legal rights to fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses. They also oppose the criminalization of pregnancy loss, denial of emergency medical care and broader threats to reproductive freedom.

Yet here we are, with bills to codify those rights brewing in a quarter of U.S. states this year.

Even when they do not succeed, we cannot simply ignore them or hope their proponents call it quits. Rather, this is a prime opportunity to double down on educating people and harnessing public opinion.