Thursday, March 28, 2024

Opinion | The antiabortion movement is working to criminalize abortion pills

Opinion | The antiabortion movement is working to criminalize abortion pills


As my organization monitors and combats the lies and threats of the antiabortion movement, I read with interest the Jan. 12 front-page article on the “pro-life” reaction to the Alabama attorney general’s reprehensible comments suggesting prosecution of people who take abortion pills [“Antiabortion movement split over punishing takers of pill”].

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, was quoted trying to pivot the conversation away from prosecuting people who have abortions to prosecuting those providing safe, effective and Food and Drug Administration-approved abortion pills. The logical consequence of abortion bans is sending people to jail, and my team has traveled the country having antiabortion leaders tell us on camera in their own words that they support imprisonment and even the death penalty for abortion. In one example, former congressman Ron Wright (R-Tex.) said he “absolutely” supported jail time for women self-managing abortions with pills.

It’s especially notable that Ms. Hawkins’s own national spokesperson and senior ambassador Autumn Higashi said on video, “If a woman kills a child outside the womb, then I think that she should be prosecuted for that. So, if a woman kills a child inside the womb, then I don’t think that there’s any difference.” Students for Life has declared birth control pills “abortifacients.” If these are argued to be the same as abortion, then it’s not hard to see what comes next.

The antiabortion movement is a manifestation of totalitarianism in the United States. It seeks absolute control of people and our government. Jail time for abortion, miscarriage and sexual freedom is their quest.

The writer is co-founder and executive director of Reproaction, a national abortion access group.



Source link