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Anti-abortion leaders across America were elated a year ago when Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. President to appear in person at their most high-profile annual event, the March for Life which takes place every January.
The mood is more subdued now – a mixture of disappointment at Trump’s defeat and hope that his legacy of judicial appointments will lead to future judicial victories limiting the right to abortion.
Organizers of this year’s March for Life in Washington, scheduled for next Friday, have asked their supporters far away to stay at home, amid political tensions in the city and the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, they plan to broadcast live the activities of a few invited attendees, in stark contrast to the tens of thousands who usually attend.
Meanwhile, Trump, whose administration has taken numerous steps to restrict access to abortion, has been replaced as president by Joe Biden, a staunch supporter of abortion rights. Biden’s fellow Democrats now control both houses of Congress, thanks to victories in two Senate polls in Georgia, where anti-abortion groups campaigned vigorously for the Republican candidates who lost.
On Friday, on the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision establishing a national abortion right, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said they would seek to enshrine the right into law federal government to protect it from legal challenges.
“Over the past four years, reproductive health, including the right to choose, has been the target of relentless and extreme attacks.” said their statement. “We are deeply committed to ensuring that everyone has access to care, including reproductive health care.”
March for Life chairwoman Jeanne Mancini said she and her allies feared the Biden administration would pursue “radical pro-abortion extremism.” At the same time, anti-abortion activists are backed by Trump’s appointment of numerous federal justices – including three Supreme Court justices – who are seen as open to the repeal or weakening of Roe v. Wade.
In states ruled by Republicans, dozens of harsh anti-abortion bills have been passed in recent years, and more are surfacing this year from GOP lawmakers keen to see if any of these measures. could be taken to the Supreme Court as a challenge to Roe v. Wade.
“I am very optimistic.” said Carol Tobias, chair of the National Right to Life Committee. “We’re going to see a lot of new pro-life bills… and we’re going to see judges open to them.
In Arkansas, a new bill would criminalize abortions except to save the life of a pregnant woman. The measure states, “It is time for the United States Supreme Court to redress and right the grave injustice and crime against humanity perpetrated by its decisions in Roe v. Wade ”and other cases.
The Texas legislature will also consider several drastic abortion bans. In Montana, anti-abortion bills are expected to move forward now that Republican Greg Gianforte has replaced Democrat Steve Bullock as governor. Bullock supported abortion rights for eight years in power.
South Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, typically around six weeks after conception. Similar bills have been passed in several other states, but courts have blocked their implementation.
Elizabeth Nash, who follows state government issues for the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, says anti-abortion legislation can be given top priority even in states where lawmakers face multiple crises , including the COVID-19 pandemic and serious budget issues.
Referring to anti-abortion lawmakers, Nash said, “They see the Supreme Court as being in their corner, and it’s their job to continue to pass restrictions and bans.”
Among abortion rights activists, there is relief and optimism as the Biden administration takes power, with Biden expected to issue executive orders overturning Trump’s anti-abortion measures soon.
Such an ordinance would overturn the so-called “global gag rule” which prohibits the use of US foreign aid for abortion-related services. Another ordinance would overturn what abortion rights advocates called the “household gag rule,” prohibiting Title X family planning funds from going to health care providers who perform abortions or make referrals. for them. The ban prompted Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion provider in the United States, to quit the program rather than comply with it.
Abortion rights advocates also hope that Democratic-controlled Congress will repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortions unless a woman’s life is in danger or if rape or incest.
Biden, a longtime supporter of the amendment, was overthrown in 2019 and now favors its repeal. But repeal prospects are uncertain, given that Democrats would need a few Republican votes in the Senate to overcome a possible filibuster.
However, the slim majority of Democrats in the Senate should be enough to confirm Biden’s appointment of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra – a strong supporter of abortion rights – as head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Major anti-abortion groups have invested large sums and mobilized hundreds of volunteers to support the losing Georgia GOP Senate candidates, hoping to retain Republican control so Becerra can be dismissed.
Becerra and Biden are Roman Catholics, and the new administration’s support for abortion rights poses a dilemma for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Its president, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, José Gomez, congratulated Biden on his inauguration Wednesday, but warned that his policies on abortion and contraception “advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity.”
Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood, said concerns that plagued her throughout 2020 have given way to glee at the Democrats’ Senate victories in Georgia.
“I was actually able to breathe in hope and possibility,” she said. “But we recognize the fact that the fight is on – the courts and many of our state legislatures are going to be very difficult for us.
While there is not yet enough data to show whether abortions have increased or decreased during the pandemic, there is evidence that more women have induced their own abortions, using abortion pills than they were able to buy. or receive by mail from a foreign source. It is getting easier and easier for women to circumvent US law requiring the pill to be dispensed by a healthcare professional.
Abigail Aiken, professor of public affairs at the University of Texas, said online abortion pill provider Aid Access received a surge of requests early in the pandemic, when some states cited the outbreak as a reason to limit access to abortion in clinics.
The requests nearly doubled in Texas, which had the most severe pandemic-related restrictions on clinics, said Aiken, whose research was published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Elisa Wells, co-director of another online organization called Plan C, estimates that tens of thousands of American women search for abortion pills for self-administered abortions each year – based on the number of clicks on the Plan C website that lists foreign pharmacies offering ship the pills.
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