USA – The Anti-Abortion Movement’s Biggest Fear

BY DAHLIA LITHWICK
MARCH 25, 2024

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a case that could determine national access to mifepristone, one of two pills used as part of medication abortion. In this week’s episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick spoke with Carrie N. Baker, whose book, History and Politics of Abortion Pills in the United States, is being published by Amherst College Press this year.

Lithwick and Baker discussed the anti-abortion movement’s decadeslong efforts to target the abortion pill, how those efforts hampered FDA approval of the medication in the first place, and how having easier access to reproductive care through a pill that can be sent in the mail and taken at home fundamentally threatens the strategy of those seeking to dismantle abortion rights in this country. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/abortion-pill-supreme-court-preview-mifepristone-history.html

US elected officials avoiding topics of abortion and gun control over fear of threats

Brennan Center survey finds tens of thousands steering clear of hot-button issues – and some considering quitting public life

Ed Pilkington
Thu 25 Jan 2024

Tens of thousands of state legislators and elected local officials are avoiding hot-button policy issues such as abortion and gun control because they are fearful of the backlash of intimidating abuse, a new report has found.

A major survey by the Brennan Center for Justice released on Thursday warned that the spate of extremist intimidation that has been seen nationally in the US, epitomized by the attack on the Capitol building on 6 January 2021, is also sweeping local and state politics. In the fallout, elected individuals are limiting their interactions with constituents and narrowing the contentious topics they are prepared to take on.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/25/us-legislators-elected-officials-abortion-gun-control

25.01.2024

Brennan Center for Justice

‘Stunning’ threat in Texas abortion case steps up Paxton criminalization crusade

State attorney general threatened to prosecute doctors if they provided abortion care to a woman with a nonviable pregnancy

Mary Tuma
Tue 12 Dec 2023

When a Texas court ruled that a 31-year-old woman with a non-viable pregnancy could have an abortion despite the state’s strict bans, the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, responded with a brazen threat to prosecute “hospitals, doctors, or anyone else” who would assist in providing the procedure. The letter he sent Texas hospitals hours after the ruling, threatening first-degree felonies that could result in life in prison, was a “stunning” move indicative of his longstanding crusade to criminalize abortion care, say legal experts and advocates.

“It is extraordinary that Paxton would threaten hospitals and doctors with this letter before even winning an appeal,” Mary Ziegler, a UC-Davis law professor who focuses on reproductive rights, told the Guardian. “It’s a very unusual maneuver, but does certainly reflect his ultimate goal of wanting to go after abortion providers and supporters at all costs.”

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/12/texas-abortion-ken-paxton-kate-cox

Abortion: Pro-choice Forces in Brazil Are Being Threatened by Christian Radicals and the Ultra-right

BY ANDREA DIP
DECEMBER 10, 2023

Brazil’s Supreme Court has postponed a debate on decriminalizing early-term abortion, leading feminists and rights advocates to warn that the justices will be responsible for the deaths of more women and girls in the country.

Abortion in the country is punishable by up to three years in prison, and is allowed on only three grounds: rape, risk to the life of the pregnant person, and – following a 2012 Supreme Court decision – when the fetus suffers anencephaly, a fatal birth defect.

Continued: https://www.brazzil.com/abortion-pro-choice-forces-in-brazil-are-being-threatened-by-christian-radicals-and-the-ultra-right/

USA – We Need Courageous Leaders Who Stand Up to Anti-Abortion Extremists

Anti-abortion violence has increased significantly since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Our political leaders must not cower.

9/2/2023
by CARRIE N. BAKER

While headlines focus on politicians’ efforts to ban abortion at the state and national levels, anti-abortion forces are also working at the local level to erode abortion access—even in deep blue states such as Massachusetts. In addition to pumping massive funds into anti-abortion fake clinics in blue states, they are also working to block municipal protections for abortion healthcare by using threats and legal intimidation.

Recently, in the progressive Western Massachusetts city of Easthampton, both the mayor and city council president—both Democrats that claim to support abortion rights—voted against an ordinance to protect access to reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care. The ordinance was supported by over 20 reproductive and trans rights groups in the community, who were perplexed and frustrated by their actions.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/09/02/anti-abortion-massachusetts/

Abortion Activists Are Targets of Violent, Gendered Threats After Overturn of Roe

The threats almost always come from men.

BY ZELLY MARTIN, DR. MARTIN RIEDL, EDITH HOLLANDER, AND DR. INGA TRAUTHIG
JULY 10, 2023

If your job necessitated that you cope with constant death threats against you and your three-year-old, would you do it? What if you weren’t getting paid? Cathy* is an abortion rights activist whose answer is a resounding, yes. But Cathy wasn’t always an activist. Four years ago, she was a pregnant woman living in Ohio and thought she was having a miscarriage. “I went to the emergency room because I was having a lot of fluid leaking. And when you're pregnant, that's obviously a cause for concern, and I was having horrible pain, and I thought, Oh, my God! I'm miscarrying.”

She came into the ER sobbing, and the staff immediately took her into a small room without her partner. “What did you do to cause this miscarriage?” they asked. “I'm sobbing, and leaking, and I'm like, ‘Nothing, nothing! Can you help me? I think I’m losing my pregnancy,’” Cathy recalled saying.

Continued: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/abortion-activists-violent-threats-roe

10.07.2023

Commentary

anti-choice cruelty

anti-choice death threats

anti-choice fanaticism

anti-choice hatred

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice threats

criminalization of pregnancy

Melissa Fowler

National Abortion Federation

Propaganda Research Lab

United States

Anti-choice

Human Rights

USA – Clinics offering abortions face a rise in threats, violence and legal battles

April 7, 2023
By Aaron Bolton

Thirty years ago, Blue Mountain Clinic Director Willa Craig stood in front of the sagging roof and broken windows of an abortion clinic that an arsonist had burned down early that morning in Missoula, Montana.

"This morning, Missoula, Montana, learned that there is no place in America that is safe from hateful, misguided groups," she told the crowd of reporters and onlookers.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/07/1168547810/clinics-offering-abortions-face-a-rise-in-threats-violence-and-legal-battles

Sixth of Irish doctors who perform abortions have been threatened

Colin Coyle
Sunday April 25 2021

More than one in six doctors providing termination services say they have experienced a “verbal threat or attack” since abortion was introduced in Ireland in 2019. The finding is from a study of 156 hospital doctors and GPs by researchers in the National Maternity Hospital and the Coombe.

The researchers found that while Irish doctors suffered fewer verbal or physical attacks than their American counterparts, they were more likely to be alienated by family, friends or acquaintances due to their abortion work.

Continued: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/irish-doctors-perform-abortions-threatened-murder-study-x3nxtnc2h

27.04.2021

abortion stigma

anti-choice hatred

anti-choice misogny

anti-choice terrorism

National Maternity Hospital

US/UK – Madison County man charged with making social media threats to abortion activists

by: Daniel Griffin
Posted: Apr 20, 2021

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A London, Ohio man has been charged by a federal grand jury with making online threats against people connected with a non-profit organization whose mission is to help people access safe abortions.

James David Hampton, 40, was charged with 10 counts stemming from an alleged incident that took place on Aug. 26, 2020, according to a statement from Vipal J. Patel, acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.

Continued: https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/madison-county-man-charged-with-making-social-media-threats-to-abortion-activists/

20.04.2021

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News

Abortion Support Network

anti-choice extremism

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anti-choice stupidity

anti-choice terrorism

Poland: Escalating Threats to Women Activists

Human Rights Watch
March 31, 2021

(Berlin) – Bomb and death threats targeting at least seven groups in Poland for supporting women’s rights and the right to abortion are disturbing reminders of escalating risks to women’s human rights defenders in the country, Human Rights Watch, CIVICUS, and International Planned Parenthood Federation-European Network (IPPF-EN) said today.

The authorities should urgently investigate, protect the women targeted and hold those responsible for the threats accountable. Polish officials should also counter abusive misinformation campaigns targeting activists.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/31/poland-escalating-threats-women-activists

31.03.2021