Anti-abortion leaders across America raved a year ago when Donald Trump became the first sitting US president to appear in person at their most high-profile annual event, the March for Life, held every January.
The mood is more austere now – a mix of disappointment over Trump’s defeat and hopes that his legacy of judicial appointments will lead to future court victories that limit abortion rights.
The organizers of this year’s March for Life in Washington, scheduled for this Friday, have asked their widespread supporters to stay at home amid political tensions in the city and the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, they plan to live stream the activities of a few invited attendees, in stark contrast to the tens of thousands of people usually attending.
Meanwhile, Trump, whose administration has taken numerous steps to limit access to abortion, has been replaced as president by Joe Biden, a staunch advocate of abortion rights. Biden’s fellow Democrats now control both houses of Congress, thanks to victories in two second elections in Georgia, where anti-abortion groups vigorously campaigned for the Republican candidates who lost.
On Friday, the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision establishing a nationwide right to abortion, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said they would try to enshrine that right in federal law to enforce it. protect against judicial challenges.
“Over the past four years, reproductive health, including the right to choose, has been relentless and extremely attacked.” their statement said. “We are committed to ensuring that everyone has access to care, including reproductive health care.”
March for Life chairman Jeanne Mancini said she and her allies are concerned that the Biden government will pursue “radically pro-abortion extremism.” At the same time, anti-abortion activists are backed by Trump’s nomination of dozens of federal judges – including three Supreme Court justices – who are considered open to the repeal or weakening of Roe v. Wade.
Republican states have enacted dozens of strict anti-abortion laws in recent years, and this year more are emerging from GOP lawmakers eager to see if any of these measures can reach the Supreme Court as a challenge to Roe v. Wade.
“I am very optimistic.” said Carol Tobias, chairman of the National Right to Life Committee. “We will see a lot of new pro-life bills … and we will see judges open to them.”
In Arkansas, a new law 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 restore and correct the grave injustice and crime against humanity perpetuated by its decisions in Roe v. Wade” and other cases.
The Texas legislature will also consider several sweeping abortion bans. In Montana, anti-abortion laws are expected to advance as Republican Greg Gianforte has replaced Democrat Steve Bullock as governor. Bullock supported the right to abortion for eight years in office.
South Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually about six weeks after conception. Similar bills have been passed in several other states, but courts have blocked their execution.
Elizabeth Nash, who monitors state government issues for the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, says anti-abortion laws can be top priority, even in states where lawmakers are facing multiple crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and severe budget woes.
Referring to lawmakers against abortion, Nash said, “They see the Supreme Court as in their corner, and their job is to continue to pass restrictions and bans.”
There is relief and optimism among abortion rights activists as the Biden government takes power. Biden is expected to issue executive orders to reverse Trump’s anti-abortion measures soon.
One such order would repeal the so-called “global gag rule” prohibiting the use of US foreign aid for abortion-related services. Another injunction would repeal what advocates of abortion rights called the “domestic gag rule,” preventing Title X family planning funds from going to any health care provider performing or referring abortions on their behalf. The ban prompted Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the US, to leave the program instead of complying with it.
Abortion rights advocates also hope that Congress, under Democratic scrutiny, will repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortions unless a woman’s life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest.
A longtime supporter of the amendment, Biden turned himself back in 2019 and is now in favor of its repeal. But the prospects for repeal are uncertain, as Democrats would need a few Republican votes in the Senate to overcome a potential filibuster.
However, the narrow majority of the Senate of the Democrats is expected to 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 invested large sums and mobilized hundreds of volunteers to support the losing GOP Senate candidates in Georgia, hoping to maintain Republican control so that Becerra could be spurned.
Becerra and Biden are Roman Catholic, and the new government’s support for abortion rights poses a dilemma for the American Conference of Catholic Bishops. The president, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, congratulated Biden on his inauguration Wednesday, but warned that his policies on abortion and contraception “promote moral evil and threaten human life and dignity.”
Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of Planned Parenthood, said the concerns that plagued her in 2020 gave way to joy with the Democrats’ victories in the Senate in Georgia.
“I was really able to breathe hope and opportunity,” she said. “But we recognize the fact that the battle 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 the number of abortions increased or decreased during the pandemic, there is some evidence that more women have caused their own abortion by using abortion pills that they could buy or receive from a foreign source. It is becoming easier for women to get around US law requiring the pill to be provided by a healthcare provider.
Abigail Aiken, a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas, said the online abortion pill provider Aid Access received a wave of requests early in the pandemic, when some states cited the outbreak as a reason to limit access to abortion in clinics.
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 each year now search for abortion pills for self-administered abortions – based on the clicks of the Plan C website with a list of foreign pharmacies that ship the pills.