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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe antiabortion movement’s brewing civil war
Abortion bans in N. Dakota and Arkansas may have seemed like wins for "pro-lifers." Instead, they're hotly divided
BY IRIN CARMON
Some antiabortion activists were crowing about their apparent victories in North Dakota last week including an unprecedented ban on abortion at six weeks, before most women know theyre pregnant but, notably, thats not what Peggy Noonan wanted to talk about on Meet the Press yesterday. When Chuck Todd asked her if such legislation could be what motivates evangelicals again, Noonan promptly changed the subject. It was no accident.
The real story this week is the haunting and disturbing story of this doctor in Philadelphia [Kermit] Gosnell, who is being tried this week, she said, adding, This was a man who had an abortion mill, that was in fact a death mill for babies essentially born. Being tried now, well see how it goes. But this is a story that is haunting, about the implications of decisions made by courts. (In fact, Gosnell is accused of crimes that have never been sanctioned by any court, and appears to have been exploiting gaps in access for low-income women.) The point was this: Noonan, in keeping with the bigger antiabortion groups, doesnt want to talk about banning abortion in the first trimester, when it is overwhelmingly supported by Americans. They would rather change the subject to grislier, rarer, later procedures. Too bad for them that a growing number of state legislators arent getting in line.
For years, a civil war has been brewing in the right-to-life movement, between the absolutists, who want to pass Personhood amendments and heartbeat bans that grab headlines, and the careful incrementalists, who are mounting a long-term campaign to stigmatize abortion and make it inaccessible through seemingly common-sense restrictions. Jack Dalrymple, the governor of North Dakota, clearly falls into the former camp: Although the likelihood of this measure surviving a court challenge remains in question, this bill is nevertheless a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v. Wade, he said in a statement when he signed several unconstitutional antiabortion bills. The same thinking applied in Arkansas Legislature, which passed a 12-week ban over the objections of the governor, who pointed out it would just be dismissed in court.
Theyre wrong, of course. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that you cant ban abortions before viability. Thats why the incrementalists hate this stuff which they, probably correctly, point out just galvanizes pro-choice people.
more:
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/01/the_anti_abortion_movements_brewing_civil_war/
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The antiabortion movement’s brewing civil war (Original Post)
DonViejo
Apr 2013
OP
cali
(114,904 posts)1. what this article gets wrong is that they're working in concert
in the states that have passed the most extreme anti-choice legislation, most of them have already passed incremental restrictions like legislating that docs have admitting privileges at a local hospital, demanding that clinics, even those that don't perform surgical abortions, meet the same physical plant requirements as hospitals, waiting periods, ultrasounds, etc.