National Right to Life is one of the oldest and most well-known anti-abortion organizations. Each summer, its annual conference is held in the same U.S. city.
In the past, the group at a gathering to Atlanta on the exact day the announcement was made about it was the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade with the historic Dobbs decision.
The room was filled with “a large amount in tears, and cries of joy,” recalled Carol Tobias the director of the National Right to Life Committee. “And it was kind of amazing. Everyone was seated, went on in the general sessions and the workshops since we knew there was a lot to be done.”
The buckle-down, keep-at-it-in-mind approach was evident throughout this year’s convention that was which was held in Pittsburgh in a hotel at the airport. There were a few obvious celebrations. The attendees acknowledged the progress they had made over the last year following they had been impacted by the Dobbs ruling. However, they were concerned about states where abortion is legal, or on the social forces they believe can influence women to end their pregnancy that they could otherwise continue to have.
“We recognize that we have many challenges to face but our hands are free,” Tobias told conference participants. “This is an amazing day.”
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The discussions and workshops held on the agenda for June 23-24 were a reflection of the evolving political environment, with titles like “Political Messaging in Post-Dobbs America” and “Pro-Life Achievement in the States strategies to succeed in this Post-Roe Era.”
There was a sense excitement during this year’s conference due the changes in law according to participant Frank Pavon: “The battle is actually on. There is no longer the sense of being like, confined, and in a bind.”
Dobbs has smashed a national right to abortion and its legality is now on the state. This has resulted in a mix of laws that have rendered the laws that were designed to block the abortion process less efficient in certain regions of the United States.
To stop these, Pavon — a controversial figure who runs an organization in Florida called Priests for Life -He wants Congress to adopt a national ban. However, he’s worried that those who are anti-abortion in Congress seem hesitant to pass a ban. He suspects that they’re scared of the polarization that comes with this issue and are therefore let states initiative in implementing the bans. An earlier NPR/Marist survey revealed that six out of 10 Americans favor abortion rights.
“Let’s take a look at the composition of the upcoming Congress,” said Pavon. “We must determine the people we have and what is their willingness to take it.”
The event’s keynote speech took place by James Bopp Jr. the general counsel of the National Right to Life Committee. He expressed displeasure over the absence of advances in preventing abortions, even in the time following Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Since the decision abortions, with some exceptions are now prohibited within the states of 14. The estimated less than 25,000 abortions took place in the 9 months that followed the decision. This is a small improvement according to Bopp when you consider that prior to Dobbs according to certain estimates there were more than 900,000 abortions. had been greater than 900,000 per year.
“What did go wrong? How can we solve this issue?” Bopp asked while talking to a quiet crowd of activists against abortion in the ballroom of the hotel.
Bopp said that some Democratic prosecutor refuses to enforce laws intended to limit access to abortion as health professionals continue to open clinics in locations such as the eastern part of Oregon as well as Southern Illinois close to the line from states where abortion is illegal or restricted.
“We must confront the fact of the fact that our world is changing and it’s a bit bizarre and shocking,” said Bopp.
Are you looking for innovative strategies in the post Roe landscape
Abortion treatment has evolved over the last half-century since Roe first granted the right to abortion in the United States to the point of viability. Today, about 50% of abortions occur via oral medications that cause the miscarriage with a two-pill treatment which can be accessed by mail, or travel to states in the neighboring states to receive after returning to their home states to terminate the pregnancy.
Bopp is furious at the web sites, volunteers and travel websites that have come up to distribute the drugs to states that have banned abortions, or to assist patients make appointments at clinics outside of state: “[There is] this remarkable collection of people and groups which are financially, as well as politically, and ideologically, that are promoting legal abortions within your state and selling your girls and women,” he said.
As Bopp says the anti-abortion movement in a state of flux. While Dobbs can be a helpful tool, it has also fragmented it across fifty states forming several fronts.
A large portion of those who attended Pittsburgh mentioned that abortion is still permissible in all 36 states, as well as D.C. however, the limits on gestational age for the length of the pregnancy abortions can be carried out vary greatly from state states.
Legality is not the same as accessibility. A researcher at Middlebury College recently found that the average American has to travel 86 miles for the closest abortion clinic.
The opponents of abortion also feel that they’ve been beaten back in the states which have strengthened the rights of abortion and also added protections to nurses or doctors who perform abortions.
These changes have been particularly painful for activists against abortion who live in these states.
“I am not one to tell people that I’m originally from New York when I’m in an environment that is pro-life however, it’s true that I’m from New York,” stated Catherine Jacobs. She is from NY’s Chemung County, just north of the Pennsylvania border.
In the hallway just outside the conference rooms Jacobs was putting up an area in her behalf for the group Teachers Saving Children which is a group of educators who are anti-abortion.
While chatting with fellow guests, Jacobs, a retired art teacher, sketched fetuses on the large notebook she placed against an easel. These drawings later became raffle prizes for those who gave to her foundation. The drawings were huge and vivid, with vibrant colors in blue and pink. Jacobs shows a few babies sucking or smiling onto their thumbs.
The table also displayed infant models in various stages of development. They was wearing a diaper, paired with pink or blue tops. The models, made of resin, are based off the figures she created with oven-baked clay.
Jacobs said to NPR she began the project following a twin pregnancy that was high-risk. Jacobs also suffered an unplanned miscarriage prior to that. “I lost a baby of that size. I held it in my hands,” said Jacobs, smiling toward the dolls. “I grieve for the child.”
Jacobs seemed devastated because, to her eyes the babies continue to be murdered throughout her home in the U.S., despite Roe’s fall. Through her work she hopes to highlight the uniqueness of each fetus. She hopes to possibly convince others that abortion is not a sin. There’s not much other she can do in the upstate of New York, she said in a state where doctors will continue to offer abortion treatment for the foreseeable future.
Does a more secure security net essential to ending abortions across the U.S.?
While a national and total ban on abortion is a primary goal for most of the attendees at the conference attendees, like Destiny Herndon De La Rosa are focused on other options.
The CEO and founder of New Wave Feminists Herndon De LA Rosa, stood out in the crowd at the conference with her black dress and black straight hair. She recalled that when she heard that the Dobbs decision was made public in the year before, she did not take part in the hugs and high-fiving. Instead she went back to her room in the hotel and wept and was overwhelmed by the changes, she added she felt a sense of empathy with her family members who fought for abortion rights because they felt scared and hurt at the ruling.
Herndon-DeLa Rosa is located in Houston and is described as an “pro-life feminist.” As per the traditional anti-abortion stance she believes that life begins at conception, and abortion is an act of violence against unborn babies. However, she is primarily concerned with the fact that women will continue to end unwanted pregnancies so long as the inequitable systems — for example, the inability to afford housing or health gaps — persist throughout the U.S.
“Right now the issue of fertility is unavoidable for females. Still. Nothing has changed, other than legislation,” she said.
Herndon-DeLa Rosa is in favor of condom use as well as the availability of hormonal birth controls however, she would like to be able to see the development of greater male-specific birth control choices to ensure that the burden doesn’t completely fall on women.
Herndon-DeLa Rosa believes that the new laws of the state must allow for situations where abortion is medically required. She is displeased with the “sloppy” laws that have been passed without consulting with doctors.
“Women will die because of that,” she said.
A number of other participants have also emphasized that there is a need to create a more robust social security net. One participant, who runs an group of state-funded anti-abortion centres that are located in Pennsylvania and Indiana the aim is to eliminate the “crisis” of the unplanned or “crisis pregnancy” by providing a woman with the assistance and resources they require to have the child.
In addition to the increased funding from taxpayers for these centers, Maria Gallagher, the legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation stated that people must be able to earn a decent wage and be provided with medical and educational opportunities.
“We should have those conversations now since we’re living in the post-Roe age,” said Gallagher. “If we don’t have those conversations now, when are going to be able to have them?”
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