{"id":201498,"date":"2019-05-13T10:05:41","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T15:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=201498"},"modified":"2019-05-14T20:48:21","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T01:48:21","slug":"author-misinformation-push-federal-abortion-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author-misinformation-push-federal-abortion-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Author claims Americans would support federal law protecting abortion. She’s wrong."},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the decades since Roe v. Wade<\/em>, abortion activists have relied on the courts to strike down pro-life laws. Abortion on demand was legalized by the courts, and abortion activists have found the courts to be their biggest ally in blocking pro-life initiatives. Yet one pro-abortion author, fearful of pro-life gains in the judiciary, has now proposed enshrining abortion protections in federal law. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lois Shepherd, whose piece in The Hill is called \u201c<\/span>A Federal Abortion Law Might Be Needed<\/span><\/a>,\u201d argues that Congress should pass abortion protections: \u201cIt may be time for a federal abortion law. This might seem like a fanciful idea at first, as we are accustomed to leadership from the margins rather than the center on the issue of abortion rights.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

While the author frames her idea as a noncontroversial initiative that all could support, in reality the argument is rooted in misinformation about Americans\u2019 attitudes toward abortion. <\/span><\/p>\n

False Claim: “But 6 out of 10 Americans support a legal right to abortion in all or most cases.”<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Shepherd managed to cherry pick a poll that paints the American public as sympathetic to legalized abortion. Yet we know from <\/span>far more detailed polling<\/span><\/a> on the topic from February 2019 that 58% of Americans would place restrictions on almost all abortions. <\/span><\/p>\n

This 58% number is comprised of 17% believing abortion should be illegal in all cases, 12% believing abortion should be legal only to save the life of the mother, and 29% believing abortion should be legal only for life of the mother, rape, and incest. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another 22% of Americans believe abortion should only be legal in the first trimester. Taken together, these statistics mean that 80% of all Americans<\/em> — an overwhelming majority — do not support<\/em> \u201ca legal right to abortion in all or most cases.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Eight questions that reveal why Roe v. Wade goes against reason<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

False Claim: “Some will say that compromise is unprincipled. But we currently have a compromise\u2014Roe was a compromise, Casey was a compromise. Neither decision made abortion solely a matter of a woman\u2019s choice or allowed its complete ban.” <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

To call the state of legal abortion in our country the result of a “compromise” is to stretch the meaning of the word \u201ccompromise\u201d beyond recognition. <\/span><\/p>\n

Who “compromised” to make abortion legal in Roe v. Wade<\/em>? Who “compromised” to keep it legal in Planned Parenthood v. Casey<\/em>? In each case, the \u201ccompromise\u201d in question was the result of five justices — the slightest of Supreme Court majorities — agreeing on the legal framework allowing the slaughter of the preborn in our country. <\/span><\/p>\n

And this \u201ccompromise\u201d that Shepherd lauds overturned and nullified the actual compromises of democratically-elected legislatures in states around the country<\/em>, many of which had enacted pro-life protections for the preborn — a similar process that continues even today. In short, Shepherd\u2019s claim here is not rooted in reality. <\/span><\/p>\n

False Claim: \u201cEveryone in America must know someone who has had an abortion and is probably relieved that their mother, sister, wife, daughter, or friend was able to secure a safe one.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Quite simply, there is a lot wrong with this statement. Although the tragedy of abortion has indeed touched countless Americans, the argument that \u201ceveryone\u201d in America is \u201crelieved\u201d that women have had a \u201csafe\u201d abortion is absurd. <\/span><\/p>\n

The legalization of abortion, a <\/span>violent procedure<\/span><\/a> that is <\/span>never medically necessary<\/span><\/a>, is actively opposed by tens of millions of Americans, who understand that abortion is never \u201csafe\u201d and always results in at least <\/span>the death of the baby<\/span><\/a>, and sometimes also <\/span>harms or kills the mother<\/span><\/a> as well.<\/span><\/p>\n