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Tips for Creating Impressive Persuasive Speeches on Abortion

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Speech is a great way to persuade someone that your position or viewpoint on a specific topic is correct and reasonable. But, creating a good persuasive speech is a challenging task. Especially, when you chose such a controversial topic as abortion.

There are a lot of questions about abortion and they are constantly discussed in society. Debates over abortion touches on different aspects like religious viewpoints, the legality of this procedure, and its morality. And to create a good-quality abortion persuasive essay , you need to know about all key points, rules, and best writing practices.

In this article, you will find all information about writing persuasive speeches on abortion. We will tell you about each step and share some useful tips. Keep reading to learn more!

Preparing an Abortion Persuasive Speech : Essential Steps

The process of writing any persuasive speech includes several steps. And all of them are equally important if you want to craft the best speech possible. Speaking of abortion persuasive essay writing, here are the steps you need to follow to prepare an exceptional speech:

Research the topic. Before you decide what position to take in your speech, you need to learn as much information as possible about abortion and look at it from different viewpoints.
Choose your side. Basically, there are only two sides you can choose from — so-called pro-life and pro-choice. The first side argues against abortion, and another side argues in favor of abortion as a legal right for every woman.
Create a thesis statement for your abortion persuasive essay .
Outline your speech. Write down all the points you want to communicate in your speech and organize them. Find the strongest arguments from all your ideas and use only them. Weak points will not help you to create a good persuasive essay.
Create the first draft. We will talk about each part of a persuasive essay structure later in this article.
Revise your speech and edit it. Polish your first draft by changing sentences, removing mistakes, and checking the logical sequence of all points. Repeat the process as many times as needed to create a flawless final draft.

How to Start a Persuasive Speech on Abortion

The best way to start your abortion persuasive speech is with an attention grabber. It can be interesting statistics, or an intriguing question, that will make the audience keep listening to you.

After the first sentence, you need to move to your thesis statement. Basically, you will argue for or against abortion and you need to clearly state it in your thesis. But, it is also important to provide the key point why you chose one side and not another. Use one sentence between the attention grabber and your thesis statement to ensure a smooth transition.

How to Present Arguments in a Persuasive Speech About Abortions

Now, let’s talk about the main part of your abortion persuasive essay — argumentation. Basically, the less you write, the better. The meaning is you need to remove all unnecessary information from your speech. Provide short, precise facts and arguments, without deviating from your main point. Every argument should be formulated in powerful sentences that will hit your listeners and make them think critically.

The best way is to present an argument and back it up with a few facts or statistics. If you think that your argument can be unclear, make sure you add one more sentence to better explain your point. Once you communicate one point, move to the next one, that is logically connected to your previous point.

Don’t try to present all your arguments in one speech. Choose no more than 3-4 arguments, and make sure they are the strongest ones. Otherwise, your listener will be bored with the length of your abortion persuasive speech and unconvinced of the validity of your position.

How to End an Abortion Persuasive Speech

The conclusion is extremely important in a persuasive speech. It is the last chance to reinforce your point of view. So, if you want to impress the listeners and make them consider your position, you need to choose the right words for your concluding sentences.

First, you can summarize your arguments, just to remind the listeners of your key points. It should be a short sentence where you just repeat all points one by one. And after this, you need to make a final statement.

There are a lot of options for how you can make it, and everything depends on what arguments you presented earlier. One of the most interesting ways is to end with a question that will make people doubt their position if it is opposite to yours.

Persuasive Speech About Abortion : Key Points to Know

We have already told you enough about the process of writing an abortion persuasive essay . But, the same with any type of essay, a persuasive speech has its special features. Here are some key points to remember if you truly want to persuade people of your viewpoint on abortion:

As people usually listen to speeches, not read them, there is no place for abstract phrases and deviations from the topic. A persuasive speech should be precise, clear, and contain powerful statements and arguments.
Use simple language, as people usually become less interested when hearing sophisticated words. No need to speak with too complicated phrases.
Your words can be emotional and passionate. It will help to strengthen your message and evoke emotions among your listeners. Using formal, dry language in an abortion persuasive essay is not effective at all.

Final Thoughts

We have covered all essential points in writing a speech about abortion. Now, it’s time for you to get to work and create a persuasive speech. We hope our guide will help you with this task.

And remember, despite the fact that persuasive speech should persuade people, it rarely works like that. One speech is not enough to make a person immediately change their opinion on abortion. But, a good persuasive speech indeed can influence people and get them thinking further. And it should be your goal when writing an abortion persuasive essay.

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Abortion is Our Right, and We Won’t Be Silenced

If you thought anti-abortion extremists were going to stop at banning abortion, punishing pregnant people, and allowing bounty hunters to sue abortion providers, you’d be wrong. Politicians across the country have proposed bills taking aim at our right to discuss abortion care, to express the benefits of being able to determine if and when to become pregnant, and even to create art about reproductive health care. They’re continuing their attacks on our reproductive freedom by going after our right to free speech and our access to life-saving information. This isn’t just about taking away people’s decisions during pregnancy; politicians are trying to erase our health care needs, our stories and experiences, and our existence.

Bills in Iowa and Texas were recently introduced that force internet providers to block websites that give information about abortion and allow anyone to sue an internet provider who fails to block those websites. In order to avoid the risk of lawsuits, internet service providers — which may even include places that supply internet access like colleges and libraries — would be forced to block any website that discusses abortion, including those of abortion funds working around the clock to make sure pregnant people know their options for accessing abortion and where they may need to travel. The Texas law even targets specific websites that would have to be blocked, some of which are simply sites to get educational information about abortion pills and their safety. Anti-abortion extremists are clearly aiming to ensure people who need abortions in their state can’t even learn about their options.

At the same time as states are trying to shut down access to information about abortion, public colleges are responding to legislative attacks from extremist politicians by curtailing free speech and artistic expression — even going beyond the bounds of the law out of fear they may face political punishment. Last summer, for example, Indiana University told faculty that they had committed a policy violation by writing a letter in support of a colleague and opposing a proposed abortion ban in the legislature.

More recently, Lewis-Clark State College announced that it would pull several artists pieces addressing abortion from an upcoming exhibition, “Unconditional Care,” for fear of violating the state’s No Public Funds for Abortion Act. A far cry from providing unconditional care to its community, the college is censoring work that gives voice to a range of topics that are often heavily stigmatized and rarely spoken about.

An Idaho College Censored Their Reproductive Health Care Art, But These Artists Won’t be Silenced

Three artists whose work was removed from an exhibit at Lewis-Clark State College speak out about attempts to silence stories about abortion.

Source: American Civil Liberties Union

We know that freedom of speech, artistic expression, and reproductive freedom go hand in hand. We must be allowed to talk about our experiences and exchange information about our health care in order to truly make decisions about our bodies and our families free from political interference. We cannot allow extremist politicians to get in between us and the information we need, or to tell us what we can and can’t say — online or off.

The ACLU is fighting in courts and state legislatures across the country to stop bills like these (and many more), but we need you to stand with us. Whether you live in a state where politicians are taking away your free speech and abortion rights or not, you can make a difference in this fight. Join the ACLU in fighting back against attacks on abortion access and other civil liberties across the country by signing up for information and ways to take action below.

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Persuasive Essay Guide

Persuasive Essay About Abortion

Crafting a Convincing Persuasive Essay About Abortion

How To Write a Persuasive Essay About Abortion?

Abortion is a controversial topic, with people having differing points of view and opinions on the matter. There are those who oppose abortion, while some people endorse pro-choice arguments.

It is also an emotionally charged subject, so you need to be extra careful when crafting your persuasive essay .

Before you start writing your persuasive essay, you need to understand the following steps.

Step 1: Choose Your Position

The first step to writing a persuasive essay on abortion is to decide your position. Do you support the practice or are you against it? You need to make sure that you have a clear opinion before you begin writing.

Once you have decided, research and find evidence that supports your position. This will help strengthen your argument.

Check out the video below to get more insights into this topic:

Step 2: Choose Your Audience

The next step is to decide who your audience will be. Will you write for pro-life or pro-choice individuals? Or both?

Knowing who you are writing for will guide your writing and help you include the most relevant facts and information.

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Step 3: Define Your Argument

Now that you have chosen your position and audience, it is time to craft your argument.

Start by defining what you believe and why, making sure to use evidence to support your claims. You also need to consider the opposing arguments and come up with counter arguments. This helps make your essay more balanced and convincing.

Step 4: Format Your Essay

Once you have the argument ready, it is time to craft your persuasive essay. Follow a standard format for the essay, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Make sure that each paragraph is organized and flows smoothly. Use clear and concise language, getting straight to the point.

Step 5: Proofread and Edit

The last step in writing your persuasive essay is to make sure that you proofread and edit it carefully. Look for spelling, grammar, punctuation, or factual errors and correct them. This will help make your essay more professional and convincing.

These are the steps you need to follow when writing a persuasive essay on abortion. It is a good idea to read some examples before you start so you can know how they should be written.

Continue reading to find helpful examples.

Persuasive Essay About Abortion Examples

To help you get started, here are some example persuasive essays on abortion that may be useful for your own paper.

Short Persuasive Essay About Abortion

Persuasive Essay About No To Abortion

What Is Abortion? - Essay Example

Persuasive Speech on Abortion

Legal Abortion Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essay About Abortion in the Philippines

Persuasive Essay about legalizing abortion

You can also read m ore persuasive essay examples to imp rove your persuasive skills.

Examples of Argumentative Essay About Abortion

An argumentative essay is a type of essay that presents both sides of an argument. These essays rely heavily on logic and evidence.

Here are some examples of argumentative essay with introduction, body and conclusion that you can use as a reference in writing your own argumentative essay.

Abortion Persuasive Essay Introduction

Argumentative Essay About Abortion Conclusion

Argumentative Essay About Abortion Pdf

Argumentative Essay About Abortion in the Philippines

Argumentative Essay About Abortion - Introduction

Abortion Persuasive Essay Topics

If you are looking for some topics to write your persuasive essay on abortion, here are some examples:

Should abortion be legal in the United States?
Is it ethical to perform abortions, considering its pros and cons?
What should be done to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies that lead to abortions?
Is there a connection between abortion and psychological trauma?
What are the ethical implications of abortion on demand?
How has the debate over abortion changed over time?
Should there be legal restrictions on late-term abortions?
Does gender play a role in how people view abortion rights?
Is it possible to reduce poverty and unwanted pregnancies through better sex education?
How is the anti-abortion point of view affected by religious beliefs and values?

These are just some of the potential topics that you can use for your persuasive essay on abortion. Think carefully about the topic you want to write about and make sure it is something that interests you.

Check out m ore persuasive essay topics that will help you explore other things that you can write about!

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Facts About Abortion You Need to Know

Here are some facts about abortion that will help you formulate better arguments.

According to the Guttmacher Institute , 1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion.
The majority of abortions are performed in the first trimester.
Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures, with less than a 0.5% risk of major complications.
In the United States, 14 states have laws that restrict or ban most forms of abortion after 20 weeks gestation.
Seven out of 198 nations allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
In places where abortion is illegal, more women die during childbirth and due to complications resulting from pregnancy.
A majority of pregnant women who opt for abortions do so for financial and social reasons.
According to estimates, 56 million abortions occur annually.

In conclusion, these are some of the examples, steps, and topics that you can use to write a persuasive essay. Make sure to do your research thoroughly and back up your arguments with evidence. This will make your essay more professional and convincing.

Need the services of a persuasive essay writing service ? We've got your back!

MyPerfectWords.com that provides help to students in the form of professionally written essays. Our persuasive essay writer can craft quality persuasive essays on any topic, including abortion.

So, just ask our experts ' do my essay ' and get professional help.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should i talk about in an essay about abortion.

When writing an essay about abortion, it is important to cover all the aspects of the subject. This includes discussing both sides of the argument, providing facts and evidence to support your claims, and exploring potential solutions.

What is a good argument for abortion?

A good argument for abortion could be that it is a woman’s choice to choose whether or not to have an abortion. It is also important to consider the potential risks of carrying a pregnancy to term.

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A better way to talk about abortion

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How to Talk About Abortion

How to change hearts and minds, and reduce stigma while you're at it.

We know that the best way to change hearts and minds is to have open and honest conversations with people who trust us. This is also true when talking about abortion. So why is it so hard for some people to talk about abortion? Abortion stigma.

Abortion stigma is the shame and silence that surrounds abortion. It comes from years of well-practiced and often shared rhetoric that demonizes abortion and creates a challenging environment for us to talk openly and unapologetically about it. We, however, want to make sure that the way we speak about abortion promotes acceptance and normalization of this necessary health care that all people should be able to access. By talking with our loved ones about abortion, we can change the narrative around abortion and reassure people that abortion is essential health care.

Here are some tips for talking about abortion: we'll go over preparing your "why", facts and talking points to use in conversation, conversation starters, and language to use (and avoid).

STEP 1. PREPARE YOUR "WHY"

To fight back against institutions that are chipping away at abortion rights, we need to center those who are affected: all people who can get pregnant, those with low-incomes, and people for whom structural racism has created longstanding barriers to abortion access, such as Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people. Most likely, the reason you want to have these conversations about abortion is because of your own story. Maybe you’ve had an abortion or supported someone else through one. Maybe you’ve been a clinic escort or have experienced a pregnancy scare.

STEP 2. LEARN THE FACTS

Here are some resources we recommend:

- Considering Abortion - What Facts Do I Need to Know About Abortion?

- Planned Parenthood RED ALERT report on abortion restrictions

- National Abortion Federation “Women who have abortions”

STEP 3. PLAN YOUR AUDIENCE

We can change hearts and minds by speaking with our peers and trusting individuals. Here are a few different groups to think about speaking with about abortion:

- Members of a club/volunteer team/church

- Social media followers/mutuals

- Fitness groups

- Classmates

Be strategic in your timing as you plan these conversations. Rather than just reaching out randomly, create a plan for yourself.

There are many different avenues to have these conversations with our loved ones. There is no guarantee that one conversation will change anyone’s mind, but it’s a good idea to make abortion a normalized topic for this person. Your conversations can happen via text, over the phone, in person, direct messaging, over social media, or wherever you think the person will be most receptive.

STEP 4. CONVERSATION OPENERS

For help with conversation openers, try a variation of one of these lines:.

“Hi ___, have you heard about the extremely restrictive new law in Texas that bans abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy? That’s before most people know they’re pregnant. It also allows strangers to sue people who help others get an abortion in the state.”

“____, I really care about access to safe, legal, abortion, and I’m afraid because this access is being taken away from us. Can we talk about it?”

“Hey, ___, I had an abortion. In my experience [insert story], but now I’m afraid that we won’t be able to access this essential health care for much longer.”

“___, I'm really worried about the future of abortion access. I have loved ones who have had abortions, and there are so many other people who depend on this essential care. People like [abortion story] and me, will be affected by this. Can we talk about it?

Keep in mind:

Really listen to what they're saying. Try to understand their point of view. Ask them questions like: ‘Tell me more about that’ or ‘How does that make you feel?’

Be clear about how you feel and what you want by using “I statements” and leaning into your own experience.

Agree to disagree. This doesn’t mean you agree with their perspective. You’re just protecting yourself by choosing which battles to fight.

Be proud of yourself for starting this conversation. It takes real courage. Each time you overcome your nervousness and do it, you’ll build your skills and confidence.

A FEW LAST TIPS

Always return the conversation to the real people involved — that's why your story matters so much.

Being vulnerable boosts vulnerable conversations and builds trust with the person you are speaking to. Open up to them about why you support abortion, whether you’ve had one, supported someone through one, are a clinic escort, or believe access to abortion under any circumstance is important. Let them know why. Allowing yourself to open up allows genuine and honest conversation to flow. And, people will listen to their loved ones, even if their opinion is not swayed much or right away.

Meet people where they are. Don’t make assumptions or judgements on the person’s beliefs. Level set and find common ground with your shared values. Refer to these values often during your conversation.Abortion stigma is the shame and silence that surrounds abortion.

Don’t frame abortion as a women's issue: this doesn't represent the trans, nonbinary and gender non-confirming people who can get pregnant.

Don’t talk about abortion as “tragic” or a “hard decision.” That is not true for everyone and further stigmatizes abortion! Abortion is always a personal decision.

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A High School Teen’s Powerful Graduation Speech About Abortion Rights Is Going Viral

By Christopher Rosa

Paxton Smith, the 2021 valedictorian of Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, gave an impassioned graduation speech about abortion rights that's going viral.

For those unfamiliar with what's happening in Texas: The state's governor, Greg Abbott, just signed into law the “heartbeat bill,” which, per The Texas Tribune , bans abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, when most women don't even realize they're expecting.

Smith had originally planned to talk about television and media during her speech but instead used the platform to shed light on the “heartbeat bill.”

“In light of recent events, it feels wrong to talk about anything but what is currently affecting me and millions of other women in this state,” Smith said, per Vox . “Starting in September, there will be a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. Six weeks. That’s all women get.”

According to Vox, the “heartbeat bill” not only bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy but allows people to sue anyone who “aids and abets” one of these illegal procedures.

Smith's speech has exploded on TikTok, racking up more than 210,000 views. It was reposted to Twitter, where it's been viewed more than 2 million times. “In Texas, Lake Highlands High School valedictorian, Paxton Smith, switched out her approved speech to talk about abortion rights,” the tweet reads.

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

According to Advocate magazine, a local Highlands publication, Smith's decision to change her speech on the fly was not supported by her school district. “The content of each student speaker’s message is the private, voluntary expression of the individual student and does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position, or expression of the District or its employees,” RISD school board president Karen Clardy said. “What the student did was unexpected and not supported by LHHS or RISD. We are going to review student speech protocols in advance of next year’s graduations to prevent something like this from happening again.”

That being said, Smith's father, Russell, fully supported her actions. “It was something that she felt was important, and she had the nerve, determination, and boldness to put herself out there and say her piece,” he said, according to Advocate . “So few people demonstrate this level of maturity and poise, regardless of age.”

Read her full speech, according to Advocate magazine, below:

As we leave high school we need to make our voices heard. I was going to get up here and talk to you about TV and content and media because those are things that are very important to me. However, in light of recent events, it feels wrong to talk about anything but what is currently affecting me and millions of other women in this state.

Recently the heartbeat bill was passed in Texas. Starting in September, there will be a ban on abortions that take place after six weeks of pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest. Six weeks. Most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant by then. And so, before they have the time to decide if they are emotionally, physically, and financially stable enough to carry out a full-term pregnancy, before they have the chance to decide if they can take on the responsibility of bringing another human into the world, the decision has been made for them by a stranger. A decision that will affect the rest of their lives.

I have dreams, hopes, and ambitions. Every girl here does. We have spent our whole lives working towards our futures, and without our consent or input, our control over our futures has been stripped away from us. I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail me, that if I’m raped, then my hopes and efforts and dreams for myself will no longer be relevant. I hope you can feel how gut-wrenching it is, how dehumanizing it is, to have the autonomy over your own body taken from you.

And I’m talking about this today, on a day as important as this, on a day honoring the students’ efforts in 12 years of schooling, on a day where we’re all brought together, on a day where you will be the most inclined to hear a voice like mine, a woman’s voice, to tell you that this is a problem. A problem that can’t wait. I refuse to give up this platform to promote complacency and peace, when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights. A war on the rights of your sisters, a war on the rights of your mothers, a war on the rights of your daughters.

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Guide to a dialogue about abortion

Hyten is co-executive director of Essential Partners .

Abortion is one of the most polarized topics in American politics — one side favors access, the other side favors restriction. Simple enough.

However, Americans themselves hold nuanced, complex, sometimes contradictory perspectives on abortion. It is a peculiar irony that the complexity of those views also creates the circumstances for polarization. People have had vanishingly few opportunities to talk about abortion in their lives. It is so often taboo. Just as often, people find it too difficult to articulate their views and they choose silence instead.

This reticence has allowed the most extreme voices to dominate in the media, in our politics and in our communities.

On abortion, few, if any, political leaders express the views of the people they represent. But we can change that together.

The Supreme Court has handed down a decision that effectively reversed Roe vs. Wade. This turns one polarized national conversation into fifty distinct deliberations unique to the history, context, and communities within each state.

As our nation navigates conversations about this topic in the coming months — whether in direct response to the Supreme Court draft decision or not — it is essential to honor both the complexity and the urgency around this conversation. It is also vital to the future of our nation that we empower the voices of everyday people, so they are able to articulate and advocate their genuine, nuanced views.

To support new conversations about abortion, Essential Partners has published a guide designed to invite citizens to make space for conversations about abortion that bring in deep beliefs and complexity. To transform the conversation in their individual context, it is crucial that we allow space for whatever comes up for people, even (or especially) if it is messy.

For a copy of the guide, go to:

https://whatisessential.org/resources/guide-dialog...

Laura Chasin, the founder of Essential Partners who co-led confidential leadership dialogues about abortion for the better part of a decade , often spoke of “liberation through structure.” It is so easy for conversations on this topic to go off the rails and devolve into unproductive venting or harmful, polarizing rhetoric—especially in times like these.

Structures and norms like the ones suggested in our new guide may feel awkward, but they also create the possibility of a new kind of conversation. You have to step out of your normal way of speaking and relating to one another in order to free yourself of dysfunctional, polarizing patterns.

This guide is designed to help you give any group an opportunity to reflect on the impact of the draft Supreme Court decision in a way that builds empathy, understanding, trust, and compassion — and then, if you choose, to help people wrestle with how they want to come together as a community to support people in a variety of ways.

Within this resource you will find general tips as well as guidelines and prompts for more formal dialogues that you can hold in your classroom, bible study, book club, institution or community space.

If this guide doesn't meet the needs of your context, if you have questions about the use of this guide or if you want some additional support and collaboration, please reach out for a free consultation with an EP expert .

Ask Joe: Roe v. Wade - The Fulcrum ›
Guide to Dialogues About Abortion | Essential Partners ›

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Abortion Argumentative Essay: Definitive Guide

Academic writing

Abortion remains a debatable issue even today, especially in countries like the USA, where a controversial ban was upheld in 13 states at the point this article was written. That’s why an essay on abortion has become one of the most popular tasks in schools, colleges, and universities. When writing this kind of essay, students learn to express their opinion, find and draw arguments and examples, and conduct research.

It’s very easy to speculate on topics like this. However, this makes it harder to find credible and peer-reviewed information on the topic that isn’t merely someone’s opinion. If you were assigned this kind of academic task, do not lose heart. In this article, we will provide you with all the tips and tricks for writing about abortion.

Where to begin?

Conversations about abortion are always emotional. Complex stories, difficult decisions, bitter moments, and terrible diagnoses make this topic hard to cover. Some young people may be shocked by this assignment, while others would be happy to express their opinion on the matter.

One way or another, this topic doesn't leave anyone indifferent. However, it shouldn’t have an effect on the way you approach the research and writing process. What should you remember when working on an argumentative essay about abortion?

Don’t let your emotions take over. As this is an academic paper, you have to stay impartial and operate with facts. The topic is indeed sore and burning, causing thousands of scandals on the Internet, but you are writing it for school, not a Quora thread.
Try to balance your opinions. There are always two sides to one story, even if the story is so fragile. You need to present an issue from different angles. This is what your tutors seek to teach you.
Be tolerant and mind your language. It is very important not to hurt anybody with the choice of words in your essay. So make sure you avoid any possible rough words. It is important to respect people with polar opinions, especially when it comes to academic writing.
Use facts, not claims. Your essay cannot be based solely on your personal ideas – your conclusions should be derived from facts. Roe v. Wade case, WHO or Mayo Clinic information, and CDC are some of the sources you can rely on.

Speaking of Outline

An argumentative essay on abortion outline is a must-have even for experienced writers. In general, each essay, irrespective of its kind or topic, has a strict outline. It may be brief or extended, but the major parts are always the same:

Introduction. This is a relatively short paragraph that starts with a hook and presents the background information on the topic. It should end with a thesis statement telling your reader what your main goal or idea is.
Body. This section usually consists of 2-4 paragraphs. Each one has its own structure: main argument + facts to support it + small conclusion and transition into the next paragraph.
Conclusion. In this part, your task is to summarize all your thoughts and come to a general conclusive idea. You may have to restate some info from the body and your thesis statement and add a couple of conclusive statements without introducing new facts.

Why is it important to create an outline?

You will structure your ideas. We bet you’ve got lots on your mind. Writing them down and seeing how one can flow logically into the other will help you create a consistent paper. Naturally, you will have to abandon some of the ideas if they don’t fit the overall narrative you’re building.
You can get some inspiration. While creating your outline, which usually consists of some brief ideas, you can come up with many more to research. Some will add to your current ones or replace them with better options.
You will find the most suitable sources. Argumentative essay writing requires you to use solid facts and trustworthy arguments built on them. When the topic is as controversial as abortion, these arguments should be taken from up-to-date, reliable sources. With an outline, you will see if you have enough to back up your ideas.
You will write your text as professionals do. Most expert writers start with outlines to write the text faster and make it generally better. As you will have your ideas structured, the general flow of thoughts will be clear. And, of course, it will influence your overall grade positively.

Abortion Essay Introduction

The introduction is perhaps the most important part of the whole essay. In this relatively small part, you will have to present the issue under consideration and state your opinion on it. Here is a typical introduction outline:

The first sentence is a hook grabbing readers' attention.
A few sentences that go after elaborate on the hook. They give your readers some background and explain your research.
The last sentence is a thesis statement showing the key idea you are building your text around.

Before writing an abortion essay intro, first thing first, you will need to define your position. If you are in favor of this procedure, what exactly made you think so? If you are an opponent of abortion, determine how to argue your position. In both cases, you may research the point of view in medicine, history, ethics, and other fields.

When writing an introduction, remember:

Never repeat your title. First of all, it looks too obvious; secondly, it may be boring for your reader right from the start. Your first sentence should be a well-crafted hook. The topic of abortion worries many people, so it’s your chance to catch your audience’s attention with some facts or shocking figures.
Do not make it too long. Your task here is to engage your audience and let them know what they are about to learn. The rest of the information will be disclosed in the main part. Nobody likes long introductions, so keep it short but informative.
Pay due attention to the thesis statement. This is the central sentence of your introduction. A thesis statement in your abortion intro paragraph should show that you have a well-supported position and are ready to argue it. Therefore, it has to be strong and convey your idea as clearly as possible. We advise you to make several options for the thesis statement and choose the strongest one.

Hooks for an Abortion Essay

Writing a hook is a good way to catch the attention of your audience, as this is usually the first sentence in an essay. How to start an essay about abortion? You can begin with some shocking fact, question, statistics, or even a quote. However, always make sure that this piece is taken from a trusted resource.

Here are some examples of hooks you can use in your paper:

As of July 1, 2022, 13 states banned abortion, depriving millions of women of control of their bodies.
According to WHO, 125,000 abortions take place every day worldwide.
Is abortion a woman’s right or a crime?
Since 1994, more than 40 countries have liberalized their abortion laws.
Around 48% of all abortions are unsafe, and 8% of them lead to women’s death.
The right to an abortion is one of the reproductive and basic rights of a woman.
Abortion is as old as the world itself – women have resorted to this method since ancient times.
Only 60% of women in the world live in countries where pregnancy termination is allowed.

Body Paragraphs: Pros and Cons of Abortion

The body is the biggest part of your paper. Here, you have a chance to make your voice concerning the abortion issue heard. Not sure where to start? Facts about abortion pros and cons should give you a basic understanding of which direction to move in.

First things first, let’s review some brief tips for you on how to write the best essay body if you have already made up your mind.

Make a draft

It’s always a good idea to have a rough draft of your writing. Follow the outline and don’t bother with the word choice, grammar, or sentence structure much at first. You can polish it all later, as the initial draft will not likely be your final. You may see some omissions in your arguments, lack of factual basis, or repetitiveness that can be eliminated in the next versions.

Trust only reliable sources

This part of an essay includes loads of factual information, and you should be very careful with it. Otherwise, your paper may look unprofessional and cost you precious points. Never rely on sources like Wikipedia or tabloids – they lack veracity and preciseness.

Edit rigorously

It’s best to do it the next day after you finish writing so that you can spot even the smallest mistakes. Remember, this is the most important part of your paper, so it has to be flawless. You can also use editing tools like Grammarly.

Determine your weak points

Since you are writing an argumentative essay, your ideas should be backed up by strong facts so that you sound convincing. Sometimes it happens that one argument looks weaker than the other. Your task is to find it and strengthen it with more or better facts.

Add an opposing view

Sometimes, it’s not enough to present only one side of the discussion. Showing one of the common views from the opposing side might actually help you strengthen your main idea. Besides, making an attempt at refuting it with alternative facts can show your teacher or professor that you’ve researched and analyzed all viewpoints, not just the one you stand by.

If you have chosen a side but are struggling to find the arguments for or against it, we have complied abortion pro and cons list for you. You can use both sets if you are writing an abortion summary essay covering all the stances.

Why Should Abortion Be Legal

If you stick to the opinion that abortion is just a medical procedure, which should be a basic health care need for each woman, you will definitely want to write the pros of abortion essay. Here is some important information and a list of pros about abortion for you to use:

Since the fetus is a set of cells – not an individual, it’s up to a pregnant woman to make a decision concerning her body. Only she can decide whether she wants to keep the pregnancy or have an abortion. The abortion ban is a violation of a woman’s right to have control over her own body.
The fact that women and girls do not have access to effective contraception and safe abortion services has serious consequences for their own health and the health of their families.
The criminalization of abortion usually leads to an increase in the number of clandestine abortions. Many years ago, fetuses were disposed of with improvised means, which included knitting needles and half-straightened metal hangers. 13% of women’s deaths are the result of unsafe abortions.
Many women live in a difficult financial situation and cannot support their children financially. Having access to safe abortion takes this burden off their shoulders. This will also not decrease their quality of life as the birth and childcare would.
In countries where abortion is prohibited, there is a phenomenon of abortion tourism to other countries where it can be done without obstacles. Giving access to this procedure can make the lives of women much easier.
Women should not put their lives or health in danger because of the laws that were adopted by other people.
Girls and women who do not have proper sex education may not understand pregnancy as a concept or determine that they are pregnant early on. Instead of educating them and giving them a choice, an abortion ban forces them to become mothers and expects them to be fit parents despite not knowing much about reproduction.
There are women who have genetic disorders or severe mental health issues that will affect their children if they're born. Giving them an option to terminate ensures that there won't be a child with a low quality of life and that the woman will not have to suffer through pregnancy, birth, and raising a child with her condition.
Being pro-choice is about the freedom to make decisions about your body so that women who are for termination can do it safely, and those who are against it can choose not to do it. It is an inclusive option that caters to everyone.
Women and girls who were raped or abused by their partner, caregiver, or stranger and chose to terminate the pregnancy can now be imprisoned for longer than their abusers. This implies that the system values the life of a fetus with no or primitive brain function over the life of a living woman.
People who lived in times when artificial termination of pregnancy was scarcely available remember clandestine abortions and how traumatic they were, not only for the physical but also for the mental health of women. Indeed, traditionally, in many countries, large families were a norm. However, the times have changed, and supervised abortion is a safe and accessible procedure these days. A ban on abortion will simply push humanity away from the achievements of the civilized world.

Types of abortion

There are 2 main types of abortions that can be performed at different pregnancy stages and for different reasons:

Medical abortion. It is performed by taking a specially prescribed pill. It does not require any special manipulations and can even be done at home (however, after a doctor’s visit and under supervision). It is considered very safe and is usually done during the very first weeks of pregnancy.
Surgical abortion. This is a medical operation that is done with the help of a suction tube. It then removes the fetus and any related material. Anesthesia is used for this procedure, and therefore, it can only be done in a hospital. The maximum time allowed for surgical abortion is determined in each country specifically.

Cases when abortion is needed

Center for Reproductive Rights singles out the following situations when abortion is required:

When there is a risk to the life or physical/mental health of a pregnant woman.
When a pregnant woman has social or economic reasons for it.
Upon the woman's request.
If a pregnant woman is mentally or cognitively disabled.
In case of rape and/or incest.
If there were congenital anomalies detected in the fetus.

Countries and their abortion laws

Countries where abortion is legalized in any case: Australia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, etc.
Countries where abortion is completely prohibited: Angola, Venezuela, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Oman, Paraguay, Palau, Jamaica, Laos, Haiti, Honduras, Andorra, Aruba, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone, Senegal, etc.
Countries where abortion is allowed for medical reasons: Afghanistan, Israel, Argentina, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, Israel, Morocco, Mexico, Bahamas, Central African Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Algeria, Monaco, Pakistan, Poland, etc.
Countries where abortion is allowed for both medical and socioeconomic reasons: England, India, Spain, Luxembourg, Japan, Finland, Taiwan, Zambia, Iceland, Fiji, Cyprus, Barbados, Belize, etc.

Why Abortion Should Be Banned

Essays against abortions are popular in educational institutions since we all know that many people – many minds. So if you don’t want to support this procedure in your essay, here are some facts that may help you to argument why abortion is wrong:

Abortion at an early age is especially dangerous because a young woman with an unstable hormonal system may no longer be able to have children throughout her life. Termination of pregnancy disrupts the hormonal development of the body.
Health complications caused by abortion can occur many years after the procedure. Even if a woman feels fine in the short run, the situation may change in the future.
Abortion clearly has a negative effect on reproductive function. Artificial dilation of the cervix during an abortion leads to weak uterus tonus, which can cause a miscarriage during the next pregnancy.
Evidence shows that surgical termination of pregnancy significantly increases the risk of breast cancer.
In December 1996, the session of the Council of Europe on bioethics concluded that a fetus is considered a human being on the 14th day after conception.

You are free to use each of these arguments for essays against abortions. Remember that each claim should not be supported by emotions but by facts, figures, and so on.

Health complications after abortion

One way or another, abortion is extremely stressful for a woman’s body. Apart from that, it can even lead to various health problems in the future. You can also cover them in your cons of an abortion essay:

Continuation of pregnancy. If the dose of the drug is calculated by the doctor in the wrong way, the pregnancy will progress.
Uterine bleeding, which requires immediate surgical intervention.
Severe nausea or even vomiting occurs as a result of a sharp change in the hormonal background.
Severe stomach pain. Medical abortion causes miscarriage and, as a result, strong contractions of the uterus.
High blood pressure and allergic reactions to medicines.
Depression or other mental problems after a difficult procedure.

Abortion Essay Conclusion

After you have finished working on the previous sections of your paper, you will have to end it with a strong conclusion. The last impression is no less important than the first one. Here is how you can make it perfect in your conclusion paragraph on abortion:

It should be concise. The conclusion cannot be as long as your essay body and should not add anything that cannot be derived from the main section. Reiterate the key ideas, combine some of them, and end the paragraph with something for the readers to think about.
It cannot repeat already stated information. Restate your thesis statement in completely other words and summarize your main points. Do not repeat anything word for word – rephrase and shorten the information instead.
It should include a call to action or a cliffhanger. Writing experts believe that a rhetorical question works really great for an argumentative essay. Another good strategy is to leave your readers with some curious ideas to ponder upon.

Abortion Facts for Essay

Abortion is a topic that concerns most modern women. Thousands of books, research papers, and articles on abortion are written across the world. Even though pregnancy termination has become much safer and less stigmatized with time, it still worries millions. What can you cover in your paper so that it can really stand out among others? You may want to add some shocking abortion statistics and facts:

40-50 million abortions are done in the world every year (approximately 125,000 per day).
According to UN statistics, women have 25 million unsafe abortions each year. Most of them (97%) are performed in the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. 14% of them are especially unsafe because they are done by people without any medical knowledge.
Since 2017, the United States has shown the highest abortion rate in the last 30 years.
The biggest number of abortion procedures happen in the countries where they are officially banned. The lowest rate is demonstrated in the countries with high income and free access to contraception.
Women in low-income regions are three times more susceptible to unplanned pregnancies than those in developed countries.
In Argentina, more than 38,000 women face dreadful health consequences after unsafe abortions.
The highest teen abortion rates in the world are seen in 3 countries: England, Wales, and Sweden.
Only 31% of teenagers decide to terminate their pregnancy. However, the rate of early pregnancies is getting lower each year.
Approximately 13 million children are born to mothers under the age of 20 each year.
5% of women of reproductive age live in countries where abortions are prohibited.

We hope that this abortion information was useful for you, and you can use some of these facts for your own argumentative essay. If you find some additional facts, make sure that they are not manipulative and are taken from official medical resources.

Abortion Essay Topics

Do you feel like you are lost in the abundance of information? Don’t know what topic to choose among the thousands available online? Check our short list of the best abortion argumentative essay topics:

Why should abortion be legalized essay
Abortion: a murder or a basic human right?
Why we should all support abortion rights
Is the abortion ban in the US a good initiative?
The moral aspect of teen abortions
Can the abortion ban solve birth control problems?
Should all countries allow abortion?
What consequences can abortion have in the long run?
Is denying abortion sexist?
Why is abortion a human right?
Are there any ethical implications of abortion?
Do you consider abortion a crime?
Should women face charges for terminating a pregnancy?

Want to come up with your own? Here is how to create good titles for abortion essays:

Write down the first associations. It can be something that swirls around in your head and comes to the surface when you think about the topic. These won’t necessarily be well-written headlines, but each word or phrase can be the first link in the chain of ideas that leads you to the best option.
Irony and puns are not always a good idea. Especially when it comes to such difficult topics as abortion. Therefore, in your efforts to be original, remain sensitive to the issue you want to discuss.
Never make a quote as your headline. First, a wordy quote makes the headline long. Secondly, readers do not understand whose words are given in the headline. Therefore, it may confuse them right from the start. If you have found a great quote, you can use it as your hook, but don’t forget to mention its author.
Try to briefly summarize what is said in the essay. What is the focus of your paper? If the essence of your argumentative essay can be reduced to one sentence, it can be used as a title, paraphrased, or shortened.
Write your title after you have finished your text. Before you just start writing, you might not yet have a catchy phrase in mind to use as a title. Don’t let it keep you from working on your essay – it might come along as you write.

Abortion Essay Example

We know that it is always easier to learn from a good example. For this reason, our writing experts have complied a detailed abortion essay outline for you. For your convenience, we have created two options with different opinions.

Topic: Why should abortion be legal?

Introduction – hook + thesis statement + short background information

Essay hook: More than 59% of women in the world do not have access to safe abortions, which leads to dreading health consequences or even death.

Thesis statement: Since banning abortions does not decrease their rates but only makes them unsafe, it is not logical to ban abortions.

Body – each paragraph should be devoted to one argument

Argument 1: Woman’s body – women’s rules. + example: basic human rights.

Argument 2: Banning abortion will only lead to more women’s death. + example: cases of Polish women.

Argument 3: Only women should decide on abortion. + example: many abortion laws are made by male politicians who lack knowledge and first-hand experience in pregnancies.

Conclusion – restated thesis statement + generalized conclusive statements + cliffhanger

Restated thesis: The abortion ban makes pregnancy terminations unsafe without decreasing the number of abortions, making it dangerous for women.

Cliffhanger: After all, who are we to decide a woman’s fate?

Topic: Why should abortion be banned?

Essay hook: Each year, over 40 million new babies are never born because their mothers decide to have an abortion.

Thesis statement: Abortions on request should be banned because we cannot decide for the baby whether it should live or die.

Argument 1: A fetus is considered a person almost as soon as it is conceived. Killing it should be regarded as murder. + example: Abortion bans in countries such as Poland, Egypt, etc.

Argument 2: Interrupting a baby’s life is morally wrong. + example: The Bible, the session of the Council of Europe on bioethics decision in 1996, etc.

Argument 3: Abortion may put the reproductive health of a woman at risk. + example: negative consequences of abortion.

Restated thesis: Women should not be allowed to have abortions without serious reason because a baby’s life is as priceless as their own.

Cliffhanger: Why is killing an adult considered a crime while killing an unborn baby is not?

Argumentative essay on pros and cons of abortion

Examples of Essays on Abortion

There are many great abortion essays examples on the Web. You can easily find an argumentative essay on abortion in pdf and save it as an example. Many students and scholars upload their pieces to specialized websites so that others can read them and continue the discussion in their own texts.

In a free argumentative essay on abortion, you can look at the structure of the paper, choice of the arguments, depth of research, and so on. Reading scientific papers on abortion or essays of famous activists is also a good idea. Here are the works of famous authors discussing abortion.

A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson

Published in 1971, this essay by an American philosopher considers the moral permissibility of abortion. It is considered the most debated and famous essay on this topic, and it’s definitely worth reading no matter what your stance is.

Abortion and Infanticide by Michael Tooley

It was written in 1972 by an American philosopher known for his work in the field of metaphysics. In this essay, the author considers whether fetuses and infants have the same rights. Even though this work is quite complex, it presents some really interesting ideas on the matter.

Some Biological Insights into Abortion by Garret Hardin

This article by American ecologist Garret Hardin, who had focused on the issue of overpopulation during his scholarly activities, presents some insights into abortion from a scientific point of view. He also touches on non-biological issues, such as moral and economic. This essay will be of great interest to those who support the pro-choice stance.

H4 Hidden in Plain View: An Overview of Abortion in Rural Illinois and Around the Globe by Heather McIlvaine-Newsad

In this study, McIlvaine-Newsad has researched the phenomenon of abortion since prehistoric times. She also finds an obvious link between the rate of abortions and the specifics of each individual country. Overall, this scientific work published in 2014 is extremely interesting and useful for those who want to base their essay on factual information.

H4 Reproduction, Politics, and John Irving’s The Cider House Rules: Women’s Rights or “Fetal Rights”? by Helena Wahlström

In her article of 2013, Wahlström considers John Irving’s novel The Cider House Rules published in 1985 and is regarded as a revolutionary work for that time, as it acknowledges abortion mostly as a political problem. This article will be a great option for those who want to investigate the roots of the abortion debate.

FAQs On Abortion Argumentative Essay

Is abortion immoral?

This question is impossible to answer correctly because each person independently determines their own moral framework. One group of people will say that abortion is a woman’s right because only she has power over her body and can make decisions about it. Another group will argue that the embryo is also a person and has the right to birth and life.

In general, the attitude towards abortion is determined based on the political and religious views of each person. Religious people generally believe that abortion is immoral because it is murder, while secular people see it as a normal medical procedure. For example, in the US, the ban on abortion was introduced in red states where the vast majority have conservative views, while blue liberal states do not support this law. Overall, it’s up to a person to decide whether they consider abortion immoral based on their own values and beliefs.

Is abortion legal?

The answer to this question depends on the country in which you live. There are countries in which pregnancy termination is a common medical procedure and is performed at the woman's request. There are also states in which there must be a serious reason for abortion: medical, social, or economic. Finally, there are nations in which abortion is prohibited and criminalized. For example, in Jamaica, a woman can get life imprisonment for abortion, while in Kenya, a medical worker who volunteers to perform an abortion can be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

Is abortion safe?

In general, modern medicine has reached such a level that abortion has become a common (albeit difficult from various points of view) medical procedure. There are several types of abortion, as well as many medical devices and means that ensure the maximum safety of the pregnancy termination. Like all other medical procedures, abortion can have various consequences and complications.

Abortions – whether safe or not - exist in all countries of the world. The thing is that more than half of them are dangerous because women have them in unsuitable conditions and without professional help. Only universal access to abortion in all parts of the world can make it absolutely safe. In such a case, it will be performed only after a thorough assessment and under the control of a medical professional who can mitigate the potential risks.

How safe is abortion?

If we do not talk about the ethical side of the issue related to abortion, it still has some risks. In fact, any medical procedure has them to a greater or lesser extent.

The effectiveness of the safe method in a medical setting is 80-99%. An illegal abortion (for example, the one without special indications after 12 weeks) can lead to a patient’s death, and the person who performed it will be criminally liable in this case.

Doctors do not have universal advice for all pregnant women on whether it is worth making this decision or not. However, many of them still tend to believe that any contraception - even one that may have negative side effects - is better than abortion. That’s why spreading awareness on means of contraception and free access to it is vital.

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Press Call By Vice President Harris on Reproductive Rights

Via Teleconference

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Hi, everyone, and thank you for joining. I’m convening this call to talk about the latest attacks on reproductive rights. Needless to say, these attacks are extreme and they are endangering the lives of women and people in our country. And the impact, frankly, goes far beyond reproductive healthcare. The President and* I believe in the fundamental American value that all people should exercise and have the freedom and liberty to make fundamental decisions about their lives. And that includes the freedom for women to make decisions about their own healthcare and their bodies, and not the government. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, extremist so-called leaders in states around the country have proposed and passed new extreme laws to ban abortion and criminalized healthcare providers, or have moved to enforce old laws on the book, many including no exception even for rape or incest. Just last week, Florida Republican state legislators introduced a bill to ban abortions after six weeks. That is before many women even know they’re pregnant. There are 4 million women of reproductive age in Florida, and the consequences would reach far beyond Florida because think about the geography. Notably, more than three quarters of the women living under abortion bans in the United States live in the South. Currently, Florida has a 15-week abortion ban — meaning that, for many, Florida is their closest option for care. A six-week ban would function as a regional ban, wiping out access to care in the South. This issue is about women’s autonomy, their freedom to decide whether and when to have children. These laws also endanger women’s health, putting their lives in jeopardy. Last week, a group of five courageous women filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas. These women almost lost their lives when they were denied healthcare because of the state’s abortion ban. I’m grateful to have met with one of the plaintiffs, Amanda, and many of you may know her story. She was pregnant, and her water broke prematurely. And she went to seek medical care and was repeatedly denied treatment. Only after she developed sepsis, which almost killed her, did the hospital finally treat her. Imagine. These women are fighting for basic right-to-life-saving healthcare. Even as women fight for their lives in the face of the Texas abortion bans that currently exist, so-called leaders in Texas continue to try to restrict access to reproductive healthcare. I also want to take a minute to discuss the bigger picture. This goes beyond reproductive healthcare, as I said earlier. It — and in that, these attacks jeopardize the ability of all Americans to make their own healthcare decisions. Think — for example, there is currently — and this is what this is — an unprecedented attack on medication, which the FDA approved 20 years ago. So, this is an attack on a medication which the FDA approved 20 years ago. And they approved it based on science, peer review, and a consensus within the medical professional community that it is safe and effective. The FDA has approved thousands of medications over the last 85 years, from chemotherapy drugs to asthma medicine to blood-pressure pills to insulin. So, think about this in that context. Think about it in the context of the fact that — Just looking — look — look inside your medicine cabinet. Just picture for a minute looking inside your own medicine cabinet. For the average American, they will find medicine that the FDA determined to be safe and effective, that has helped them alleviate pain or improve their quality of life or help them in some medically necessary way. But if extremists and politicians can override FDA approval and remove one medication from the shelves — in this case, abortion medication — one must ask: What medication is next? So, there is also some good news, which is that the majority of Americans do not support these attacks on reproductive rights. And that is why, during the last election cycle, wherever this issue was on the ballot, reproductive freedom won in both red states and blue states, from Kentucky to California. And as I have traveled the country, I have seen firsthand the power of state and local leaders fighting to defend reproductive rights. For example, in Michigan, Governor Whitmer and state and local leaders have led the way to defend reproductive freedom in that state. And last November, Michigan was one of the states where voters protected reproductive rights in their state constitution. In Wisconsin, where a law from 1849 remains on the books banning abortion, Governor Evers has repeatedly called on the Republican-controlled legislature to repeal it. And on April 4th, Wisconsin voters will cast ballots in an election for the State Supreme Court, which will directly impact the fate of that state’s 174-year-old ban. Finally, President Biden and I agree: This fight will be won only when we secure reproductive rights for every person in every state. Congress must therefore pass a bill that defends freedom and liberty by putting the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law, and President Biden will sign it. But I thank you all, and I’m happy to take your questions. Q Yes, Vice President Harris, Alex Carr here from the theSkimm. On the topic of medication abortion, if a federal judge in Texas rules that mifepristone should be restricted nationwide, how is the White House prepared to respond immediately? And what support will they lend to abortion providers and people seeking abortions? THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thanks, Alex. So first, let’s just outline some of the attacks on abortion medication. For example, there is the lawsuit in Texas, which was filed in November of last year. And there, anti-abortion activists challenged the FDA approval of mifepristone, which as I said earlier, was granted 20 years ago. The FDA approved it 20 years ago based on science. And this could result — this lawsuit could result in the medication becoming unavailable across the country. Think about January of this year when 22 Republican AGs wrote to the FDA urging the FDA to reverse its decision that mifepristone is safe to dispense in telehealth or to be picked up with a prescription at a retail pharmacy. And then last month, 20 Republican AGs wrote to CVS and Walgreens threatening the companies with legal consequences if they sell medication abortion by mail in their state. So, to level set: First of all, medication abortions account for a majority of all abortions in the United States. And mifepristone, again, has been on the market for 20 years, has been deemed by the FDA to be safe and effective. These attacks are not only an attack on a woman’s fundamental freedom to make decisions about her own body, but really it’s — it really, fundamentally is also an attack on the scientific process that is crucial for public health. The FDA has approved thousands of other medications over the last 85 years. So, think about what this means if extremists and politicians can override an FDA approval and remove any medication that they deem to be politically, for some reason, susceptible or deserving of attack — that they could remove it from your medicine cabinet. The implications in terms of public health policy are profound. In terms of our administration, to your question: We’ve been focusing on getting access to the — to medication abortion since day one. And so, when the Supreme Court, in the Dobbs decision, did what they did, the President, in an executive order, directed Health and Human Services to identify potential actions to protect and expand abortion care, including medication abortion. The Attorney General has already made clear that states may not ban mifepristone and that they can’t — as that basis of banning it because they disagree with the FDA’s judgment. Our administration will continue to support legal access and do what we need to do to make sure that women get accurate information about what is safe and what is legally available to them. I, on that point, will say that I appreciate that we are doing this call because a concern that I have and have had throughout these months has been also the level of misinformation and disinformation that is out there that I believe is designed and meant to confuse individuals and healthcare providers and others about what the law is and what are the rights that individuals and others have on this issue. So, thank you for that question. OPERATOR: And if you wish to ask a question, please press one then zero. THE VICE PRESIDENT: I’m going to venture to say you’re on mute — (laughter) — whoever that is. If you think you’re asking a question, I can’t hear you. Q Hi, thanks for doing this call. I know you ment- — brought up Michigan and I (inaudible) noted the ballot approval there. I wondered if, you know, there — where you think some of those states that did approve, you know, changes to state law last fall — you know, kind of where they go in the future? You know, in Michigan, there’s some questions about the ballot language and about whether regulations are allowed, kind of, post-viability. You know, there’s still a parental consent law on the books there. I was just wondering if you had any thoughts about kind of what should come next in some of those states. THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I’ll say, as a general matter — you know, because each state has its own nuance, so I’ll just speak — speak to your question as a general matter. One, there is still the challenge of getting correct information to individuals, which is the point I just made in the last Q&A. That’s still critically important, because in a state like Michigan — and there are others that have passed and into their law and into — or into their constitution these protections — we’ve got to make sure that everyone knows about it. Because, again, if you look at the map of the United States on this issue, it’s like a — it’s a real quilt. It’s like a patchwork, in terms of each state having some different nuances that leaves people in general with a bit of confusion about their rights. So, there is that. There is the work that also needs to happen to recognize that not each state that has maintained protections for people to make decisions about their own body — not each state is equal in terms of the resources they have. But they are, each one of them, usually in a neighborhood, often in a neighborhood where surrounding states have restricted rights, and so people are traveling to their state. And that presents, as you can imagine, a burden on the resources that that state has — that the state has — the state that is receiving folks. So, that’s another issue of concern that I have heard be expressed by states, but also a concern that we have, which is there are certain states that can afford to perhaps put more resources into it, and there are some states that cannot but are still keeping an open door to the women who travel there seeking help. And then there is the issue of — of just what needs to continue to happen in these states and all of the states, which is about encouraging the coalition around the intersection between issues that are voting rights issues, issues that are about protecting the rights and the wellbeing of members of the LGBTQ+ community. There is the work that we need to do to build up the coalitions around what we’re seeing in certain states, which is that where there is an attack on one of those rights, there are attacks on the other rights. And that’s part of the conversation that I’ve been having as we travel around the country. Because, you know, I look at Michigan — to your point, they’re — the leaders there, starting with the governor, are doing extraordinary work. And when you look at it, it also was in combination with another important thing that needs to happen in all the states, which is to encourage the younger leaders to own their — to give them the space to be able to lead on this issue. And — and we’ve seen that happen in various places around the country. And I applaud Governor Whitmer and others for holding those leaders up — the younger leaders up to allow them to also help frame and shape this movement. And I guess that’s the final point I’ll make here for this question, which is, this is a movement. And I said that from the earliest days, even after the leaked decision. This is a movement. And we who are part of this movement stand on the shoulders of all those folks of every gender who fought for and ultimately got Roe v. Wade. And we got to pick it up and understand that it’s not going to be resolved overnight until Congress acts. And therefore, what’s happening in the states is going to have a direct and huge impact on how people are experiencing this issue. Q Yes. Hi, Madam Vice President. Thank you so much for this call. I am with the Black Information Network. And I was just interested in knowing from your perspective what — what are the implications of these restrictions for African American women, especially considering the high maternal mortality rate that Black women face? THE VICE PRESIDENT: This is a very real issue. You know, I said before — I’ll say — I’ll say, again, you know, I would challenge the hypocrisy of people who say they care about life and then ignore the maternal mortality crisis. Right? And you know — everyone on this call knows — we are looking at a case, in the United States of America, where Black women are three times as likely to die in connection with childbirth. Native women are twice as likely to die. Rural women, one and a half times as likely. And when we dive into this issue, in particular when it relates to Black and Native women, we know that one of the big factors there is racial bias. That when that woman walks into the hospital or the clinic, she is just not taken as seriously. We know a related issue for all of the women affected by maternal mortality is also poverty. You know, look, poverty is trauma-inducing. And so, when you think about the factors that contribute to those awful outcomes, in terms of maternal mortality, that — the stressors have to be taken into account, and we have to talk about that. And again, then you overlay that with — for example, what I’ve said earlier about using the example of Florida in terms of what that six-week ban would mean, in terms of that region of the country. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I can tell you that it’s pretty well discussed that when you look at, for example, maternal mortality rates and how those coincide with states that have restricted reproductive health rights, you will see that there is a huge parallel, meaning that those states that are restricting reproductive access — health access on this issue are also the states where you’re seeing pretty high rates of maternal mortality. So, your point is — is a very important one, which is that we have to understand the correlation and — and paint the full picture about what these policies are and what they aren’t and the effect that they are having across the board on reproductive health. Which is the point, isn’t it? That’s why we’re talking about reproductive health. By the way, I will also add: Part of the work that we’ve been doing — and I’ve been doing this work since I was in the Senate, as you know — but I am very proud of our administration for really highlighting the issue of maternal mortality. We’ve — we’ve elevated it to the stage of the White House, and part of my focus has also been on what we need to do to train healthcare providers. And I’ll tell you that, in particular, some of the best trainers on this issue will be doulas and — and what they know in terms of also the associated issue on everything we have discussed this afternoon, which is about the dignity and wellbeing of all people in our country.

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Abortion-Related Speech as a Protected Freedom of Speech

The debate about abortion-related commercial speech has long been contentious in the United States. Since 1975, abortion-related publications have been protected under the First Amendment as commercial speech that serves a public interest. [1] However, in a post- Dobbs era, reproductive healthcare providers and advocacy groups are renewing challenges to abortion literature restrictions enacted throughout the U.S. [2]

This blog advocates to restore abortion-related commercial speech as a protected right under national and universal freedom of expression principles. Further, the right to advertise abortion services and promote safe abortion practices is extended extraterritorially, which is increasingly critical in a post- Dobbs era. Pregnant people have a right to access information about where and how to obtain safe abortions regardless of a state’s restrictions of abortion services. This blog is not a debate about abortion and reproductive rights in the U.S.; rather it is an examination of abortion-related commercial speech as a protected freedom of expression.

Abortion-Related Commercial Speech

Abortion-related commercial speech is both a constitutional right and human right with a significant interest to the general public. [3] Abortion-related commercial speech includes the advertising of abortion procedures or medication that can abort or prevent a pregnancy, informational pamphlets sponsored by an abortion provider or manufacturer, or online advertising where to obtain an abortion. [4] Since 1975, abortion-related commercial speech has been protected under the First Amendment. [5] In Bigelow v. Virginia , the Supreme Court unambiguously decriminalized abortion-related commercial speech, stressing that “commercial speech enjoys a degree of First Amendment protection.” [6] The Court held that abortion-related commercial speech, in particular, has a social value beyond a mere commercial transaction because the advertisement “convey[s] information of potential interest and value to a diverse audience.” [7] Forty-seven years later, the right to abortion-related commercial speech must now be re-established.

After Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , questions on the legality of abortion-related commercial speech are in the spotlight again. [8] Abortion advertising is restricted in a dozen U.S. states. [9] Further, after Dobbs , several conservative states aim to impede all access to abortion by enacting criminal statutes for anyone who aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion. [10] Actionable conduct under these statutes might include any abortion services advertising – in-person, online, or in pamphlets. This is problematic considering Bigelow , which explicitly endorsed a right to convey abortion advertising services. [11] Although the Dobbs decision “returned to states the power to regulate access to abortion,” abortion-related commercial speech continues to “fall solidly within the realm of First Amendment-protected speech” under Bigelow . [12] However, if the issue were brought to the current majority-conservative Supreme Court, it is difficult to say with certainty that abortion-related commercial speech would remain constitutionally protected.

Constitutional Framework

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution enjoins the Congress or a State legislature from making any laws “abridging the freedom of speech.” [13] While this protection is not absolute, a government regulation restricting free expression may be permitted when appropriate. [14] Truthful, factual information will always receive the highest degree of First Amendment protection. [15] Therefore, certain abortion-related speech, including the dissemination of factual information of abortion practices and policy, will be a constitutionally protected expression regardless of a state’s restrictive legislation.

Applying a framework known as the Central Hudson test, courts can regulate commercial speech under the First Amendment if “there is a substantial government interest that is directly advanced by the regulation, and if the regulation is not broader than necessary to achieve that goal.” [16] The outcome of a Central Hudson analysis to abortion-related commercial speech would depend on the jurisdiction, as each state has varying laws restricting this speech. However, courts have interpreted Bigelow to mean that “an activity is ‘lawful’ under the Central Hudson test so long as it is lawful where it will occur.” [17] This would mean that factual abortion-related commercial speech that is not misleading would likely satisfy the Central Hudson test.

Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, state courts must respect the laws and judgments of courts from other states. [18] The Dobbs decision held that states have the power to regulate access to abortion. [19] Because abortion restrictions now vary by state, advertising an abortion may constitute a crime in one state when it is legal in another state. While there is currently no precedent of inciting abortion purely through speech, the issue will likely be decided in court in the near future to determine if abortion-related commercial speech may be construed as incitement of illegal activity. The Bigelow decision coupled with the Central Hudson test, should theoretically protect abortion-related commercial speech in any jurisdiction, even if the act of abortion is unlawful. [20]

The Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. [21] Republican Senators introduced a bill in September 2022 seeking to ban abortions fifteen weeks after pregnancy. [22] The bill’s sponsor maintains that congressional power to regulate abortion stems from the Commerce Clause. [23] If Congress acknowledges that abortion can be regulated under the Commerce Clause, Congress must subsequently acknowledge that abortion-related commercial speech is a constitutionally protected activity. Under the Commerce Clause, states may not impair interstate commerce; restrictions against abortion-related speech can and will negatively impact the trends of pregnant people seeking an abortion in another state.

Abortion-related commercial speech is further protected under universal human rights principles. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) provides that “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” [24] In other words, the spoken and published speech of healthcare providers and advertisers is protected from interference from state legislation or anti-abortion activists because it is merely the dissemination of factual information. Restrictions to abortion-related commercial speech cannot be protected because they fail to advance a state’s interest in protecting the fundamental right to freedom of expression.

Extraterritorial Advertising Restrictions

For decades, pregnant people have been traveling across state borders to access reproductive healthcare. [25] Whether it is because of proximity to an abortion-provider or due to a state’s restrictive access to abortion, pregnant people have the right to travel outside of their home state to obtain an abortion. [26] Further, a state may not, under the guise of exercising internal police powers, bar a citizen or organization of another State from disseminating information about an activity that is legal in that State. [27] All residents in the U.S. have a constitutional right to interstate travel. [28]

After the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade , opening the door for states to ban abortion, fourteen states have made abortion illegal. [29] Over a dozen states are actively seeking to restrict abortion access. [30] With these limitations in place, pregnant people in many states will now have to travel hundreds of miles to obtain an abortion. [31] Safe haven states, such as Kansas and Illinois, are seeing an increased demand in abortion care, largely from states with restrictive abortion bans. [32] Many states now seek criminal measures against their residents, or anyone aiding and abetting their residents, for traveling to another state to get an abortion. [33]

Not only have pregnant people been seeking abortion care in states outside of their own, but many have also begun traveling to Canada and Mexico for abortions. [34] Prime Minister Trudeau has made it clear that Canada is open to any American who may need to travel north to access an abortion. [35] Mexico’s recent decriminalization of abortion has “crystallize[d] the shifting policies of two nations that once held vastly different positions on the procedure.” [36] While international borders may be open to receive reproductive healthcare, pregnant people still face barriers, including long waitlists at clinics, increased travel expenses, medical fees, and the need for a passport. [37] Canadian and Mexican reproductive rights activists provide pregnant people in the U.S. virtual, safe guidance from trained professionals that may be far away. [38] Most pregnant people from the U.S. connect with clinics and reproductive rights groups abroad through social media or a referral. [39]

Due to increased interstate travel for abortion access, online advertising has risen to accommodate this growing demand. [40] In the wake of the Roe reversal, “people flocked to social media to share details about how to find and use abortion pills” and where to locate a clinic. [41] Courts will have to weigh in to determine the extent that social media and online outlets can be controlled in jurisdictions where abortion access is restricted. The complexity of online advertising, including location tracking and modes of speech, creates unprecedented challenges to the judicial system.

Human Rights Approach to Protecting Abortion-Related Commercial Speech

Freedom of information is not only a basic human right, but it also promotes healthy and safe abortions. Access to abortion-related commercial speech is particularly important to overcome the stigma and barriers to restrictive reproductive healthcare. [42] Potential pregnant people, including “adolescents, people of color, those living in rural area, those with low incomes, and incarcerated people” face the “disproportionate effects of restrictions to abortion access.” [43] Many pregnant people face complications during the course of their pregnancy that require medically-assisted termination to either remove a nonliving fetus or to save the life of the mother. [44] In cases such as these, it is necessary to protect abortion services advertising to ensure that pregnant people receive factual information and adequate care during difficult times. This information allows pregnant people to make informed decisions about their reproductive healthcare. We cannot begin to address issues of maternal and reproductive healthcare until stronger freedom of information policies are implemented. [45]

While freedom of information is necessary in and of itself, pregnant people should have access to evidence-based information. [46] There are two key components to ensure that information is evidence-based: lack of bias and scientifically accurate information. [47] In the reproductive health sector, there is significant misinformation relating to both regulatory frameworks and methods of abortion available. [48] Misinformation is often used intentionally to confuse, stigmatize, and dissuade pregnant people from considering abortion care or wanting to learn more about abortion. [49] Combating misinformation is essential to increasing the availability and acceptance of abortion-related commercial speech.

State and national health agencies can, in the interest of public health, work to ensure that abortion-related commercial speech that is disseminated is evidence-based. [50] In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) responded to misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic by developing an international framework for health authorities on managing misinformation, facilitating an international agreement to improve access to accurate information, and providing guidelines for a public health research agenda. [51] Misinformation in the reproductive healthcare sector requires similar efforts by the U.S. This might include “partnerships with other nations facing attacks on reproductive rights and poor access to accurate information regarding maternal health broadly.” [52] The U.S. and its partners must focus specifically on “surveillance, impacts and health outcomes, health communication interventions, contextual factors influencing intervention efficacy, and preventive measures” to combat misinformation. [53] Medically accurate and evidence-based information is a basic human right, regardless of one’s view on abortion.

A final concern when protecting the abortion-related speech and reproductive healthcare of pregnant people is privacy. Privacy concerns have had a chilling effect on pregnant people seeking reproductive healthcare. [54] The Fourth Amendment secures the protection of individual’s privacy in their “persons, houses, papers, and effects” from “unreasonable searches and seizures” by the government. [55] Further, the Supreme Court clarified that the Bill of Rights creates several zones that establish a right to privacy. [56] Recent abortion statutes in states like Texas and Oklahoma would require enhanced surveillance of residents to monitor compliance with abortion regulations. [57] In the wake of criminalizing abortion bans, the “Biden Administration proposed new privacy protections to prevent pregnant people’s health information from being used to investigate or sue people who obtain or facilitate abortions.” [58] Fears of criminal investigations have risen in abortion-banned states, among pregnant people, healthcare providers, insurers, or other entities involved in abortion care. [59] The proposed law amends the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rule to include protections for reproductive healthcare. [60] Pregnant people not only have a right to receive healthcare information but they have a right to have their private information protected.

Abortion-related commercial speech is a protected freedom of expression under both case law precedent and the U.S. Constitution. Protecting our freedom of expression is instrumental to not only access abortion services but to access information about abortion and reproductive healthcare across the U.S. Abortion-related commercial speech is protected in any jurisdiction, even if the act of abortion is unlawful. The freedom to disseminate information about abortion services will promote the health of pregnant people regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or location. A holistic, human rights approach is necessary to ensure that abortion-related commercial speech remains a protected right.

[1] Bigelow v. Va. , 421 U.S. 809 (1975).

[2] Rose Mackenzie, Abortion is Our Right, and We Won’t Be Silenced , ACLU (Apr. 3, 2023) https://www.aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/abortion-is-our-right-and-we-wont-be-silenced [https://perma.cc/8XA2-SBMW].

[3] Id . at 822.

[4] Dessie Otachliska, Free Speech Post-Dobbs: The Constitutionality of State and Federal Restrictions on the Dissemination of Abortion-Related Information , N.Y.U. J. Legis & Pub. Pol’y Quorum (2023).

[5] Bigelow , supra note 1.

[6] Id . at 821 (citing Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Human Rel. Comm’n , 413 U.S. 376 (1973)).

[7] Id . at 822.

[8] Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , 142 S.Ct. 2228 (2022).

[9] Abortion Advertising Restrictions , The Policy Surveillance Program, LawAtlas (November 2022), https://lawatlas.org/datasets/abortion-advertising-restrictions [https://perma.cc/M88H-ZLCP].

[10] H.B. 4327, 58th Leg., 2d Sess. (Okla. 2022) (enacted); S.B. 8, 87th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Tex. 2021) (enacted); see also After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State , Centre for Reproductive Rights, https://reproductiverights.org/maps/abortion-laws-by-state/ [https://perma.cc/J6TL-5PNV].

[11] John Villaseor, Can a state block access to online information about abortion services? , Brookings (July 27, 2022), https://www.brookings.edu/articles/can-a-state-block-access-to-online-information-about-abortion-services/ [https://perma.cc/TG82-3SF7].

[13] U.S. Const. amend I.

[14] See Gitlow v. New York , 268 U.S. 652, 666 (1925); Elrod v. Burns , 427 U.S. 347, 360 (1976).

[15] See Citizens United v. Fed. Election Comm’n , 558 U.S. 310, 340 (2010).

[16] Central Hudson Gaw & Elec. v. Public Svc. Comm’n , 447 U.S. 557 (1980).

[17] City of Worcester , 851 F. Supp. at 315 (citing Katt v. Dykhouse , 983 F.2d 690, 696 (6th Cir. 1992); Wash. Mercantile Ass’n v. Williams , 733 F.2d 687, 691 (9th Cir. 1984); see also Coyote Publ’g, Inc. v. Miller , 598 F.3d 592, 607 (9th Cir. 2010).

[18] U.S. Const. art IV, § 1.

[19] Dobbs , supra note 8.

[20] Bigelow , supra note 1; Central Hudson , supra note 16. See also , Brandenburg v. Ohio , 395 U.S. 444, 447 for a test the Supreme Court uses to recognize if an expression is likely to incite imminent illegal activity.

[21] U.S. Const. art 1, § 8, cl. 3.

[22] S. 4840, 117th Cong. § 2 (2021-2022).

[24] U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) art. 19.

[25] Bigelow , supra note 1.

[26] Id . at 824

[27] Id . at 824-25.

[28] U.S. Const art. IV; see also Dobbs , supra note 8 (Kavanagh J, concurring).

[29] After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State , supra note 10.

[30] Id .; see also Press Release, National Right to Life Committee Proposes Legislation to Protect the Unborn Post-Roe , NRLC (Jun. 15, 2022), https://www.nrlc.org/communications/national-right-to-life-committee-proposes-legislation-to-protect-the-unborn-post-roe/ [https://perma.cc/D5BM-JWRL].

[31] Remaking America: Crossing State Lines for Abortion Care , NPR (May 11, 2023) https://www.npr.org/2023/05/11/1175530713/remaking-america-crossing-state-lines-for-abortion-care; see also Elevated Access (describing the ways that patients and advocates are crossing borders to receive an abortions and gender-affirming care).

[32] Remaking America, id .

[33] See Remaking America , id ; see also , H.B. 4327 and S.B. 8, supra note 10.

[34] Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Edyra Espriella, A New Border Crossing: Americans Turn to Mexico for Abortions , N.Y. Times (Sept. 25, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/world/americas/mexico-abortion-women-border.html [https://perma.cc/7BC4-FZSB]; Andy Blatchford, Canada is open to Americans who may lose access to abortions , but there’s a catch , Politico (May 5, 2022), https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/05/canada-americans-access-abortions [https://perma.cc/YB3P-BQUK].

[35] Blatchford, id .

[36] Kanno-Youngs and Espriella, supra note 34.

[37] Blatchford, supra note 34.

[38] Blatchford, supra note 34; María Teresa Hernández, Activists’ network in Mexico helps U.S. women get abortions , AP News (Apr. 2, 2023), https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pills-bans-mexico-us-border [https://perma.cc/H7AS-NYYZ]. See also , ECHR, Open Door and Dublin Well Woman v. Ireland, App. No 14234/88 (discussing the history of extraterritorial travel from Ireland to Great Britain to obtain an abortion and the protections of abortion-related commercial speech in the European Union.).

[39] Hernández, id .

[40] Mackenzie, supra note 2.

[41] Megan Burbank, Abortion Activists Rely on Social Media More Than Ever After Roe—and That Has Risks , The New Republic (Sept. 29, 2022), https://newrepublic.com/article/167886/abortion-funds-roe-dobbs-social-media [https://perma.cc/8ZGE-EFXP].

[43] ACOG Committee Opinion, Increasing Access to Abortion, 136(6) Obstetrics & Gynecology e107 (Dec. 2020); see also, Access to Abortion is a Human Right , Human Rights Watch (Jun 24, 2022) https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/24/qa-access-abortion-human-right (“Unsafe abortions is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity” around the world.).

[44] Lemmers, et. al., Medical treatment for early fetal death (less than 24 weeks) , 6(6) Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. (Jun. 17, 2019).

[45] Human Rights Watch supra note 43.

[46] Addressing Barriers to Safe Abortion , International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) (Sept. 2021) https://www.figo.org/sites/default/files/2021-09/FIGO_Statement_Addressing_Barriers_to_Safe_Abortion_EN.pdf

[47] Lucía Berro Pizzarossa and Patty Skuster, Toward Human Rights and Evidence-Based Legal Frameworks for (Self-Managed) Abortion , 23(1) Health Hum. Rights 199 (Jun. 2021).

[49] Facts Are Important: Identifying and Combating Abortion Myths and Misinformation , ACOG (2023), https://www.acog.org/advocacy/facts-are-important/identifying-combating-abortion-myths-misinformation [https://perma.cc/NPZ3-PJPB].

[50] Sarah C.M. Roberts, et al., A 21st-Century Public Health Approach to Abortion , 107(12) Am. J. Pub. Health 1878 (Dec. 2017).

[51] World Health Organization (WHO), Infodemic , https://www.who.int/health-topics/infodemic#tab=tab_1 [https://perma.cc/P6M8-3LAW].

[52] Pagoto, et al., The Next Infodemic: Abortion Misinformation , 25 J. Med. Internet Res. (May 2023).

[54] Jarrett Renshaw and Ahmed Aboulenein, New Biden rule seeks to protect women crossing state lines for abortions , Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-abortion-rule-seeks-protect-women-crossing-state-lines-2023-04-12/ [https://perma.cc/VX9A-BQ4W].

[55] U.S. Const. amend IV, supra note 18.

[56] Griswold v. Conn ., 381 U.S. 479, 484 (1965).

[57] See e.g. , H.B. 4327 and S.B. 8, supra note 10.

[58] Renshaw and Aboulenein, supra note 54.

[60] HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy, 88 FR 23506 (Apr. 17, 2023).

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Why Freedom of Speech Is the Next Abortion Fight

A legal battle in Mississippi will test whether states can criminalize those who merely provide information.

A black-and-white photo of a protester silhouetted in front of the U.S. Supreme Court

I n the middle of July, three big blue billboards went up in and around Jackson, Mississippi. Pregnant? You still have a choice , they informed passing motorists, inviting them to visit Mayday.Health to learn more. Anybody who did landed on a website that provides information about at-home abortion pills and ways to get them delivered anywhere in the United States—including parts of the country, such as Mississippi, where abortions are now illegal under most circumstances.

A few days ago, the founders of the nonprofit that paid for the billboard ads, Mayday Health , received a subpoena from the office of the attorney general of Mississippi. (The state has already been at the center of recent debates about abortion: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade , upheld a Mississippi statute by allowing states to put strict limits on abortion.) The subpoena, which I have seen , demands a trove of documents about Mayday Health and its activities. It may be the first step in an effort to force Mayday Health to take down the billboards, or even to prosecute the organization’s leaders for aiding and abetting criminal conduct.

Mayday Health is not backing down. This week, it is taking out a television ad on Mississippi channels and putting up 20 additional billboards. This makes the legal fight over the Jackson billboards a crucial test in two interrelated conflicts about abortion that are still coming into public view.

Read: The abortion-rights message that some activists hate

The first is that the availability of abortion pills, which are very safe and effective during the first three months of pregnancy, has transformed the stakes of the abortion fight . The pro-life movement has hoped that states’ new powers to shut down abortion providers will radically reduce the number of abortions around the country. The pro-choice movement has feared that the end of Roe will lead to a resurgence of back-alley abortions that seriously threaten women’s health.

Yet the changes wrought by the recent Supreme Court ruling may turn out to be more contained than meets the eye: Legal restrictions on first-trimester abortions have become much harder to enforce because a simple pill can now be used to induce a miscarriage. Abortion by medication is widely available in large parts of the country; as Mayday Health points out on its website, even women who are residents in states where doctors cannot prescribe such pills can set up a temporary forwarding address and obtain them by mail.

The second brewing conflict is about limits on free speech. So long as abortions required an in-person medical procedure, the pro-life movement could hope to reduce them by shutting down local clinics offering the service. Now that comparatively cheap and convenient workarounds exist for most cases, effective curbs on abortion require the extra step of preventing people from finding out about these alternatives. That is putting many members of the pro-life movement, be they Mississippi’s attorney general or Republican legislators in several states who are trying to pass draconian restrictions on information and advice about abortions, on a collision course with the First Amendment.

S ome limits on speech are reasonable. States do, for example, have a legitimate interest in banning advertisements for illegal drugs. If a cocaine dealer took out a billboard advertising his wares, the government should obviously be able to take it down. Especially when it comes to commercial speech, some common-sense restrictions on what people can say or claim have always existed and are well-justified.

But the laws that Republicans are now introducing in state legislatures around the country go far beyond such narrow limits on objectionable commercial speech. In South Carolina, for example, Republican legislators have recently sponsored a bill that would criminalize “providing information to a pregnant woman, or someone seeking information on behalf of a pregnant woman, by telephone, internet, or any other mode of communication regarding self-administered abortions or the means to obtain an abortion, knowing that the information will be used, or is reasonably likely to be used, for an abortion.”

Read: The coming rise of abortion as a crime

This law—which is modeled on draft legislation that the National Right to Life Committee is trying to get passed in many states around the country—would seriously undermine the right to free speech. It could potentially make doctors in states where abortion is actually legal liable to prosecution for discussing their services with someone who calls them from a state where abortion is illegal. It could even outlaw basic forms of speech such as news stories containing information that might be used by someone seeking an abortion. Theoretically, even this article could fall under that proscription.

The subpoena issued by the office of Mississippi’s attorney general is objectionable for similar reasons. Mayday Health is not advertising a commercial product or service. The organization does not handle or distribute abortion pills. All it does is provide information. Although one could reasonably believe that the information Mayday Health is providing may be used to commit acts that are now illegal in some parts of the United States, a ban on informational speech that can be used for the purposes of lawbreaking would be unacceptably broad and vague. After all, would-be lawbreakers might also consult the blog posts of lawyers who explain how to object to an improper search of a vehicle or study the pages of a novel to figure out how to make a Molotov cocktail. Should the attorney or the novelist also be considered to have aided or abetted a crime?

Recent efforts to suppress speech about abortion would seriously undermine the nation’s ability to debate the topic openly and honestly. Anybody who believes in the importance of the First Amendment should oppose them. As Will Creeley, the legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, has pointed out , “These proposals are a chilling attempt to stifle free speech … Whether you agree with abortion or not is irrelevant. You have the right to talk about it.”

I n recent years , the wider debate about free speech has undergone a strange transformation. Historically, the American left staunchly defended the First Amendment because it recognized the central part that free speech played in the struggles against slavery and segregation, and in the fight for the rights of women and sexual minorities. But as establishment institutions, including universities and corporations, became more progressive, and parts of the left came to feel that they had a significant share in institutional power, the absolute commitment to free speech waned.

Progressives started to find the idea of restrictions on free speech appealing because they assumed that those making decisions about what to allow and what to ban would share their views and values. Today, some on the extremist left endorse restrictions on free speech, demanding campus speech codes and measures to force social-media sites to “deplatform” controversial commentators and censor what they claim is “misinformation.”

Mary Ziegler: Why exceptions for the life of the mother have disappeared

The transformation of the left’s position on freedom of speech has allowed both principled conservatives and the less-than-principled protagonists of the MAGA movement to cast themselves as defenders of the First Amendment. In the mind of many people, the cause of free speech has astoundingly quickly shifted from being associated with left-wing organizations such as the ACLU to becoming the property of right-leaning pundits and politicians.

This makes the new front in the fight over abortion rights an important reminder of why the left should never abandon the cause of free speech. If the left gives up on the core commitment to free speech, what people can say is as likely to be determined by the attorney general of Mississippi as it is by college deans or tech workers. Curbs on free expression have always been a tool of governments that seek to control the lives of their citizens and punish those who defy them. The same remains true today.

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Why Yes-or-No Questions on Abortion Rights Could Be a Key to 2024

In states that will help decide control of the White House and Congress, Democrats are campaigning furiously alongside ballot measures to protect abortion rights, putting Republicans on their heels.

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Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris holding up signs reading “Reproductive freedom” and “Biden-Harris” as she gave a speech last month in Tucson, Ariz.

By Nick Corasaniti and Nicholas Nehamas

As Democrats confront a presidential race against a resurgent and resilient Donald J. Trump as well as a brutally challenging Senate map, they believe they have an increasingly powerful political weapon: ballot measures to protect abortion rights.

Two crucial presidential and Senate battlegrounds, Arizona and Nevada, are expected to put such measures directly before voters. So are other states with top Senate races, including Maryland and potentially Montana. And abortion rights measures are set or could appear on ballots in states like New York, Florida and Nebraska , where competitive contests could help determine whether Democrats win back the House.

Hopeful Democrats — and worried Republicans — are acutely aware that in all seven states where abortion has been put directly to voters since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the abortion rights side has won, in both red states like Ohio and Kansas as well as swing states like Michigan . Those measures have sometimes fueled surges in liberal turnout that have lifted Democratic candidates to victory, as well.

So in every state where an abortion measure is already on the 2024 ballot or could yet appear, Democratic candidates, state parties and allied groups are campaigning furiously alongside the ballot initiatives, running ads, helping pour money behind them and bringing up the measures in speech after speech.

In Arizona, where Democrats are trying to flip the Legislature, the party’s candidates have gone so far as to collect signatures for the state’s ballot measure as they knock on voters’ doors.

“When the abortion petition initiative came out, it was a no-brainer that I would carry it with me,” said Brandy Reese, a Democrat running for the Arizona House who said she had gathered dozens of signatures while campaigning. “I introduce myself as a pro-choice candidate running, and you can instantly tell in people’s body language that they’re excited to hear that.”

The wave of abortion referendums — some of which are not officially on the ballot yet but most of which have enough signatures to get there, according to organizers — is adding new unpredictability to an election season already convulsed by Mr. Trump’s criminal cases and wrenching questions about the future of the country’s democracy.

With polls showing that a majority of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases , the measures could serve as a political life raft at a time when President Biden faces stubbornly low approval ratings and skepticism within his party. Democrats hope the ballot initiatives will increase turnout among core voters like suburban women, young people and African Americans.

“The ballot initiatives are well-funded and well-organized efforts,” said Christina Freundlich, a Democratic strategist. “It’s creating a tremendous sense of energy not only within the Democratic Party but with voters across the board.”

Party leaders are echoing that message.

“Momentum is on our side,” Vice President Kamala Harris said at an abortion rights event on Wednesday in Jacksonville, Fla. “Just think about it: Since Roe was overturned, every time reproductive freedom has been on the ballot, the people of America voted for freedom.”

Beyond electoral politics, the ballot initiatives regarding abortion have driven huge interest and turnout because of their direct impact on voters’ lives. In Florida, for example, a newly enforced ban on nearly all abortions in the state has cut off a critical access point to patients across the Southeast. In Arizona, lawmakers this week repealed a near-total ban on abortions — but the state is now set to enforce a 15-week ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Medical practitioners have also expressed concerns about facing criminal penalties under the bans.

“The fear of that is just devastating,” said Mona Mangat, board chair of the Committee to Protect Health Care, an advocacy group that is supporting ballot initiatives in several states. “It’s going to be devastating for practitioners and devastating for patients.”

Ms. Mangat said the restrictions could affect whether doctors wanted to move to those states to practice medicine or attend residency programs.

In Nevada, abortion is legal within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Organizers there are collecting signatures to place an amendment on the ballot that would establish a right to an abortion in the State Constitution. Key Democrats in the state, including Senator Jacky Rosen, who is facing a close re-election fight, have signed onto the petition .

Representative Dina Titus, another Nevada Democrat, said in an interview that the amendment would still motivate voters to turn out, especially young people, even without the driving force of overturning far-reaching restrictions.

“We’ll talk about it in terms of how this will really protect women,” Ms. Titus said. “And we’ll use it to attract young women and just young people generally to the polls, because they will suddenly realize something they took for granted is not going to be available.”

Republican candidates and their allies have appeared reluctant to directly campaign against ballot measures to protect abortion rights, though some G.O.P. leaders have voiced opposition. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine recorded a video opposing the state’s initiative last year, and in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the current ballot measure is too broad. “To nuke parental consent for minors is totally unacceptable,” he said at an event last month.

Some Republicans openly worry that restrictive measures like Florida’s may play into the hands of Democrats, given how abortion referendums in recent cycles have unfolded.

“Kansas and Ohio to me is what everyone should be looking at,” said Vicki Lopez, a state representative from Miami who was one of a handful of Republican legislators to vote against Florida’s six-week ban. Voters will now decide in November whether to add a right to an abortion to the State Constitution, with a question known as Amendment Four. “This will be a test.”

But Ms. Lopez added that it would be a mistake to assume that “everyone who votes for Amendment Four is actually going to then vote for Biden.”

Regardless, Democrats believe they have the advantage. In a memo last month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wrote that “reproductive freedom will remain a driving issue for voters this November” and that the group would “ensure that House Republicans’ efforts to ban abortion nationwide are top of mind as voters head to the polls.”

The D.C.C.C. said it had identified 18 competitive House seats in states where abortion measures are likely to be on the ballot. Republicans are trying to protect a slim House majority.

Money for the ballot measures has cascaded in from both major liberal groups and small donors. Some so-called dark money organizations, whose donors are not disclosed, have contributed millions, including the Open Society Policy Center, the Sixteen Thirty Fund and the Fairness Project. Other advocacy groups, like Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, have also contributed seven figures.

Think Big America, an abortion rights group started by Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, has spent heavily to support abortion initiatives. After Mr. Pritzker and the group combined to drop $1 million in Ohio last year, Think Big America has spent $1.25 million in Nevada and Arizona. It has also made what it called a “quick investment” of $500,000 in Montana, where the issue is not yet on the November ballot, and donated $500,000 in Florida.

“This has a power to not only turn out Democrats but also make sure that folks that are on the fence — swing voters, independents, persuadable voters — are coming over to the side that has had a longstanding belief in reproductive freedom,” said Michael Ollen, the executive director of Think Big America.

In Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs has directed her well-funded state political action committee, Arizona Communities United, to focus heavily on the ballot initiative.

Ms. Hobbs, who has navigated slim Republican majorities in the Legislature for the first two years of her term, has made flipping both chambers a main goal for 2024, and she views the ballot measure as a central part of that effort.

In Nevada, the Biden campaign has invited ballot initiative organizers to collect signatures at events featuring Jill Biden and Ms. Harris.

Giving a speech in the state last month, Ms. Harris thanked the signature gatherers in the audience. They responded by holding up their clipboards and cheering.

“We’re going to win this ballot initiative,” the vice president said. “And Joe Biden and I are going back to the White House.”

Patricia Mazzei contributed reporting.

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to spending on an abortion rights measure in Ohio last year. Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Think Big America, an abortion rights group he started, combined to spend $1 million; it is not the case that the group alone spent $1 million.

How we handle corrections

Nick Corasaniti is a Times reporter covering national politics, with a focus on voting and elections. More about Nick Corasaniti

Nicholas Nehamas is a Times political reporter covering the re-election campaign of President Biden. More about Nicholas Nehamas

Our Coverage of the 2024 Election

Presidential Race

From Florida to Arizona , the presidential campaign trail was brimming with reminders of just how central Democrats hope the abortion rights debate will be to voters’ decisions this fall.

Donald Trump urged college presidents to take a tougher approach to protests over the war in Gaza that have swept across campuses and praised police action at the demonstrations .

Trump told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he would not commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election, as he again repeated his lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

The Ultimate D.C. Veteran: In 30 years of Senate bids, Joe Biden was such a formidable incumbent that he did not face a serious threat to his return to office. But his last re-election is shaping up to be a fight.

Awash in Federal Money: Across Milwaukee, there is evidence of federal money from laws passed under the Biden administration. The president hopes voters will notice .

Disinformation at the Border: A flier urging migrants to vote for Biden rocketed around right-wing social media. But was it authentic ?

A Match Made in MAGA: Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio and Donald Trump Jr. have bonded politically and personally . It’s a relationship that could factor into the former president’s search for a running mate.

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Persuasive Speech on Abortion

No matter, how we persuade ourselves, every woman that decides to put an end to her pregnancy understands that it is wrong. It couldn’t be another way, as our instinct tells us that it is absolutely unnatural to decide for another human being, whether they should live or die. Yes, they can come up with different excuses, but it in no case changes the sense of their action, the action that will cost life to their child .

It was scientifically proven that children in uterus start perceiving things very early. Their heart starts beating on the sixth week, and brain starts working at the same time. So, when an abortion is done , it is in fact the end of life of a human being who already can feel and think. If I were in such a situation, I just couldn’t have taken the responsibility for someone else’s life. I know that I am responsible for myself – I can, for instance, smoke, consume alcohol and spoil my own health in this way – it will be my choice, and indeed no one can make me stop it unless I want it to stop. But when we speak of unborn children – what kind of choice is this? This is not…

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Adams Delivers Floor Speech Supporting Abortion Rights

Rep. Alma Adams speaking on the House Floor

The speech comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s holding in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the long-standing precedent established by Roe v. Wade.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 15, 2022) – This morning, Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) delivered a speech on the floor of the United States House of Representatives in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act , which would codify a right to reproductive freedom and abortion care into law. The legislation comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s holding in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , which overturned the long-standing precedent established by Roe v. Wade .

Video of the speech is available on C-SPAN here .

“I rise today because I’m pretty damn angry,” said Adams. “The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the right to abortion care is fundamentally wrong. The Supreme Court greenlit forced pregnancy, taking away the right to bodily autonomy for women. Abortion is still health care, and people will still need to access it. That’s why I’m supporting the Women’s Health Protection Act .”

Adams’ remarks as prepared for delivery are below:

I rise today because I’m angry. The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the right to abortion care is fundamentally wrong.

The Supreme Court greenlit forced pregnancy, taking away the right to bodily autonomy from women. However, abortion is still health care, and people will still need to access it.

That’s why I’m supporting the Women’s Health Protection Act.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, we have a state-by-state patchwork that denies women equal protection under the law. While abortion is still legal in my home of North Carolina, the State of Texas is suing the government to compel women to carry pregnancies to term, even if it kills the mother. The Attorney General of Indiana wants to force rape victims – even 10 year old girls – to carry pregnancies to term.

We have a responsibility to stop this draconian overreach by state governments. We must make reproductive freedom the law of the land.

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Biden is campaigning in Florida a week before a new abortion ban takes effect

Tamara Keith

President Biden boards Air Force One in New Castle, Del., on April 22. On Tuesday, he's campaigning in Florida. Julia Nikhinson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

President Biden boards Air Force One in New Castle, Del., on April 22. On Tuesday, he's campaigning in Florida.

A Democratic presidential candidate hasn't won Florida since 2012, but President Biden's reelection campaign says a ballot question on reproductive rights could buoy his chances there in November.

Earlier this month, the state's Supreme Court allowed a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy — a ban that takes effect on May 1. However, the court also said that voters would decide in November whether to amend the state's constitution to allow for abortions up to about 24 weeks.

Florida voters will decide on abortion rights this fall. Here's what some are saying

Biden is campaigning in Tampa today, and plans to lay out "the stakes of this election for reproductive freedom across the entire country," his campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez said in a memo.

The ballot measure in Florida could help draw people to the polls in November — people who the campaign said may be persuaded to also vote for Biden.

"We've got staff on the ground, you've seen our investments begin to pop up in the state of Florida," campaign communications director Michael Tyler told reporters. "It is one of many pathways that we have to 270 electoral votes, and we're going to take it very, very seriously."

Florida is rated as likely to go Republican in November

At a fundraiser in Florida in January, Biden told donors, "I think we can win Florida." But it's a long shot. NPR's new electoral college map analysis rates Florida as likely to go Republican.

Still, Biden's campaign is seizing an opportunity to draw a contrast with his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, on an issue they expect will be decisive in 2024, pointing to polling data in key swing states indicating a strong majority of voters oppose restrictive abortion bans.

Shots - Health News

How florida and arizona supreme court rulings change the abortion access map.

In Tampa, Biden plans to "forcefully advocate for reproductive freedom and call out Donald Trump's abortion bans, as he's been doing since Roe was overturned," Tyler told reporters. "It's going to stand in stark contrast to Trump, who, when he's out on the stump every single day, is bragging about the role that he played in overturning Roe ."

Trump often boasts about his role in naming three Supreme Court justices who formed the majority on the court that overturned Roe v. Wade . But he also has said abortion policy should be left to the states while implying that some states have gone too far.

Abortion rights

August 3, 2022

A Proposed Antiabortion Law Infringes on Free Speech

A law would make it illegal to share abortion information on the Internet and raises serious concerns about freedom of speech nationwide

By Hayley Tsukayama

blonde woman with headphones working on notebook computer

flyparade/Getty Images

After the June Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturned nearly 50 years of abortion care precedent, several states have moved quickly to pass abortion-related legislation . This has frequently been in the form of restricting or protecting access to the medical procedure. But efforts to limit abortion aren’t solely about what happens in a medical facility. They can go far beyond that. A bill under consideration in South Carolina seeks to restrict what its residents will be able to read online about abortion. As a consequence, it also threatens to restrict what all of us can say.

I work for the Electronic Frontier Foundation , a nonprofit that fights for digital civil liberties, including free expression, privacy and innovation. And while we are not a reproductive rights group, we pay close attention to areas where restrictions on abortion and other reproductive care infringe on these core issues.

Those who oppose abortion often seek to limit the ways we can talk about it. On the federal level, the late Republican representative Henry Hyde of Illinois inserted language into the Communications Decency Act during the 1990s, which effectively sought to ban online speech about abortion.* The Clinton Department of Justice refused to enforce the provision. It remains in the law today but has so far survived legal challenges to its constitutionality only because federal prosecutors have said they do not intend to enforce it.

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The South Carolina bill comes from Republican state Senators Richard Cash, Rex F. Rice and Daniel B. Verdin III, S. 1373 , the Equal Protection at Conception—No Exceptions—Act, makes abortions illegal in South Carolina, and also makes it a crime to, broadly defined, “aid, abet, or conspire” with someone to procure an abortion. It mirrors a National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) blueprint bill, which was meant to be copied by state lawmakers nationwide. The South Carolina bill is part of a new national blitz by antiabortion activists to alter not only access to abortion, but whether and how we can even discuss it. This is downright un-American.

There are glaring free-speech issues in the bill. First, it allows the prosecution of any person who provides information regarding self-administered abortions or the means to obtain an abortion to a “pregnant woman” or someone acting on “behalf of a pregnant woman.” If you have a phone conversation, exchange e-mails or have an online chat with a pregnant person in South Carolina about seeking an abortion, you violate the bill. Even posting information that they’re “reasonably likely” to access—for example, through a public post—puts you at risk.

Second, the bill prohibits hosting or maintaining a Web site, providing access to a Web site, or providing an Internet service that provides information on how to obtain an abortion, if the site is “purposefully directed to a pregnant woman” who lives in South Carolina. That could affect companies that host Web sites that share information describing the availability of legal abortion services in other states or support sites intended for pregnant people living in states that ban abortions.

Together, these two pieces of the bill represent a prohibition on sharing information in just about every way you can share information online. Furthermore, this law equates sharing information with aiding and abetting abortion—and classifies it as a felony.

On its face, then, this bill contemplates a troubling level of government intervention into what we say online. The bill’s somewhat hand-wavy, dismissive provision saying it shouldn’t be construed to conflict with the First Amendment doesn’t actually prevent it from doing so. This disclaimer doesn’t stop people in and outside of South Carolina from having to carefully consider what online information they post about legal abortion services in fear of how a prosecutor in the state may view that information. Even if someone’s post doesn’t specifically target South Carolinians, the uncertainty over whether someone in that state will read or hear it, and the threat of legal liability, will discourage many people from writing. If people are afraid of speaking up, they don’t.

The Internet doesn’t and can’t stop at state lines, and this bill fails to recognize that it’s not easy to block speech between states. It’s absurd to consider that posting about something that’s legal in your state could get you and the platform you’re posting on prosecuted in South Carolina. If I, a California resident, posted a news story that said the nearest state to South Carolina with legal abortion protections is Maryland, and that post reached someone in South Carolina, would that run afoul of the law? Should this bill pass, and law enforcement pursue prosecutions under it, South Carolina will become the speech police for the whole country.

That’s not merely a hypothetical. Companies that worry about being held liable for posts from people who use their site often over-censor content to cover their bases. They have clear problems controlling how information (or disinformation ) passes through their networks, which makes them more likely to take a heavy-handed approach, if pushed. It’s already happening with information about abortion. Vice and Wired have both reported that platforms are taking down more posts related to abortion care, including statements such as “abortion pills can be mailed.” If the South Carolina bill moves forward, this suppression of speech will likely carry on to all posts that relate to reproductive care—not only abortion, but also miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies or other conditions.

Social media or other Internet companies have the protection of Section 230—an important federal law that says online services that people use to post speech that violates criminal laws aren’t also liable for that speech. Yet, given the way the South Carolina bill is written, it’s likely some social media or hosting companies would ban abortion content completely rather than risk prosecution or litigation.

This hindrance of online free speech is unlikely to stop with abortion-related content. States are also pushing back against gender-affirming care or trying to roll back LGBTQ+ rights. We at EFF expect to see similar bills that criminalize information about those topics. Imposing years-long prison terms for sharing legal abortion information is a slippery slope toward authoritarian rule in which all sorts of social and political speech carry heavy penalties. Think, for example, of Russia’s “ gay propaganda ” bill that bars sharing any information about LGBTQ+ people’s lives, or a similarly draconian bill proposed in Ghana.

Laws sometimes restrict our actions, but they shouldn’t restrict our ideas. While the Dobbs ruling allowed some states to revoke a long-standing right, we can’t allow anyone to criminalize the free expression of thought and speech about that right. Anyone who cares about the freedom of expression—regardless of how they feel about reproductive care—should contact lawmakers considering such legislation and tell them to oppose this bill and others like it.

This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

*Editor’s Note (8/11/22): This sentence was edited after posting to correct the state of the late representative Henry Hyde.

People stand in the streets and hold signs that say, 'It's not 1864 in Arizona,' 'Freedom healthcare abortion,' and 'November November November November.'

Other states, like Arizona, could resurrect laws on abortion, LGBTQ+ issues and more that have been lying dormant for more than 100 years

Professor of Law, Penn State

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Dara E. Purvis is affiliated with Population Connection Action Fund.

Penn State provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US.

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When the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to get an abortion in June 2022, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court “should reconsider” other rights it currently recognizes – like the rights for same-sex couples to have sex and marry.

If the Supreme Court overturns legal precedents on these and other issues, old state laws that haven’t been enforced, possibly for centuries, can suddenly spring back to life.

This is what happened after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on April 9, 2024, that an 1864 abortion ban should be enforced. The ban is an example of zombie laws – old state laws that are neither enforced nor repealed.

I am a scholar of constitutional rights , particularly rights won in court like student speech , the right to direct one’s own medical care , abortion and parental rights.

There are many old and unenforceable state laws that are left on the books because of inertia. It might seem unnecessary for a state legislature to repeal a law that is not enforced or has been superseded by a more recent law.

But the recent Arizona abortion ban shows the consequences of assuming that old laws will always remain dormant.

A woman wearing green scrubs is shown sitting from the neck down, next to another person whose legs and hands are visible in a medical office.

Arizona’s abortion laws

Under Arizona’s 1864 abortion law, anyone who helps perform an abortion could be sent to jail for up to five years, unless the abortion was necessary to save the life of the pregnant person.

The law was originally passed by a territorial legislature, then was rubber-stamped into official state law in 1913 by the new state Legislature after Arizona became a U.S. state in 1912. Planned Parenthood challenged this law as unconstitutional in the early 1970s. But that case was still making its way through Arizona courts when the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade in 1973, affirming the federal right to get an abortion.

In March 1973, an Arizona appeals court issued a short decision that said the Roe decision meant that the Arizona ban was also unconstitutional and could not be enforced.

The Arizona Legislature never formally repealed the law.

In addition, the state went on to enact a number of other restrictions on abortion over the years, including a law that banned abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy. That law went into effect in March 2022, three months before the Supreme Court overturned the Roe decision with its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. The 2022 law was virtually identical to the Mississippi statute being challenged in Dobbs, so its constitutionality was questionable when it was passed, but the Dobbs decision changed that.

This meant Arizona had two laws restricting abortion in different ways at the same time, the 1864 law and the 2022 law. The question for Arizona courts then became which law should go into effect. Four of the state supreme court’s seven justices determined on April 9 that the 1864 abortion ban took precedence over the 2022 law that banned abortion only after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Arizona is not the only state that has conflicting old and new laws about the same issue.

Uncommon, but not unique

Wisconsin, for example, has a very similar dispute playing out in its courts.

Wisconsin has a law from 1849 that bans abortion unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother. This law only banned abortion after what used to be called quickening, meaning when a pregnant person feels fetal movement . This usually happens somewhere between the 16th to 24th week of pregnancy.

In 1858, the law was amended to ban all abortions – and imposed a harsher punishment if the abortion occurred after quickening. That law had some minor tweaks in the 1950s and stayed in effect until Roe v. Wade.

In 2015, however, Wisconsin passed a law banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. This later law did not replace, repeal or even acknowledge the 1849 law.

Instead, the 2015 law seemed to assume the 1849 law would remain unenforceable and did not challenge Roe v. Wade .

After the Dobbs decision came out, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin district attorneys arguing that the 20-week ban should replace the 1849 law.

In December 2023, a Wisconsin judge agreed with the attorney general . The case has been appealed to the state Supreme Court, but the court has not yet said if it will hear the appeal.

Other kinds of zombie laws

Other outdated laws stay on the books long after they are actually enforced.

The U.S. Supreme Court can determine that a particular state law is unconstitutional, but it doesn’t actually repeal or erase the law in question. The court also cannot remove identical laws passed in other states.

Although the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in 2015 gave same-sex couples the constitutional right to get married, for example, 32 states still have old laws prohibiting same-sex marriage. These laws would come back to life if the Supreme Court overturned Obergefell.

It has also been unconstitutional for states to criminalize same-sex sexual activity since the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. Still, 12 states have laws that prohibit same-sex sexual relations. Those states could start prosecuting people for this activity if the Supreme Court reversed Lawrence.

This might seem unlikely, but sheriff’s deputies in Louisiana arrested men for “violating” the state’s unenforceable ban in 2015 .

Alabama is another state that has been particularly slow to delete zombie laws. In 2000, it became the last state in the country to remove a statute banning interracial marriage, 33 years after the Supreme Court held in the Loving v. Virginia case that such laws were unconstitutional.

The Alabama state constitution also had provisions from 1901 prohibiting interracial marriage and requiring racial segregation in schools until the language was finally removed in 2022 .

These zombie laws are repealed the same way that any other law is passed. The state legislature can pass a law deleting or replacing an older law with new language. Depending on the state, a popular referendum can also change state law and state constitutions.

A man holds a sign that says 'righteous laws abolish abortion' and in front of a sign that says 'love life, choose life' on a quiet street.

Lessons from Arizona

As a result of the Arizona court’s ruling, both law and politics in the state have been thrown into disarray.

Due to an earlier order about how and when the 1864 law could go into effect, the law cannot be enforced for at least 45 days , and that delay may lengthen if different groups keep fighting about the case in court.

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has said that her office will not enforce the ban, and an executive order bars local prosecutors from charging people for violating it.

Both Republican and Democratic politicians in Arizona have said that they want to pass a new law restricting abortion in less severe ways than the 1864 law, but attempts to do so have resulted in angry disagreements on the floor of the Legislature .

The confusion and controversy in Arizona shows the broader problems of zombie laws. Most people in Arizona were surprised that the law exists. Many people on either side of the political spectrum do not like it, but the zombie has come alive in the aftermath of the state Supreme Court’s ruling. And each blockbuster Supreme Court decision runs the risk of setting more free in other states.

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Florida says people getting abortions will not be penalized, clarifies medical exceptions

As of Wednesday, May 1, Florida joined several other states in banning nearly all abortions after six weeks . Critics have pointed out that many people don't find out they're pregnant by then, and say the medical exceptions provided in the law to save the pregnant person's life or avoid irreversible damage in cases of dire need are intentionally vague and confusing.

“This ban is putting lives at risk,” said state Sen. Bobby Powell , D-West Palm Beach. “People are going to die. ... That’s what it’s going to lead to for the women in the state of Florida.”

The state is fighting back. In a post on X , formerly Twitter, the Agency for Health Care Administration released some clarification Wednesday to "combat the lies and misinformation surrounding Florida’s Heartbeat Protection Act."

Notable among the items listed in the "Myth vs. Fact" flier the agency posted are that a pregnant person seeking or getting an abortion will not be subject to criminal penalties and that abortions for ectopic pregnancies, premature rupture of membranes or miscarriages are not prohibited.

None of these facts are explicitly mentioned in the new law or Florida statutes, although Democrats tried and failed to have similar clarifications added to the bill last year.

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Cases of women nearly dying due to doctors and hospitals, afraid of repercussions and ill-defined rules, delaying care or turning them away have sprung up in other states with similarly restrictive laws. In Florida, a doctor told a woman in Miramar who was experiencing premature rupture of the membrane (PROM) that he couldn't deliver the fetus because of the state's 15-week ban. She delivered it herself alone in a hair salon bathroom last April and lost half her blood before EMTs arrived.

In 2022, a woman in Lakeland was forced to give birth to a baby with no kidneys or lungs that died shortly afterward. A Planned Parenthood doctor turned away a 14-year-old rape victim trying to terminate her pregnancy because of Florida's abortion ban, according to a lawsuit challenging the law.

Early reports from a University of California San Francisco study found that recent abortion bans have contributed to "preventable complications, such as severe infection" because healthcare providers "reported their 'hands were tied.'"

The day the 6-week ban went into effect, the Florida National Organization for Women (NOW) issued a travel advisory warning pregnant people to avoid travel or relocation to Florida due to "significant concerns regarding the availability of essential healthcare services for pregnant individuals with both wanted and unwanted pregnancies."

“Florida works to ensure the health and safety of mothers and babies by continuing to hold medical providers accountable to the standards of their oath to protect and ensure the health and well-being of their patient,” the AHCA flier said.

In November, Florida voters will be able to decide if they want to return state abortion laws back to something resembling previous federal law under Roe v. Wade.

What is Florida's abortion law?

Following the Florida Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of a 2022 15-week abortion ban in April, a more restrictive 6-week ban passed last year went into effect on May 1. Abortions after six weeks of gestation (with some exceptions) are prohibited and anyone performing one or assisting someone to get one is subject to criminal charges, fines and/or loss of medical licenses.

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What are the exceptions to Florida's 6-week abortion ban?

According to Florida Statutes and the new ban created by SB 300 , abortions after six weeks are only allowed:

If necessary to "save the pregnant woman’s life or to avert a serious risk of imminent substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman other than a psychological condition"
If "in reasonable medical judgment, the fetus has a fatal fetal abnormality"

The decision must be certified in writing by two physicians. Even then, abortions are banned under the new bill if the pregnancy has "progressed to the third trimester." Medical abortions are also prohibited unless performed in person by a healthcare professional which bans home use of so-called "abortion pills" mifepristone and misoprostol ,

According to the AHCA, pregnant people will not be forced to give birth if their life or health will be in jeopardy.

Abortions also may be performed in Florida up to 15 weeks if the patient is pregnant due to rape , incest or human trafficking but only if the pregnant person has copies of "a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation" to provide evidence that they are a victim of rape or incest.

What is an ectopic pregnancy?

In an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus, usually in the Fallopian tubes, according to information from the Mayo Clinic , When that happens the egg cannot survive and the growing tissue may cause life-threatening bleeding.

"Treatment to remove an ectopic pregnancy is not prohibited under Florida law," the AHCA flier said.

What is premature rupture of membranes (PROM)?

Commonly referred to as "water breaking," PROM normally occurs when the protective amniotic sac around the fetus bursts before or during labor. If it happens prematurely (considered to be before the 37th week of pregnancy) it can cause serious infections and complications.

"Florida law does not prohibit treatment for women who experience premature rupture of membranes (PROM)," the AHCA said, "and as such, physicians in Florida should follow established standards of care regarding the most appropriate course of action for PROM."

What is a miscarriage?

"Miscarriage is the sudden loss of a pregnancy before the 20th week," the Mayo Clinic says , and up to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage although that number is likely much higher. Miscarriages often happen when the fetus does not develop properly.

"Florida law does not prohibit the removal of a pregnancy for women who experience a miscarriage in any circumstance," the AHCA said.

When do most people find out they're pregnant?

Most people find out they're pregnant before six weeks, but one in three do not and one in five won't know till after seven weeks, according to a 2021 study from ANSIRH at the University of California San Francisco. The percentage is even higher — almost two in three people — for teens between ages 15 and 19 who become pregnant and don't find out until six weeks or later, the study found.

Symptoms vary wildly between individuals and even between different pregnancies for the same person, and irregular menstrual cycles can make it difficult for a person not actively trying to get pregnant to notice in time.

The AHCA responded to this issue by mentioning pregnancy tests , which detect the presence of a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. The agency said "pregnancy tests have evolved substantially over the years. Trace levels of hCG can now be detected as early as eight days after ovulation."

However, while some pregnancy tests advertise earlier detection, medical experts say a week after the first day of a person's missed period is more accurate. According to a clevelandclinic.org post in 2022, "If you take a test too soon, it could be negative even if you're pregnant."

Can I go to jail for getting an abortion after 6 weeks in Florida?

Florida law prohibits anyone from willfully performing or actively helping someone get an abortion outside of the six-week gestational period or the legal exemptions. Doing so is considered a third-degree felony, punishable by fines and imprisonment of five years.

"Florida's criminal abortion penalties do not apply to pregnant women," the AHCA said. Florida law only states that a person upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed, which is illegal, may not be prosecuted.

What would Amendment 4, Florida's abortion amendment do?

The proposed amendment submitted by Floridians Protecting Freedom that will appear on November's ballot reads:

“No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

Fetal viability has been put at about 24 weeks.

For the amendment to pass it must win by a supermajority, or at least 60% of the vote. According to an exclusive USA TODAY/Ipsos poll of more than 1,000 Floridians, half said they would vote in favor.

Rumors of a special legislative session to consider stricter immigration laws have been floated but Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was unaware of any plans to address the abortion amendment.

"That would be news to me if there were to happen in terms of any other amendments being added to the ballot," he said during a press conference Thursday in Jacksonville. "There may be people in the Legislature talking. Not coming from me."

Biden Title IX rules set to protect trans students, survivors of abuse

The administration’s regulations offer protections for transgender students, but do not address athletics

The Biden administration on Friday finalized sweeping new rules barring schools from discriminating against transgender students and ordering significant changes for how schools adjudicate claims of sexual harassment and assault on campus.

The provisions regarding gender identity are the most politically fraught, feeding an election-year culture clash with conservative states and school boards that have limited transgender rights in schools, banned discussion of gender identity in classrooms and removed books with LGBTQ+ themes. Mindful of the politics, the administration is delaying action on the contentious issue of whether transgender girls and women should be allowed to compete in women’s and girls’ sports.

The long-awaited regulation represents the administration’s interpretation of Title IX, a 1972 law that bars sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding. Title IX is best known for ushering in equal treatment for women in sports, but it also governs how schools handle complaints of sexual harassment and assault, a huge issue on many college campuses.

Now the Biden administration is deploying the regulation to formalize its long-standing view that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation, a direct challenge to conservative policies across the country.

Ten states, for instance, require transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their biological sex identified at birth, according to tracking by the Movement Advancement Project. Some school districts will not use the pronouns corresponding with a trans student’s gender identity. Both situations might constitute violations of Title IX under the new regulation. In addition, if a school failed to properly address bullying based on gender identity or sexual orientation, that could be a violation of federal law.

“No one should face bullying or discrimination just because of who they are or who they love. Sadly, this happens all too often,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters in a conference call.

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights investigates allegations of sex discrimination, among other things, and schools that fail to come into compliance risk losing federal funding. A senior administration official said that the office could investigate cases where schools were potentially discriminating, even if they were following their own state’s law.

The final regulation also includes provisions barring discrimination based on pregnancy, including childbirth, abortion and lactation. For instance, schools must accommodate students’ need to attend medical appointments, as well as provide students and workers who are nursing a clean, private space to pump milk.

The combination of these two issues — sexual assault and transgender rights — drew enormous public interest, with some 240,000 public comments submitted in response to the proposed version published in 2022. The new rules take effect Aug. 1, in time for the start of next school year.

The final regulation makes a number of significant changes to a Trump-era system for handling sexual assault complaints, discarding some of the rules that bolstered due process rights of the accused. Supporters said those rules were critical to ensuring that students had the opportunity to defend themselves; critics said they discouraged sexual assault survivors from reporting incidents and turned colleges into quasi-courtrooms.

Education Department officials said they had retained the elements that made sense but created a better overall framework that balanced the rights of all involved.

Under the Trump administration’s regulation , finalized in 2020, colleges were required to stage live hearings to adjudicate complaints, where the accused could cross-examine witnesses — including the students who were alleging assault.

Under President Biden’s new rules, colleges will have more flexibility. The investigator or person adjudicating the case may question witnesses in separate meetings or employ a live hearing.

The new rules also will allow schools to use a lower bar for adjudicating guilt. In weighing evidence, they are now directed to use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard, though they may opt for a higher standard of “clear and convincing evidence” if they use that standard in other similar proceedings. Under the Trump version, universities had a choice, but they were required to use the higher standard if they did so in other settings.

The proposal also expands the definition of what constitutes sexual harassment, discarding a narrower definition used under President Donald Trump . Under the new definition, conduct must be so “severe or pervasive” that it limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in their education. The prior version required it to be both severe and pervasive.

The changes were derided by conservative critics who said they would revive problems that the Trump rules had solved.

“So today’s regulations mean one thing: America’s college students are less likely to receive justice if they find themselves in a Title IX proceeding,” said Will Creeley, legal director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group.

The group was concerned that the opportunity for cross examination would no longer be guaranteed and that schools will again be allowed to have one person investigate and adjudicate cases.

Some of the Trump provisions were retained. Schools, for instance, will continue to have the option to use informal resolution of discrimination complaints, unless the allegation involves an employee of a K-12 school.

The Biden administration’s approach was welcomed by advocates for sexual assault survivors.

The rules “will make schools safer and more accessible for young people, many of whom experienced irreparable harm while they fought for protection and support,” said Emma Grasso Levine, senior manager of Title IX policy and programs at Know Your IX, a project of the advocacy group Advocates for Youth.

“Now, it’s up to school administrators to act quickly to implement and enforce” the new rules, she added.

Sexual assault has been a serious issue on college campuses for years, and in releasing the regulation, the Biden administration said the rates were still “unacceptably high.”

But the most controversial element of the regulation involves the rights of transgender students, and it came under immediate fire.

Administration officials point to a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that sex discrimination in employment includes gender identity and sexual orientation to bolster their interpretation of the law. But conservatives contend that Title IX does not include these elements and argue that accommodations for transgender students can create situations that put other students at risk. They object, for instance, to having a transgender woman — someone they refer to as a “biological man” — using women’s bathrooms or locker rooms.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the House Education Committee, called the regulation an escalation of Democrats’ “contemptuous culture war that aims to radically redefine sex and gender.” The department, she said, has put decades of advancement for women and girls “squarely on the chopping block.”

Betsy DeVos, who was education secretary during Trump’s administration, criticized the gender identity protections and the new rules on handling assault and harassment allegations.

“The Biden Administration’s radical rewrite of Title IX guts the half century of protections and opportunities for women and callously replaces them with radical gender theory,” she said in a statement.

Still, the administration sidestepped the contentious issue of athletics, at least for now. A separate regulation governing how and when schools may exclude transgender students from women and girls teams remains under review, and administration officials offered no timetable for when it would be finalized. People familiar with their thinking said it was being delayed to avoid injecting the matter into the presidential campaign, where Biden faces a close race against Trump.

A senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in a briefing with reporters Thursday, declined to comment on the politics of this decision but noted that the athletics rule was proposed after the main Title IX regulation.

Polling shows that clear majorities of Americans, including a sizable slice of Democrats, oppose allowing transgender athletes to compete on girls’ and women’s teams. Twenty-five states have statewide bans on their participation.

The proposed sports regulation disallows these statewide, blanket bans, but it allows school districts to restrict participation more narrowly defined — for instance on competitive high school or college teams. The main Title IX regulation does not address the issue, and an administration official said the status quo would remain in place for now. Still, some have argued that the new general ban on discrimination could apply to sports even though the administration does not intend it to.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) welcomed the protections for transgender students but urged the department to issue the sports regulation as well.

“Trans youth deserve to play sports with their friends just like anyone else,” she said in a statement.

The rules governing how campuses deal with harassment complaints have changed repeatedly in recent years.

The Obama administration issued detailed guidance in 2014 for schools in handling complaints, but DeVos later tossed that out. Her department went through its own laborious rulemaking process to put a new system in place.

As a candidate for president in 2020, Biden promised to put a “quick end” to that version if elected, saying it gave colleges “a green light to ignore sexual violence and strip survivors of their rights.” Friday’s action makes good on his promise.

Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, which represents colleges and universities, praised many of the changes but bemoaned the fact that schools will have to retrain their staffs on the new rules in short order.

“After years of constant churn in Title IX guidance and regulations,” he said, “we hope for the sake of students and institutions that there will be more stability and consistency in the requirements going forward.”

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel contributed to this report.

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Abortion, contraception return to Supreme Court in free speech case
⇉Abortion Persuasive Speech Essay Example
Abortion case ruling boosts free speech
What are late-term abortions and who gets them?
Trump pushes anti-abortion agenda to build culture that 'cherishes innocent life'
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COMMENTS

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Preparing an Abortion Persuasive Speech: Essential Steps. The process of writing any persuasive speech includes several steps. And all of them are equally important if you want to craft the best speech possible. Speaking of abortion persuasive essay writing, here are the steps you need to follow to prepare an exceptional speech: Research the topic.
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Here are some facts about abortion that will help you formulate better arguments. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion. The majority of abortions are performed in the first trimester. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures, with less than a 0.5% risk of major complications.
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It should include a call to action or a cliffhanger. Writing experts believe that a rhetorical question works really great for an argumentative essay. Another good strategy is to leave your readers with some curious ideas to ponder upon. Abortion Facts for Essay. Abortion is a topic that concerns most modern women.
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As for me, I have done a certain paperwriting research on the subject and I found out that there is no other right variant for me, than to choose life. I will explain what I mean in this persuasive speech outline on abortion. No matter, how we persuade ourselves, every woman that decides to put an end to her pregnancy understands that it is wrong.
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