Abortion’s Deadly DIY Past Could Soon Become Its Future
In September, Trump himself wrote a letter to supporters promising that if elected, he would sign a nationwide ban on abortions after 20 weeks, defund Planned Parenthood, make permanent the Hyde Amendment — the legislative rider that prevents Americans from using federal insurance programs like Medicaid to pay for abortions — and nominate “pro-life justices” to the Supreme Court. With one Supreme Court seat maddeningly open and three sitting justices over the age of 78, this last promise could have a long-lasting impact: It would take only two appointments to get to a Court that would likely overturn Roe v. Wade.
It’s difficult for many on the left to even wrap their heads around this possibility, which is at such sharp odds with how the country regards the rights of women to control their own reproductive systems. Poll after poll confirms that the vast majority of Americans continue to support legal abortion. A Pew study released the first week in January showed support for Roe at a record high of 69 percent, while a Quinnipiac survey conducted after the election put the percentage of respondents who believe abortion should be available in all circumstances at more than double the number who think it should not be legal in any circumstance. When it comes to contraception, the numbers are even more firmly on the side of reproductive freedom: Gallup found last year that 89 percent of Americans believe that birth control is “morally acceptable,” a higher percentage than believe the same about divorce, premarital sex, or gambling. And Planned Parenthood, one of the country’s largest providers of women’s health care, remains a pretty beloved organization; this summer, an NBC News–Wall Street Journal poll found its popularity to be 19 points higher than Donald Trump’s and 20 points higher than the Republican Party’s.
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