The Antiabortion Movement’s Track Record: Constant Violence
News coverage of the antiabortion movement tends to omit its history of violence. So we're here to remind you: the antiabortion right has a violent track record, from attacking clinics and patients to assassinating abortion providers.
Antiabortion demonstrators hold a protest outside the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center in St Louis, Missouri. (Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)
Politico’s leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade has generated a fair share of news coverage about the future of abortion rights and the history of the antiabortion movement.
A number of pieces have explored how conservatives got us to this moment and how abortion rights have divided US politics for half a century. Journalists and commentators have examined the judicial philosophy of antiabortion activists, the public’s opinion on reproductive rights, and how abortion became a hot-button topic at election time.
But one topic has largely been missing from mainstream coverage: the role of right-wing violence in the movement against reproductive freedom. Yes, antiabortion forces defeated Roe through dogged political campaigning. But they also used outright violence, including attacks on abortion clinics, doctors, and patients.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.