Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Donate to our newsroom

Menu

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact
Donate
Home

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Abortion

Even at March for Life, abortion opponents don’t talk about a national ban

Why the rally, featuring prominent Republican lawmakers, emphasized anti-abortion centers instead.

Amidst snow and freezing temperatures, a group of people walk on the Nartional Mall to attend the annual March for Life rally on January 19, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
People attend the annual March for Life rally on the National Mall on January 19, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Shefali Luthra

Reproductive Health Reporter

Published

2024-01-19 12:55
12:55
January 19, 2024
pm

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Republish this story

At this year’s March For Life, the country’s largest annual anti-abortion rally, little was said about federal bans on the procedure, yet another sign of the growing political quagmire abortion opponents now face.

Speakers at Friday’s rally — including House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican — were careful to avoid mention of a national ban. With Roe v. Wade gone, the passage of a federal 15-week abortion ban has become one of the anti-abortion movement’s signature goals. Major organizations such as Students for Life and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America have pressed Republican lawmakers to endorse the policy. But the notion of a ban has become an albatross for the GOP, with poll after poll finding that most Americans oppose efforts to directly outlaw abortion, with that opposition increasing earlier in pregnancy. Even 15-week bans, which Republicans have floated as a moderate approach, have proved unpopular, with one poll finding opposition from about 44 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of independent voters and 70 percent of Democrats.

Some Republican politicians — notably former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump, who are both running for their party’s presidential nomination — have sought to distance themselves from abortion ban proposals. Haley has repeatedly noted on the campaign trail that Congress is unlikely to pass such a policy in the near future. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Rather than touting outright bans, some anti-abortion activists and politicians are emphasizing strategies to invest government resources in anti-abortion centers — also known as crisis pregnancy centers — and bills aimed at dissuading pregnant people from seeking abortions.

Those centers took center stage at Friday’s march.

  • Read Next:
    Greyed out map with text that reads
  • Read Next: What abortion looks like in every state — right now

“This is a critical time to help all moms who are facing unplanned pregnancies — “To work with foster children and help families who are adopting, to volunteer and assist at our vital pregnancy resource center and maternity homes, and to reach out a renewed hand of compassion and to speak truth and love,” Johnson said.

Johnson highlighted two bills House Republicans passed this week. One would block a proposed federal rule meant to keep states from using money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) — one of the programs most often associated with the term welfare — to support anti-abortion centers. Another bill would require that colleges and universities ensure students are aware of any resources “to help a pregnant student in carrying the baby to term,” including anti-abortion centers. 

““We’re passing these bills, we’re marching today because it takes a lot of work to convince people that every single human child, every unborn child has a value,” Johnson said.

With Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House, neither bill is expected to become law. The White House has criticized both bills. Congressional Democrats noted that the proposal around college students would not require students to get information about contraception or abortion, giving them an incomplete picture of their options. 

  • Read Next:
    Letters forming the word VOTE are seen as abortion rights activists protest outside the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center after the overturning of Roe v Wade by the Supreme Court.
  • Read Next: Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states this year

Anti-abortion centers are not regulated as medical institutions and have come under criticism by health care providers for providing misleading and often inaccurate information about people’s pregnancies and about the consequences of abortion. They generally do not have physicians on staff, and while they may offer free sonograms, people who visit those centers say they are often incorrectly told how far along they are in their pregnancies, a finding confirmed by independent research. The resources they offer for pregnant people often do not address the deeper challenges unplanned parenthood can exacerbate, such as economic costs, lack of health insurance and lack of child care. 

“It seems like this bill is not getting at the more structural issues that would help support low-income families,” said Usha Ranji, associate director for women’s health policy at KFF, a health policy research organization.

Still, emphasizing anti-abortion centers could offer a safer political path for Republicans. Though there is little public polling about anti-abortion centers, they are likely more palatable to voters than abortion bans, public opinion experts told The 19th.

But it’s unlikely that the GOP’s debate over a national ban will end any time soon.. 

“Part of the issue with the Republican Party and their inability to craft a coherent message on this is the anti-abortion movement — the social movement — is divided,” said Alisa von Hagel, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who studies the anti-abortion movement. “There are organizations that want to go full board with personhood amendments and complete bans nationwide — go the whole hog in — and there’s a significant number of organizations saying ‘Whoa, read the room, we need to take these more measured, limited approaches that chip away gradually.’”

  • Read Next:
    People walk in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on a cloudy day.
  • Read Next: Doctors face ‘a perpetual rollercoaster’ as abortion returns to the Supreme Court

At Friday’s event, Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, emphasized anti-abortion centers but also praised abortion bans passed in states across the country, including near-total prohibitions on the procedure, calling for more such bans to be enacted. Fourteen states currently ban almost all abortions, two more outlaw the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. Such laws are largely unpopular within their states.

Republicans in Congress have continued to push other abortion restrictions, such as attempting — and failing —  to outlaw mail-based distribution of medication abortion pills and to prohibit states from structuring their Medicaid programs so that they provide insurance coverage for abortion. Federal funds, which make up part of Medicaid, legally cannot be used to subsidize abortion, but states are free to use their own resources to offer that benefit. 

Those proposals have failed to gain traction. But they do indicate the extent to which abortion — and efforts to restrict it — remain potent.

“There have been many times where people — myself included – have massively overestimated their political savvy when it comes to navigating the politics of abortion,” said Molly Murphy, a pollster and president at the Democratic-aligned firm Impact Research. “We look at how poorly positioned they are as a party on this issue — how they’ve paid a political price and seemingly are set to continue to pay a political price.”

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Recommended for you

Two nurses discuss ultra sound results.
15-week abortion bans are the center of Republican debate. Experts say that cutoff is arbitrary.
People react after an abortion rights amendment to the Missouri constitution passed on November 5, 2024, at a watch party in Kansas City, Missouri.
Abortion rights won in seven states — but a Trump presidency makes them vulnerable
Sen. Elizabeth Warren questions Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. during a Senate Finance committee confirmation hearing.
Anti-abortion centers face little regulation. The SAD Act could change that.
President Joe Biden participates in an interview in the Map Room of the White House.
On Roe anniversary, Biden and Democrats point to November as crucial to restoring abortion

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

Explore more coverage from The 19th
Abortion Politics Education LGBTQ+ Caregiving
View all topics

Our newsroom's Spring Member Drive is here!

Learn more about membership.

  • Transparency
    • About
    • Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Community Guidelines
  • Newsroom
    • Latest Stories
    • 19th News Network
    • Podcast
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Fellowships
  • Newsletters
    • Daily
    • Weekly
    • The Amendment
    • Event Invites
  • Support
    • Ways to Give
    • Sponsorship
    • Republishing
    • Volunteer

The 19th is a reader-supported nonprofit news organization. Our stories are free to republish with these guidelines.