WASHINGTON — Abortion rights were under attack from the right in 2013, especially at the state level, despite wide pro-choice support among Americans, according to an annual report released Tuesday by NARAL Pro-Choice America.
States approved 53 laws identified by NARAL as anti-abortion last year, up from 42 in 2012. In addition, NARAL identified what it considers a troubling new phenomenon, “crisis pregnancy centers” that “provide misinformation to women about contraception and abortion.” These problems indicate the need to combat what NARAL representatives called increased Republican extremism on the issue.
The release of NARAL’s report comes just a day before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on a Massachusetts law banning anti-abortion protests within 35 feet of clinics. It also comes a little more than a week before the March for Life, an anti-abortion rally in Washington that the Republican National Committee is encouraging its members to attend.
In its annual scorecard, NARAL gave the nation a “D” grade for failures by state legislatures and Congress to pass pro-abortion legislation.
“We saw the extreme right throw everything at the wall in order to deny women to choose our right to our own reproductive destiny,” said NARAL President Ilyse Hogue at a news conference Tuesday morning at the organization’s headquarters.
NARAL officials cited a Reuters poll that found 70 percent of Americans support the right to abortion as evidence that the country is largely pro-abortion rights. But a 2013 Gallup poll found only 26 percent believe abortion should be legal under all circumstances and that 52 percent believe it should be allowed under certain circumstances.
Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, took issue with NARAL’s interpretation of the numbers, saying “maybe 12 to 15 percent of the country” believe that abortions should be allowed under all circumstances.
“I know a lot of pro-life Democrats in the legislature voting for this as well, so it’s not just Republican extremism,” the anti-abortion organization leader said. “It’s not extreme to want to protect unborn babies and their mothers.”
Restrictions to pro-abortion rights last year included increased regulation of abortion clinics, limits to abortion during early stages of pregnancy and bans on insurance coverage, an issue closely related to provisions of the Affordable Care Act, NARAL said. In the coming months, the Supreme Court will review aspects of the law’s contraception mandate, which requires certain employers to cover reproductive health care without a co-pay.
California passed the most laws supporting abortion rights, according to NARAL’s report, earning the state an “A+” rating from the organization. NARAL awarded an “A+” to Washington state, as well. Half of states received failing grades.
NARAL accused state politicians of undermining the pro-abortion rights agenda by slipping abortion restrictions into unrelated legislation. Donna Crane, NARAL’s vice president of public policy, said the tactic was especially evident in Ohio, where legislators introduced anti-abortion measures into a budget bill, and North Carolina, where lawmakers attached abortion restrictions to a motorcycle safety bill, she said.
NARAL Political Director Erika West said this year the organization is “going on offense” to try to repeal state laws that curtail pro-abortion rights, working to defeat anti-abortion politicians and educating the public about the new restrictions.
