The theme of this year’s anti-abortion March for Life was, “Pro-Life Is Pro-Woman.” Never mind that their movement hosted an admitted sexual abuser – the president – as their speaker, backs his administration’s numerous policies that hurt women and girls, and hasn’t uttered a peep about his plans to block pregnant women from entering the country as refugees or asylees. [1] Not to mention that the logical consequence of banning abortion is sending women to jail, which has already started happening in the United States.

Many in the ‘pro-life’ movement viewed this year’s march as a victory lap, because backing this unfathomably cruel administration has produced a record year for anti-abortion laws [2] and ultra-conservative appointments to the courts that will change the judicial landscape for decades to come. [3]

This can feel bleak, but Reproaction is organizing to shine a light on some hope in this darkness: While abortion has been pushed out of reach for many – and make no mistake, people will be measurably harmed by losing access [4] – abortion is unstoppable. People who experience pregnancy have always and will always find ways to exercise control over their reproductive lives. [5]

We took that message straight to the National Pro-Life Summit on January 25, the day after the March for Life. As abortion opponents and other passers-by scurried around the busy sidewalks outside the Marriot Marquis in downtown Washington, D.C., we passed out this flyer:

Attendees of the conference weren’t too pleased by our light trolling, but we got some thanks from locals who had grown tired of the anti-abortion horde that invaded their city that weekend. We also got thanks and praise from other out-of-town visitors in for the Auto Show and other D.C. attractions. This action was more affirmation of what I already knew, and what abortion opponents need to grapple with: abortion rights are highly popular in this country, [6] and abortion is unstoppable. Particularly with the safe and effective protocols for self-managed abortion with pills, we already have many of the tools we need to build a future where all people can access the care they need.

Sources:

1. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/01/trump-birth-tourism-rule-pregnant-women-visas.html
2. https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2019/03/surge-bans-abortion-early-six-weeks-most-people-know-they-are-pregnant
3. https://www.npr.org/2019/01/02/681208228/trumps-judicial-appointments-were-confirmed-at-historic-pace-in-2018
4. https://www.bustle.com/p/being-denied-abortion-has-a-devastating-financial-impact-a-new-study-says-21731578
5. https://truthout.org/articles/abortion-is-as-old-as-pregnancy-4-000-years-of-reproductive-rights-history/
6. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/most-americans-want-roe-v-wade-stand-survey-shows-n887751