The Next Abortion Battle

What A DayMarch 30, 202623:23Alpha 7.0
reproductive-rightspolitical-strategypoliticsleadershippolicy
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0:16

Synopsis

Abortion rates haven't dropped after Dobbs — people are traveling across state lines and ordering medication by mail — and that failure is fracturing the anti-abortion movement into a mainstream faction and a radical wing now pushing bills that would charge women with homicide and make them eligible for the death penalty. Reproductive health reporter Shefali Luthra maps exactly where the next legal battles are headed: Sen. Josh Hawley's push to strip FDA approval from mifepristone, the quiet conservative campaign to replace IVF with "restorative reproductive medicine," and why Republicans have no clean exit from a coalition that keeps demanding policies the majority of Americans reject. If you track how policy gets made — and unmade — under political pressure, this is a sharp, sourced breakdown of the specific legislative levers being pulled right now.

Speakers

Jane Coaston
Shefali Luthra

Episode Breakdown

Discussion on the landscape of reproductive rights nearly four years after the Dobbs decision, highlighting state-level abortion bans and extreme legislative proposals like the death penalty for abortion.

“Do I have to admit that the death penalty is a possibility? Sure. But since the death penalty was reinstated in Tennessee in 1977, there's been less than 200 people that have been sentenced to death and only 16 have been actually executed. None of them women.”

This quote (attributed to a legislator by Jane) attempts to minimize the gravity of the death penalty for abortion by highlighting its statistical rarity, revealing a deeply controversial perspective on justice.

Jane Coaston
1:53
“The bill mercifully failed in a House Committee, but lawmakers in 10 other states have tried putting forth similar bills over the last two years.”

This highlights a disturbing trend that extreme legislative proposals, such as the death penalty for abortion, are not isolated incidents but a recurring effort across multiple states.

Jane Coaston
2:12
“The GOP is trying to thread an impossible needle in legislating women's reproductive rights.”

This concise analysis articulates the significant political challenge the Republican party faces in reconciling its stance on abortion with public opinion and women's autonomy.

Jane Coaston
2:26
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