Abortion Access

Language, tactics used by anti-abortion movement called misinformation

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The Texas law, SB 8, that bans abortion after six weeks in that state, is called “the Texas Heartbeat Act.”

But there is no heart within the pregnant person’s womb at six weeks after conception, according to health experts. At roughly six weeks, a current of electrical activity begins in a cellular cluster. Abortion rights proponents argue that that is just one way that anti-abortion rhetoric supplies misinformation and disinformation. Anti-abortion groups also coopt the language of social justice movements, including the reproductive rights movement, reproductive rights advocates have said. Adriann Barboa, policy director for the nonprofit organization Forward Together, said some who oppose coronavirus vaccinations and mask mandates use phrases such as, “my body, my choice,” when arguing against getting vaccinated or wearing masks to protect against COVID-19.

Janet Gotkin

Reproductive activist recalls time before Roe v. Wade: ‘It was the scarlet A’

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Janet Gotkin, a long-time feminist, activist and volunteer for the Santa Fe chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), wants to break the silence and stigma around women’s reproductive healthcare. Gotkin remembers a time when young women had unsafe abortions. She also told NM Political Report about when she had an abortion in 1980. Married with two children, Gotkin was ready to launch her career when she found herself pregnant after she’d had a laparoscopy tubal ligation. The procedure had failed, she said.