Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, anti-abortion advocates and leaders have insisted they do not want to prosecute people who get abortions, pointing to states that have restrictions in place but also have carve outs specifically exempting patients from prosecution.
This year, however, a growing number of state lawmakers, who are part of the so-called “abortion abolitionist” movement, are filing bills to classify abortion as homicide and allow law enforcement to go after abortion patients. Those bills are picking up more mainstream support.
Though legislation that would punish women for having abortions has not passed any state legislatures, after the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, these bills aren’t just supported by the far fringes of the anti-abortion movement — which prior to 2022, they decidedly were.