Some abortion foes question tactical wisdom of new ban
The new Texas law that bans most abortions in the state has been welcomed by many of the religious leaders who help bolster the anti-abortion movement. Yet some abortion opponents in U.S. religious circles are wary of the law and questioning the movement’s current direction.
The wariness relates in part to the law’s most novel feature, which some critics view as an invitation to vigilantes: It provides no enforcement role for public officials and instead authorizes private citizens to sue anyone they deem to be assisting in an abortion, with the prospect of gaining $10,000 in the process.
The law “has serious downsides” and conveys that anti-abortion activists are willing to engage in “desperate and extremist tactics,” said Charles Camosy, an associate professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University who favors tougher nationwide restrictions on abortion.
“Because it appears to be playing legal games to get around rulings of federal courts, the law feeds the false narrative that pro-lifers don’t have public opinion on our side,” Camosy, a Catholic, said via email.
The law, Senate Bill 8, prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks. It was assailed in a recent column in the National Catholic Reporter, an independent online news outlet, by one of its senior reporters, Michael Sean Winters.
“I fear greatly that the premature implementation of this truly strange law will turn out to be the historic beginning of a backlash against the pro-life movement for which it is ill-prepared,” Winters wrote.
He said the law’s provisions encourage “a kind of vigilante justice we had all thought consigned to old Western movies” and warned that its implementation would likely prompt some women to resort to illegal and potentially risky abortions.
“I am as pro-life as prolife can be, but I detest the pro-life movement, for its short-sightedness, for its moral myopia, for its viciousness,” Winters wrote. “The pro-choice movement is now energized in a way it has not been for years.”
Amid the furor over SB 8, the Catholic bishop of Lexington, Kentucky, John Stowe, issued a broader critique of some elements of the anti-abortion movement, suggesting they pursued their cause while neglecting other pressing social issues.
“Those who vehemently fight legal abortion but are uninterested in providing basic healthcare for pregnant mothers or needy children, who are unconcerned about refugee children or those lacking quality education with no hope of escaping poverty cannot really claim to respect life,” Stowe tweeted.
Among staunch supporters of the Texas law, there’s a degree of disdain for abortion opponents who depict the measure as a strategic mistake.
“The pro-lifers who oppose Texas SB 8 play to lose — or rather they play the part of controlled opposition, paying lip service to the unborn, but not actually acting like real lives are at stake every single day,” said Chad Pecknold, associate professor of theology at The Catholic University of America.
“Whatever happens to Texas SB 8, it will long be remembered as the moment when pro-lifers started playing to win,” Pecknold added via email.
Implementation of the law has elated many top faith leaders in Texas and other states who’ve been campaigning against abortion over the years, including many of John Stowe’s fellow bishops.
“We celebrate every life saved by this legislation,” said the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, which represents the 20 bishops serving the state.
“Abortion does not help women,” the bishops said. “Abortion is never the answer. It is always the violent taking of innocent human life.”
The statement was lauded by Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Naumann acknowledged that the law has sparked controversy but criticized President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for “responding with radical pledges” to block it and other tough anti-abortion measures.