Great discussion. Regarding unsafe abortions, I think it's interesting to note that the Pussy Hat Rally has implored abortion advocates to retire the coat hanger imagery because it might dissuade people from seeking the good kind of self-induced illegal abortion.
That being said, I think it seems disingenuous to appeal to the safety of abortion pills when we're trying to restrict them to the fullest extent possible (pro-life advocates should demand that the next pro-life president withdraw the FDA approval of RU-486). It's a bit like saying that women won't die of unsafe abortion because they'll just go to another state. Well, yes, but the pro-life movement's core mission is to implement either a 50-state abortion ban or fifty single-state abortion bans. The thought experiment is good though; for the longest time, after-birth abortion was indeed the only effective method.
The Warren Hern quote is as follows:
"We have reached a point in this particular technology where there is no possibility of denying an act of destruction. It is before one’s eyes. The sensations of dismemberment flow through the forceps like an electric current."
I'd also add a fourth step for pro-life advocates to take: register and make a plan to vote in the midterm election. If Democrats retain control of the House and net two Senate seats, they will (at minimum) nuke the filibuster and codify abortion on demand up to birth into law (removing even modest limits like parental consent). Nearly all House Democrats (except Henry Cuellar) and all but one Democratic senator voted for the Women's Health Protection Act that was designed to do this very thing. They are also likely to get rid of the Hyde Amendment, ensuring tax-funded abortion, and may pack the Supreme Court so Roe v. Wade can be reinstated (though personally I think court-packing was meant more as a threat to deter the Supreme Court from overturning Roe, one that wasn't credible because Democrats didn't have the votes to nuke the filibuster). Adding DC as a state and passing election reforms so that Democrats can stay in power for longer are also on the table.
I can't do justice to the incredible victory that Dobbs was, but it will all be for nothing if November goes badly. Republicans are currently favourites to win the House, but the election is still over three months away (we're closer to the Big Leak than to the election) and we can't be complacent.
https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/09/28/womens-march-organizers-no-handmaids-tail-outfits-or-coat-hanger-images-allowed/
That being said, I think it seems disingenuous to appeal to the safety of abortion pills when we're trying to restrict them to the fullest extent possible (pro-life advocates should demand that the next pro-life president withdraw the FDA approval of RU-486). It's a bit like saying that women won't die of unsafe abortion because they'll just go to another state. Well, yes, but the pro-life movement's core mission is to implement either a 50-state abortion ban or fifty single-state abortion bans. The thought experiment is good though; for the longest time, after-birth abortion was indeed the only effective method.
The Warren Hern quote is as follows:
"We have reached a point in this particular technology where there is no possibility of denying an act of destruction. It is before one’s eyes. The sensations of dismemberment flow through the forceps like an electric current."
https://www.drhern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/staff-reaction-de.pdf
This man belongs in jail.
I'd also add a fourth step for pro-life advocates to take: register and make a plan to vote in the midterm election. If Democrats retain control of the House and net two Senate seats, they will (at minimum) nuke the filibuster and codify abortion on demand up to birth into law (removing even modest limits like parental consent). Nearly all House Democrats (except Henry Cuellar) and all but one Democratic senator voted for the Women's Health Protection Act that was designed to do this very thing. They are also likely to get rid of the Hyde Amendment, ensuring tax-funded abortion, and may pack the Supreme Court so Roe v. Wade can be reinstated (though personally I think court-packing was meant more as a threat to deter the Supreme Court from overturning Roe, one that wasn't credible because Democrats didn't have the votes to nuke the filibuster). Adding DC as a state and passing election reforms so that Democrats can stay in power for longer are also on the table.
I can't do justice to the incredible victory that Dobbs was, but it will all be for nothing if November goes badly. Republicans are currently favourites to win the House, but the election is still over three months away (we're closer to the Big Leak than to the election) and we can't be complacent.