Strange bedfellows: anti-abortion and disability rights advocacy

To characterize the atmosphere surrounding abortion in the United States as a contentious one would be an understatement: few other social issues have inspired such vitriolic rhetoric, divisive legislation, and overt acts of violence as thosewrought by prolife extremists. Though the fight over how and when a woman should be able to terminate a pregnancy has been ongoing, the crusade against abortion has recently taken an innovative twist as pro-life advocates have begun to craft legislation that uses disability rights as a smokescreen to further their cause. In 2016, two states attempted to roll out sweeping pieces of legislation that criminalize abortion when it is sought because of a ‘genetic abnormality’ in the fetus: Louisiana’s House Bill 1019 (HB 1019)1 and Indiana’s House Enforced Act 1337 (HEA 1337) were passed in April and June of 2016, respectively; however, both laws were enjoined by a Federal judge shortly after passage and are temporarily blocked from taking effect.2 Because laws such as these purport to, in theory, protect the lives of individuals with disabilities, traditionally conservative pro-life advocates now paradoxically find themselves on the same side of the abortion debate as traditionally liberal disability rights advocates. In practice, however, laws that criminalize abortion on the basis of genetic abnormality simply carry the veneer of enhancing the position of disabled individuals in society as a means to a very specific end—to discourage abortion. This paper will