'Abolitionists' Push Legislation to Criminalize All Abortions as Homicide

[Passages]

Measures introduced in 13 states this year would impose criminal penalties on people who obtain an abortion.

by Colleen Scerpella May 5, 2025

Published in partnership with the Center for Media and Democracy

Inside a dingy conference room in the North Dakota state house, Texas attorney Bradley Pierce coolly made the case that the 14th Amendment and biblical scripture require the state to charge anyone who obtains an abortion with murder.

When asked by North Dakota Representative Jayme Davis (D–9) about whether the overtly Christian basis of his reasoning disregarded other people’s freedom of religion, Pierce responded with a wry smile and a comment to match. “Well, you know, I think the Aztecs believed it was okay to rip the hearts out of children and offer them as a burnt sacrifice to their gods, and I think that should be illegal.”

Pierce’s testimony in support of HB 1373, a bill that would criminalize all abortions in North Dakota, was one of more than a dozen heard by the state’s House Human Services Committee on February 5. Other supporters taking the podium that morning inside the crowded Pioneer Room included the son of Democratic career diplomat Susan Rice, the co-executive director of a Wisconsin-based network of crisis pregnancy centers, and a “post-abortive” activist from North Dakota

https://prospect.org/justice/2025-05-05-abolitionists-push-legislation-criminalize-all-abortion/