Freedom, Our Father(s), and the Right to Life in US Congress
Abstract: Every January, anti-abortion activists gather in Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life and in a coordinated move, US Representatives occupy the House chamber, issuing a series of speeches advocating for the “Right to Life.” Analyzing these Congressional speeches, I detail how politicians use appeals to freedom and invoke the “Founding Fathers” as divine sources of guidance as they curtail women’s inalienable right to bodily autonomy and reproductive healthcare.
Keywords: Reproductive Health; Congress; Christian Appeals; Pro-natalism; March for Life
Sarah Kornfield, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication, Women’s & Gender Studies
Hope College
American Exceptionalism, Christian God, and President as Moral Leader: Themes Invoked by Republican Presidents to Proclaim the National Sanctity of Human Life Day
Abstract: This talk examines the intersection of public policy, appeals to Christian Nationalism, and reproductive care access. Using the authority of presidential proclamations, Republican presidents between 1984 and 2021 crafted a narrative of American exceptionalism supported by a beneficent Christian God to support the assertion of human life as conception to natural death. Within this narrative, the president is the nation’s moral leader and God’s proxy in guiding the nation to fulfill God’s plan. By privileging this moral philosophy over a secular humanism and liberal philosophy of individual rights, the president justifies denying women and LGBTQ+ persons their fundamental rights to reproductive care. The talk examines the National Sanctity of Human Life Day (NSHL) presidential proclamations and demonstrates the power of presidential ceremonial speech for advancing the ideology of the unborn child and strengthen the antiabortion movement.
Keywords: Presidential Rhetoric, Antiabortion Rhetoric, Christian Democracy, Unborn Child
Christine M. Willingham, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
University of North Carolina, Wilmington
The Legal Impacts of the Overturning of Roe V. Wade on American Service Members: A Critical Reflection
Abstract: The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization 597 U.S. 215 (2022) overturnedRoe V. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973), rolling back half a century of reproductive health protections and access to legal, safe abortions. Individuals across the U.S. were severely impacted in the immediate aftermath of the Court’s reversal and continue to navigate an uncertain and rapidly evolving social, political, and legal landscape. While the post-Dobbs era has exacerbated existing disparities in many communities, this essay analyzes the unique experiences of military service members who navigate a legal quagmire defined not only by federal legislation and Supreme Court jurisprudence but military regulations and fragmented state laws.
Members of the U.S. military live at the intersection of the federal legal framework, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and the respective laws of their assigned duty stations. This creates significant disparities for service members and their families who face restrictions that impact their access to healthcare and autonomy, such as mandates on where to live, mandates on deployment and mission time frames, and the necessity of navigating chains of command with diverse ideological and religious beliefs. As journalists and researchers have noted, in reproductive health and abortion contexts, service members face more restrictions than their civilian counterparts as a result of Dobbs.[1] Specifically, the Military Health System is governed by federal law, preventing them from performing abortions outside of rape, incest, and life endangerment.[2] Moreover, states are empowered by the U.S. Const. amend. X to establish their own laws, including abortion-related bans and restrictions. Over 40% of military bases in the continental U.S. are in states that have enacted restrictive abortion laws or bans.[3]
Thus, in this video essay, as three feminist scholars working at the intersections of military communication studies, legal studies, and gender studies, we explore the legal and cultural impacts of the overturning of Roe V. Wade on American service members. Building upon our earlier research,[4] this essay provides critical reflections on how the overturning of Roe V. Wade has created significant reproductive health access barriers for American service members that restricts access to necessary care. Further, we discuss the impacts of such restrictions on military recruitment, readiness, morale, national security, and culture and explore how frameworks such as reproductive justice can create better pathways for access to reproductive healthcare, the honoring of service member rights, and overall support military readiness.
[1] Natasha Feldscher, Reversing Roe Would Harm Military Readiness, Abortion-Rights Advocates Warn, Defense One (May 3, 2022), https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2022/05/reversing-roe-would-harm-military-readiness-abortion-rights-advocates-warn/366458/
[2] B.C. Pierson, A. Banaag, M.L. Janvrin et al., Vasectomy Incidence in the Military Health System After the Reversal of Roe v. Wade, Int’l J. Impot. Res. (2024), available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-024-00905-7.
[3] K.M. Hunter, S.O. Meadows, R.L. Collins & I. González, How the Dobbs Decision Could Affect U.S. National Security, 10(2) Rand Health Q.9 (2023).
[4] L. H. Hernández, A. May & V. McDermott, Roe v. Wade and the U.S. Military: Ongoing Battles for Service Members’ Reproductive Rights, 46 Women & Language 293, 293–300 (2023).
Keywords: Military, Servicemembers, U.S. military servicemembers, Legal Disparities, Reproductive Justice, Reproductive Access, Roe V. Wade.
Dr. Amy May
University of Alaska Fairbanks Troth Yeddha'
Dr. Leandra H. Hernández
University of Utah
Dr. Victoria McDermott
University of Alaska Fairbanks Troth Yeddha'