Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

A wave of pro-life laws continues to sweep the nation. And the wave has caused alarm with abortion defenders. Most recently, United Nations deputy high commissioner for human rights, Kate Gilmore sharply condemned the laws as "hateful" and "anti-women." Gilmore said, “We have not called it out in the same way we have other forms of extremist hate, but this is gender-based violence against women, no question," and “It’s clear it’s torture — it’s a deprivation of a right to health.”  Recognizing human life in the womb and restricting abortion are a lot of things, but are they really extremist hate and gender-based violence?  Using such language undermines credibility. If anything, pro-lifers see the act of abortion as torture. They contend that if there's any gender-based violence, it's toward women since half the babies aborted are female.