Turning Point USA Hosts Campus Event Pushing Death Penalty for Abortion Patients

10.3.25

Click to skip ahead: Hate x Hate reports a nightmare collaboration. Oklahoma’s Anti-Abortion Loyalty Pledge forces healthcare providers who want Medicaid funds to promise they won’t affiliate with pro-choice groups. Anti-Abortion Strategy has some theories about the approval of generic mifepristone. In the States has news from South Carolina, Missouri, and Virginia. Anti-Choice Book: Abortions Make Men Violent reminds us that abusers will do anything besides take accountability. In the Nation, some quick hits. Censoring Abortion has some demands for social media companies.

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Hate x Hate

Well, this is a nightmare collab.

In one of Turning Point USA’s first campus events since Charlie Kirk’s murder, the group is teaming up with abortion ‘abolitionists’—the extremists who want to see women who have abortions punished with the death penalty.

On October 7, TPUSA will host a panel at the University of Alabama titled “All Human Life is Valuable,” featuring Jeff Durbin, head of End Abortion Now, and Bradley Pierce, president of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion (FAA).

In case you need a refresher: FAA is the lobbying group responsible for the rise of ‘equal protection’ bills—laws that would charge abortion patients with homicide, including capital punishment. This isn’t something they’re shy about. Durbin has said explicitly that women who end their pregnancies should be killed:

“If you take the life of a human being, unjustly, then what the state owes you—if it’s proven and it’s true—is capital punishment. You forfeit your right to live.”

Sometimes they’ll soften their language, claiming they’re not personally calling for the death penalty—that juries will. But the intent—and hatred—is always clear. These are men who believe 25% of the American female population should be executed.

And they’re gaining ground. ‘Equal protection’ bills are being introduced more often, picking up more cosponsors each legislative session. Some ‘abolitionists’ are even being elected to office.

Now, they’re partnering with TPUSA—the group that sets the cultural agenda for young conservatives. Think about what a big deal that is: In the aftermath of Kirk’s murder, with every eye on them, this is the kind of event the group has chosen to bring back to campuses.

What makes it even worse, I think, is that TPUSA has spent years zeroing in on young women. They’ve been at the head of the push for ‘tradwives’, warning them off birth control, and urging them to trade careers for children. Kirk himself was known for telling young women to go to college to find husbands, not jobs.

I hope that any young women who’ve been tempted to attend a TPUSA event see this collaboration as a warning—this is what they think of you, this is how they want to punish you.

Oklahoma’s Anti-Abortion Loyalty Pledge

Oklahoma healthcare providers who want to keep getting Medicaid reimbursements will have to sign what amounts to an anti-abortion loyalty pledge—promising that they don’t perform abortions or work with a medical group that does. And in a shocking attack on their First Amendment rights, providers will also have to affirm they won’t refer patients for abortions, or affiliate with any pro-choice organization that “facilitate[s] the procurement” of abortions.

In other words, Oklahoma wants to punish anyone providers who might volunteer or associate with an abortion fund—or who dares to send a patient for out-of-state care.

We knew this pledge was coming: Abortion, Every Day reported last month that Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt had signed an executive order that would strip Medicaid funding from any provider who directly or indirectly engaged in “abortion-related activities,” or who wouldn’t sign an attestation promising as much. This week, Oklahoma’s public radio station KGOU reported that providers received those attestation forms, which you can read here.

The pledge asks the respondent to affirm that they don’t “perform, refer for, or are affiliated with the performance of abortions,” and that they aren’t “affiliated with a physician, medical practice, or other organization providing abortion services or facilitating the procurement of abortion services.”

In other words, Oklahoma healthcare providers will be living under an anti-abortion gag rule. And while the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) tells providers in a letter that failure to sign the attestation forms by November 21st “will be considered non-compliance” that could result in their contracts being terminated, KGOU reports that the group’s board isn’t happy.

They have issues with the obviously “vague language” and have pushed back with suggested changes. Especially because there are serious consequences for providers found to be in violation of the attestation. From Vice Chairman Alex Yaffe:

“There are significant repercussions with medical boards, with insurance, other commercial insurance carriers, with malpractice insurance carriers…Because if you lose a federal contract, that stays with you your entire life, and you may not get any other contracts.”

We’ll keep you updated as we find out more, but consider this yet another reminder that they are coming after speech along with everything else.

Anti-Abortion Strategy

If you’re still trying to figure out why Trump’s FDA approved a generic form of mifepristone, I broke it down in a video earlier today. The short version, which I also laid out last night, is that the agency didn’t really have a choice. The FDA was just following guidelines and checking a box—not signaling anything new about how this administration is thinking about abortion pills.

Still, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything political happening here: As Reproductive Freedom for All president Mini Timmaraju pointed out during our livestream, the Trump administration loves to have it both ways: on the one hand, they’re attacking mifepristone through this FDA/HHS ‘review’. On the other, they’re getting a ton of headlines today that make them look almost pro-choice for approving a generic.

The White House knows abortion rights are incredibly popular—so they’ll gladly take credit, even though the FDA is just following normal protocol.

Here’s what I can’t stop thinking about, though: anti-abortion groups have been responding with so much anger and disappointment despite knowing that the FDA’s hands were tied. So why react as if this was some big, political decision? This may veer into tinfoil hat territory, but I think there’s a chance it’s a strategic play: by feigning upset, the anti-abortion movement helps the Trump administration look reasonable or ‘moderate’ on abortion.

That way, if the the administration does move on mifepristone at some point, they can point to those pissed off press release and say: See? Both sides are mad at us—we’re just taking the middle ground!

Just something to consider.

In the States

Let’s check back in with South Carolina, where an all-male committee of legislators heard testimony this week about one of the most extreme anti-abortion bills in the country. SB 323, among other nightmares, would open up abortion patients to homicide charges, ban some kinds of birth control, and make pro-choice websites illegal.

First, I just want to note how frustrating it is that while a state actively considers giving women the death penalty for abortion, there hasn’t been meaningful national coverage. This is a big deal—and a sign of the rapid normalization of misogynist extremism. Surely one or two mainstream outlets could have picked up the story!

There has been a lot of social media outrage, however, and incredible local coverage. That’s why anti-abortion groups are in damage control mode—rushing to put out statements about where they stand on the bill.

Some groups, like South Carolina Citizens for Life, are opposed, claiming to object to the criminalization aspect of the legislation. But let’s be clear: what they’re actually opposed to is the optics. Pregnant people regularly face criminal charges thanks to anti-abortion policies—because bans inherently punish women. Still, several South Carolina anti-abortion groups came out to oppose the legislation’s mandate that abortion patients be charged with murder.

But anti-abortion ‘abolition’ group Equal Protection South Carolina is eager to get this bill across the finish line—and to put abortion patients behind bars. A spokesperson for the group said, “Failing to treat the murder of preborn children as homicide in the same way that we treat homicide of born persons violates God’s law, the U.S. and state constitutions.”

Here’s the truth: However much ‘mainstream’ anti-abortion groups want to distance themselves from this kind of language, abortion ‘abolitionists’ are just saying the quiet part out loud. Remember, it wasn’t so long ago that Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins admitted that the only thing keeping the majority of the anti-abortion movement from publicly supporting the jailing of women was popular opinion.

Need a palate-cleanser? Take a quick look at the incredible turnout of South Carolina activists during the committee hearing:

Courtesy of Andrea Boyd

Missouri Republicans are still trying to overturn the will of voters, who passed a pro-choice amendment in November. GOP lawmakers are putting abortion on the 2026 ballot, asking voters to codify a ban—though at no point does the amendment make that clear. In fact, Republicans are making the ballot measure sound as pro-choice as possible in order to trick voters—down to calling it ‘Amendment 3’, the same name as the pro-choice measure passed last year.

That’s why a judge asked Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to rewrite the ballot summary proposal. Hoskins came back with a summary that was still “insufficient and unfair,” according to the judge, because it didn’t tell voters that it would overturn last year’s pro-choice ballot measure. The ACLU argued that the state must alert voters “that they are being asked to repeal, not merely amend, the right to reproductive freedom.”

So Hoskins came back with a second rewrite—but it still doesn’t make clear that abortion rights are on the line! It asks voters, for example, if they want to “guarantee women’s medical care for emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages,” which makes it sounds as if the measure would protect abortion rights. The summary also says it would “repeal Article I, section 36, approved in 2024,” but doesn’t make clear what the amendment is.

It’s just farcically misleading.

If the judge doesn’t approve of this version, Hoskins can try it once more before the judge will rewrite himself.

“This ideology around giving rights to embryos and fetuses is not theoretical. It has real-world implications, devastating implications for the rights of pregnant people.”

- Dana Sussman, senior vice president of Pregnancy Justice, on the group’s discovery that over 400 people were arrested on pregnancy-related charges in the first two years after Dobbs.

I hate that we have to keep writing about this, but the Washington Post has more on the field day Republicans are having with the rumor-driven, high school abortion scandal in Virginia. Since August, Virginia Republicans have been pushing the nebulously-reported story of a Fairfax County high school counselor who allegedly helped two 17-year-olds access abortion years ago. As of this week, the Trump administration finally got involved, with the Education Department ordering Fairfax County Public Schools to investigate the claims.

Note that this comes after Gov. Glenn Youngkin already ordered Virginia State Police to investigate the matter earlier this summer. As we wrote earlier this week, the Trump administration’s intervention is all about piling on and making an even bigger spectacle of this story—especially in the lead-up to vital Virginia elections.

Candice Jackson, the Education Department’s acting general counsel, said in a statement, “It is both morally unconscionable and patently illegal for school officials to keep parents in the dark about such intimate, life-altering procedures pertaining to their children.”

But again, we don’t even know if this happened. It’s also hard to believe Jackson cares that much about young people’s safety, seeing as she’s the same Education Department official who in 2017 claimed that “90%” of college sexual assaults “fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk.’”

The ‘pro-life,’ ‘protect our children’ party, everyone!

Anti-Choice Book: Abortions Make Men Violent

There’s no low that anti-abortion activists won’t stoop to in their quest to malign abortion. For a long time, the movement has claimed ‘fathers’ of embryos have innate rights over the pregnant person. Now, they also seem to be claiming that violence from those ‘fathers’ is a natural response.

In an op-ed at the National Catholic Register, the founders of an anti-abortion group that works with men write that “fathers who were powerless to stop an unwanted abortion are especially vulnerable to emotional trauma after abortion.” Quoting a book written by one of their staff, they say, “Some become violent, and this can lead to criminal behaviors that might eventually land them in prison.”

Mind you, at the same time they’re saying things like this, anti-abortion activists are also desperately and baselessly trying to equate abortion access with abuse and ‘coercion’!

Of course, not only is abortion access essential for many victims to get to safety—and not only are abortion bans associated with heightened abuse—but anti-abortion leaders have also partnered with controlling men to sue or take legal actions over their partners’ abortions. Now, they seem to be justifying violence from men who don’t accept their partners’ reproductive choices—a classic act of abuse.

This is who the anti-abortion movement is. Remember that next time they try to bring up ‘coercion.’

In the Nation

• NPR has more on the mifepristone lawsuit that’s been moved to be heard by Missouri judges;

• In better news abroad, Spain may soon make abortion a constitutional right;

• And always read law professor Mary Ziegler—she’s at Slate writing about the the Trump administration’s attacks on abortion pills, and in The Boston Globe explaining the administration’s move to use the FACE Act to go after pro-Palestinian protesters.

Censoring Abortion

Last month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation launched the Stop Censoring Abortion campaign to name some of the platforms doing just that—and flag misused policies targeting abortion pill information. (Like blocking users for “trying to sell drugs” if they direct you to where you can buy abortion pills.)

Now, EFF is issuing demands for online platforms to better handle abortion-related content and mitigate unfair censorship and moderation. These five demands include:

1. Clear and understandable policies

2. Enforce rules consistently and fairly

3. Provide meaningful transparency in enforcement actions.

4. Guarantee functional appeals

5. Expand human review

All of these demands could go a long way for online content related to reproductive health. A majority of creators and nonprofits who share content about issues like this report that their posts have been taken down and flagged for violations. By contrast, the Center for Intimacy Justice reports that extreme content, sometimes promoting hate or displaying excessive gore, thrives on these same platforms.

And a reminder: Abortion censorship doesn’t just come from private companies like Meta. Texas and South Carolina recently introduced bills to stop internet providers from platforming pro-choice groups and information on abortion pills. And the federal Kids Online Safety Act bill in Congress would create a world where GOP states to potentially block abortion-related websites to ‘protect children.’