In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton said abortion should be "safe, legal and rare," a slogan that persisted among Democrats for years. It was a position on which pro-choice and pro-life activists could ostensibly agree, since it implied abortion is something to avoid.
Pro-choice advocates have moved from framing abortion as something that should be "rare" to something that should be accessible to any woman who needs it, though they strongly advocate for policies that reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, which in turn reduces the need for abortion. Pro-life advocates say eliminating abortion is a chief goal and they view pro-life legislation as a key way to accomplish it.
"The pro-life movement is ultimately seeking the day that every human being is both protected in law and welcomed in life," Israel said. "There's acknowledgment that there's a public policy piece of this, but there's...