Public Opinion of Abortion Criminalization: Understanding the Conflation of “Trafficking” and Reproductive Rights

• In Event: Innovations in Human Trafficking Research—Part 1: Public Opinion and Legal Responses

Abstract

In 2011, when the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was being considered by Congress for its fourth reauthorization, conservative lawmakers argued that part of the allotted funding under the TVPA would fund abortions for trafficking victims. Although the reauthorization bill eventually passed, the introduction of abortion into political discourse about human trafficking has started new debates about the rights of minors and of sex trafficking victims. After the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, lawmakers have introduced and, in some cases, passed “abortion trafficking” which criminalize the act of transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of receiving an abortion. The current study analyzes data from a 2024 YouGov survey on which respondents are asked about their views on such laws. The effects of the use or the word “trafficking” on public opinion of these laws—and the degree to which using the word “trafficking” conflates the debate over reproductive rights with concerns about sex trafficking of minors—will be discussed.

Authors

• Leah C. Butler, University of Cincinnati

• Teresa C. Kulig, University of Nebraska Omaha

• Amber Krushas, University of Nevada, Las Vegas