What Will Chris Smith Want in a World after Roe?

With the Supreme Court poised to allow state bans on abortion before viability, it is time to consider what reproductive rights will look like in a world after Roe. New Jersey has passed the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act to establish the right to an abortion in our state, but this won’t be enough to permanently guarantee reproductive freedom in our state.

Anti-abortion members of Congress will still pursue a federal abortion ban and chip away at access wherever they can. But there is another potential attack on reproductive freedom, centered around the “personhood” movement, that has ramifications far beyond abortion access.

“Personhood” seeks to grant the full constitutional rights of a person - to two cells - from the moment of fertilization. Chris Smith, R NJ-4, has been a proponent of “personhood” for decades, and has supported “personhood” legislation, including amending the Constitution, at least twenty-two times.

If “personhood” is enshrined in law, a federal ban on abortions - via legislation or judicial ruling - may soon follow, but the fallout wouldn’t end there.
Under “personhood,” families seeking IVF would face almost insurmountable hurdles, because storing or disposing of any extra fertilized eggs would surely be deemed illegal.

Additionally, granting constitutional rights from the moment of fertilization could lead to restrictions on some of the most popular forms of birth control.

Smith and “personhood” advocates consider anything that prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb an abortion-inducing “abortifacient.” While the primary function of oral contraceptives and IUDs is to prevent ovulation, they also prevent implantation as a backup.

Smith has said he doesn’t oppose birth control pills, but his own definition of an abortifacient conflicts with the science of how oral contraceptives and IUDs occasionally function. By potentially preventing implantation, these contraceptives meet Smith and the “personhood” movement’s qualifications for an abortion and could violate a blastocyst’s constitutional rights.

Last June, Smith showed that his support for “Personhood” has not waned when he voted against legislation to provide free contraceptive coverage to veterans. Smith made no statements on the bill, but others who opposed it cited the inclusion of emergency contraceptives that are designed to function the same way as traditional birth control pills – by delaying ovulation and possibly preventing implantation, but not terminating an established pregnancy.

26 Republicans voted for the law, and Congressman Mike Bost, Republican of Illinois, pleaded with his colleagues to see reality:

“I have really weighed this out and prayed this out and sought the language and read the language. My life has been a pro-life life. I am not changing those positions, and this bill doesn’t change that position either. I have taken the counsel of doctors who are familiar with the mechanics of birth control that are being afforded here. They are not abortion.”

Apparently, to Smith, they were.

Voters have and may continue to accept Smith’s anti-abortion views. But whether or not they would accept a “personhood” agenda that overrides state laws protecting abortion rights and potentially outlaws birth control pills, IUDs, or IVF is unknown. While some may consider the prospect alarmist and a political impossibility, Smith’s history suggests that he may well try. At the very least, voters should know what Smith will advocate for in a world after Roe.

Smith could clear this up by simply speaking, but he hasn’t. Alternatively, voters could ask, but Smith refuses to hold a town hall. Smith’s constituents are therefore at the mercy of the New Jersey press to ask questions for them. That no journalists have asked Smith about the future of reproductive rights in America is a disservice to those who live in his district. Absent clarification from Smith, we must rely on his record which suggests that his mission to restrict all manner of reproductive rights - potentially including common forms of birth control - is far from over.