Abortion: It's about pro-legalization vs. pro-criminalization

On the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, Barbara O'Brien at The Mahablog suggests a better way of framing the abortion debate than "pro-life" vs. "pro-choice":

Of course it's highly inaccurate and inflammatory to frame the debate in terms of being pro-abortion and anti-abortion. The phrase "pro-choice" isn't entirely accurate either, however, because where abortion is illegal women still choose to have them; they just have to go underground to have them. And underground abortions are far more dangerous to women. The real difference is whether one believes abortion, including abortion for medical cause, should be criminalized in all or most circumstances; or whether one believes elective abortion should remain legal for at least part of the pregnancy and abortion for medical cause through all of it. For that reason I'd rather talk about criminalization versus legality rather than pro- or anti-choice.

The framing of the debate as pro-abortion vs. anti-abortion is particularly meaningless because (1) no one is pro-abortion, and (2) the groups that call themselves "anti-abortion" refuse to support policies that would actually reduce the number of abortions. As O'Brien points out, not one "anti-abortion" organization in the United States supports the use of contraception. Their activism extends to making abortion illegal — and that's it.