Gash, AlisonCarey, MarkYamin, PriscillaWeiss, Hadley2021-07-272021-07-272021https://hdl.handle.net/1794/2657458 pagesThe COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant threat to abortion rights in the United States. Crises that uproot and disorient people are often the ideal circumstances for drastic political change. The shock of a national emergency often creates the ideal circumstances for legislators to enact their agendas, whether or not those agendas are actually beneficial to their constituents in wake of those emergencies. Many conservative leaning states have enacted restrictions or bans of abortions during the COVID pandemic. This thesis asks whether or not conservative legislators have utilized the Coronavirus pandemic to push their pro-life agenda forward. By examining the justifications behind the abortion restrictions and bans during COVID, and by looking at historic instances of legislators utilizing crises to enact unpopular or unconstitutional legislation, I will demonstrate how the many conservative legislators have seized upon the pandemic as an opportunity to restrict abortion.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 4.0AbortionShock therapyCrisesCOVID-19 pandemicState legislatorsThesis/Dissertation0000-0001-5350-5262