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Among the things decided in last week’s election were the rights of the so-called unborn. In recent years fertilized eggs inside women’s bodies have begun gaining more rights than the women themselves – an obvious cover for curtailing the right to an abortion. Conservative extremists are pushing what they call “personhood” laws to make this happen. But voters are not having it – at least not in Colorado and North Dakota where personhood measures were soundly defeated, 2 to 1.

But in Tennessee, voters amended their state constitution to say, “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.” The amendment opens the door to draconian measures the likes of which have already been passed by the legislature but struck down by courts.

The reality is that one-third of all American women have had an abortion. But because of the fundamentalist framing of the issue, it has now become a dirty secret, the result of an “agonizing decision.”

GUEST: Katha Pollitt is a poet and essayist, and an acclaimed columnist for the Nation. She has written the books, Virginity or Death! and Learning to Drive. Her latest book is called simply, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights.

Click here to read Katha Pollitt’s work in the Nation Magazine, and click here to find out more about her book Pro.