THE WEEKLY SPOTLIGHT: WTAF?

Donald Trump’s new press secretary has links to an organisation whose founder advocates executing women for abortions. New polling reveals opposition to abortion bans in America’s Deep South. And in Scotland the SNP has been forced into a U-turn over an anti-abortion conference event.

Quite a week.

Trump’s New Press Secretary. 

Donald Trump’s new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, has barely settled into the job and already faces questions about her legal credentials, her first press briefing and her history of anti-abortion activism.

But one detail stands out.

Until February this year, Zacharia served on the advisory board of White Rose Resistance, an organisation founded by anti-abortion activist Seth Gruber.

Gruber has advocated executing women who have abortions, including in public squares.

The founder of an organisation previously advised by the White House press secretary has called for women to be put to death for ending pregnancies.

Zacharia has not publicly endorsed that position herself. But she has praised her involvement with White Rose Resistance and promoted false claims linking abortion medication to the chemicals used in Nazi concentration camps.

Her appointment comes as parts of the US anti-abortion movement are becoming increasingly explicit about criminalising abortion patients themselves.

Students for Life, one of the country’s most influential anti-abortion organisations, has also discussed moving towards homicide charges for women who have abortions.

For decades, many anti-abortion organisations reassured the public that women were victims who would never face punishment.

That distinction is increasingly being challenged by activists within the movement.

READ: USA Today – Trump’s New Press Secretary and Her Anti-Abortion Connections

READ: The New Republic – Katie Zacharia’s Abortion Pill Claims

Meanwhile, the Deep South Has Other Ideas

Nearly 70 percent of voters in America’s Deep South oppose government abortion bans.

That is the finding highlighted in new polling analysis covering Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.

Just 8.2 percent of respondents said abortion should never be permitted.

The research also found that support for abortion rights across the South rose by 14 percentage points between 2018 and 2024.

These are states where some of the harshest abortion restrictions in the US are already in force.

The findings challenge familiar assumptions about what conservative voters actually believe, particularly when asked whether government should have the authority to ban abortion.

And with the midterm elections approaching, the distinction between public opinion and existing state laws is politically significant.

READ: Jessica Valenti – 2026 Election Abortion Polling in the Deep South

Scotland: SPUC Gets an Invitation. Then Gets Shown the Door.

The SNP found itself facing a backlash after allowing the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) to hold a fringe event at its annual conference in Aberdeen.

SPUC has campaigned against abortion rights for decades.

Its planned discussion focused on coerced abortion, but SNP members and politicians challenged the decision to provide the organisation with a conference platform.

The party subsequently cancelled the event and SPUC complained that the decision undermined freedom of speech.

The controversy raised a wider question about the distinction between addressing reproductive coercion, which is a serious issue, and giving a platform to organisations campaigning for restrictions on abortion.

For campaigners who objected to SPUC’s presence, the cancellation was a significant result.

READ: The National – SNP Faces Backlash Over Anti-Abortion Conference Event

FINAL THOUGHT 

There’s a striking contrast between a White House appointment involving someone with links to an organisation advocating extreme criminal penalties for women having abortions and polling showing widespread opposition to abortion bans in conservative US states.

It shows how important it is to look beyond the headlines, examine who is shaping policy and ask whose views are actually being represented.