Student Journalism Contest: All Sides of North Dakota’s Abortion Ban

This article was a winning submission of the 2025 AllSides Student Journalism Contest.  

By Mackenzie Wilkins, Grade 10, New Hampshire, Lean Right Bias

North Dakota’s abortion ban offers a clear example of how the media across all political views view and present the topic of abortion. Abortion is a common and controversial topic within the media. It is a medical procedure which intentionally terminates a human pregnancy. It is one of the topics with the clearest biases shown. These biases range from, “abortion is a fundamental human right,” to “abortion is murder.” Typically, the democratic party supports abortion access while the republican party generally opposes abortion. Historically, there has been much resistance and even criminalization when it comes to this procedure. Throughout the 1800’s, there was much opposition by the American Medical Association (AMA). This resistance grew throughout the years. By 1910, abortion was illegal in every state with some exceptions to save the mothers life (Lewis and Shimabukuro 2). In its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a person may have an abortion up until stages of viability. Later in 2022, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe, no longer classifying abortion as a constitutional right (Honderich). Currently, regulations and laws surrounding abortion vary by state. As of November 2025, 13 states have banned abortion, now including North Dakota. In November, North Dakota’s near total ban of abortion was revisited. Some claimed it was unconstitutional, but overall it was overruled and abortion is a criminal offense within the state. There are exceptions to the ban if the mother life or health is in danger and in the occurance of rape or incest while within the first 6 weeks of pregnancy. People are very passionate and divided when it comes to this topic. 

The centrist view of abortion typically supports legal access, while also supporting restrictions, and recognizes the importance of women’s rights to bodily autonomy, while also recognizing the importance of fetal life. Center-leaning opinions tend to accept exceptions when it comes to rape, incest, and mothers life and health. Center-leaning media outlets have expressed this ban in a more straightforward way, explaining the ban and effects of the ban instead of a more opinionated view on it. One example of a centrist view on this is by BBC. The article “North Dakota court upholds near-total abortion ban” written by Max Matza is clear and concise, explaining the law and its legal consequences. On Reuters, in the article “North Dakota's top court revives state's abortion ban” written by Diana Novak Jones, the ban is presented similarly. It focuses on clearly explaining what happened and the facts of it. 

The leftist views of abortion focus on women's rights, healthcare access, and personal autonomy. They typically focus on the possible harmful effects which could come with the lack of abortion. The Women's Centers states that abortion should be legally supported because, “Legalizing abortion offers significant benefits for individuals and society as a whole. It is a fundamental component of reproductive rights, promoting health, autonomy, and equality” (“Why Abortion Should Be Legal”). This topic was presented with this leaning by both The New York Times and The Guardian. “Abortion Is Once Again Illegal in North Dakota” written by Sonia A. Rao, expresses a leftist view on this ban, as well as “North Dakota supreme court revives state’s abortion ban” written by Carter Sherman. These sources both not only provided the main details of the story, but also quotes which could evoke an emotional response. The Guardian says, “Six women have reportedly died after being unable to access abortions,” and uses the quote “The ban forces doctors to choose between providing care and going to prison” (Sherman). This was said by Meetra Mehdizadeh, senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Overall, these articles use stronger language to emphasize women’s health. 

The right-leaning views of abortion focus on the morality and importance of fetal life, and also a religious point of view. Abortion is commonly talked about alongside Christianity, using these morals to disagree and oppose the topic. These perspectives focus more on fetal life than maternal health. Abortion is often thought of as taking a life, not thought of as healthcare. On Life News, the ban was reported on in an explicitly right-leaning way. The article titled “North Dakota Becomes 15th State to Protect Babies From Abortions” written by Steven Ertelt clearly represents their opinion, even just in the title. Republican perspectives on abortion state that “the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed” (Lipka). Life News shows this with their language, which could evoke hopeful emotions instead of fear. “That means no babies are currently being killed by abortions in North Dakota and that’s good news for pro-life advocates,” said Ertelt. Overall, right-leaning sources focus on the health and lives of the children of our future. 

North Dakota’s abortion ban offers a clear example of how the media across all political views view and present the topic of abortion. Left-leaning media focuses on the health of women and the importance of bodily autonomy, supporting abortion as a right and healthcare. Right-leaning media focuses on human life, morality, and protecting unborn children. These varying sources and biases reporting on the North Dakota abortion ban clearly shows how different media sources can differ and change individuals' understandings. An array of these sources is vital for citizens to be able to form their own opinions and truly know what is happening in their country.

Reviewed by Krystal Woodworth, Marketing Communications Manager (Lean Left bias), Henry A. Brechter, editor-in-chief (Center bias) and Julie Mastrine, Director of Marketing and Media Bias Ratings (Lean Right bias)