A Spark of Light

Reproductive rights are a central issue in A Spark of Light, and the characters grapple with questions of morality and access. Abortion access—and reproductive rights more broadly—continues to be an important and much-debated issue in the United States. The US Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973 in the landmark case Roe v. Wade, which argued that abortion was protected under the right to privacy. This right to privacy was understood to cover medical privacy between a person and their physician and was also the logic used to provide federal protection for contraception in the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut. Though Roe was a contested decision, responses to Roe and to the morality of abortion varied. As religion scholar Samira Mehta writes, “Formal religious teachings on abortion are complex and divided—and official positions aside, data shows that over and over, the majority of Americans, religious or not, support abortion” (Mehta, Samira. “There Is No One Religious View on Abortion.” The Conversation, 13 June 2022). Several characters in A Spark of Light are deeply religious, and though their faith informs their actions, they have differing views on the morality of abortion.

In 2018, Mississippi passed a state law that banned the majority of abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The only remaining abortion clinic in the state, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, sued state health official Thomas E. Dobbs, arguing that the law was unconstitutional and violated previous law in the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The US Supreme Court reached a decision on the matter in 2022 with Dobbs v. Jackson, which not only upheld Mississippi’s law but also went further and overturned Roe, making abortion an issue for state legislatures. The majority argued that Roe had been decided in error and that there was no federally protected right to privacy. Since July 7, 2022, abortion has been illegal in Mississippi, except in cases of rape or where the mother’s life is in danger. Opponents of the Dobbs decision have noted that the overturning of the right to privacy has repercussions for many other previously protected rights, including interracial marriage, marriage equality, and contraceptive access.

George Goddard’s fictional attack on the Center is influenced by several real-life examples of violence against abortion providers. In 1993, Dr. David Gunn was shot outside his Pensacola clinic during an anti-abortion protest. The killer, Michael Frederick Griffin, shouted, “Don’t kill any more babies,” before opening fire. This attack was the first incident of a doctor being murdered for providing abortion services but was followed by a wave of killings in the 1990s (Lithwick, Dahlia. “The Murderer Who Started a Movement.” Bunk History, 31 Oct. 2017). The National Abortion Federation tracks incidents of violence against clinics and providers. According to a recent report, “Since 1977 there have been 11 murders, 42 bombings, 200 arsons, 531 assaults, 492 clinic invasions, 375 burglaries, and thousands of other incidents of criminal activities directed at patients, providers, and volunteers” (“Violence Against Abortion Providers Continues to Rise.” National Abortion Federation, 2023). The report also notes that there has been “a sharp increase in violence and disruption” in the last two years since Dobbs v. Jackson.