He has worked to counter protests by Operation Rescue, in order to ensure that abortion clinics remain open, and has also helped to escort women into clinics under the duress of abortion opponents' protests.

McDonagh, author of Breaking the Abortion Deadlock: From Choice to Consent, said she has tried to create a stronger legalistic argument for abortion not based on pure choice, but on the necessity of consent.

"The issue is no longer whether it's a women's right to choose; rather it's her right to consent to what [the pregnancy] is doing to her body," McDonagh said.

"She not only has a right to stop it, she has the right to call upon the government to stop it," she added.

McDonagh emphasized her stance by arguing that the abortion debate should not center around the issue of whether a fetus is a person or not.

Mason's academic work centers less around the legalistic debates, and more on the dangers of increasingly militant tactics of abortion opponents.

Mason said she believes the best way to protect abortion rights is to analyze the method of abortion opponents.