Republicans think being pro-family means forcing women to have babies
Republicans think being pro-family means forcing women to have babies
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The right to have an abortion is about bodily integrity, equality and, yes, family
abortion. ‘Respecting families means respecting women’s life choices.’ Photograph: Olivier Douliery/Getty Images
It’s not a surprise to me that in the race to win the Republican nomination, the candidates are working hard to find ways to win over women. Each has gushed on stage about their own mothers, or the importance of motherhood, and Marco Rubio made a point in the last debate to talk about the cost of child care. Issues at the top of mind for many women, like reproductive rights and equal pay, of course, will go mysteriously unmentioned.
As the election looms, the Republican’s transparent efforts to appeal to women in the only way they know how will only intensify. As it does, I hope the Democrats will recognize the opportunity they have and call out the right on the shocking hypocrisy of claiming to be pro-women or pro-family while continuing their witch hunt against Planned Parenthood and efforts to stop women from obtaining legal abortions.
Because the truth is that you cannot be pro-family without being pro-choice. The right to have an abortion is about bodily integrity, equality and, yes, family. There is nothing pro-family about forcing women to give birth; respecting families means respecting women’s life choices and ability to have a child if and when she wants to.
One of the most pernicious myths about abortion is that there are two kinds of women: those who get abortions and those who have children. (Let us never forget that Naral Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue was asked by an anti-choicer at a hearing on Capitol Hill if her pregnant stomach was “real”.) But those women are one in the same. Six in ten women seeking an abortion is already a mother, and one of the top reasons women give for having abortions is the desire to be a better parents to the children they have or the children they will have in the future.
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http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/23/republicans-pro-family-force-women-have-babies
