Before we go any further, I should note that I am unapologetically pro-choice. Iâve been pro-choice for as long as I can remember. I recall thinking women should be able to have an abortion, if they want one, when I was just eight year old (1972-73).
(New Zealandâs Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Bill was making its way through parliament at the time. It was naturally controversial, and was in the news a lot. Thus, I was aware of the issue.)
As far as Iâm concerned, if you oppose abortion, donât have one. Thatâs your choice. But you donât, or at least you shouldnât, have the right to tell someone else what to do with their body. Even worse, you shouldnât have the right to force your beliefs onto another person. I think itâs appalling that there are actually laws that make abortion illegal in so many countries.
(One of those countries is my own: New Zealand. However, thereâs a criteria allowing abortion in our law that almost all doctors interpret extremely liberally. As a result, abortion is freely available in our public hospitals. Further, a separate privacy law introduced in the 1980s specifically states parents do not have to give permission, or receive notification, in relation to contraception or abortion for minors.)
When I was a child, it just seemed fair to me. As I got older, and got to know more about the subject, my position became stronger and stronger. My opinion is now supported by multiple data, much of which I hope to cover in this post.
In 1973, in a Supreme Court ruling known as Roe v. Wade, US women had their right to an abortion established by law. However, ever since there have been attempts to get that right taken away again. Republicans have adopted this cause as their own. Thus where they control the state government (red states), womenâs right to an abortion is more at risk.
Four years after Roe v. Wade, a law known as the Hyde Amendment came into being. It meant that federal money could not be spent on abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the mother was in danger.
This is obviously an absolute disgrace for multiple reasons, but there are two that I think are the more important than the others.
1. The Most Vulnerable Will Be Affected the Most
Firstly, it means that if youâre vulnerable in any way, itâs much harder to get an abortion. So this law disproportionately affects women of colour, young women, those with a disability, etc. In short, those women who, in general, will have the most difficulty caring for a child. (Women who can afford to do so will simply go to another state to have their abortion.) It means many women will either be forced to continue with a pregnancy which may be physically or mentally dangerous or, in their desperation, they will feel forced to resort to dangerous abortion methods.
Some lawmakers, in their complete lack of compassion or understanding, have even introduced laws to make having an abortion first degree murder. For example, Vox reports that Texan Republican state legislator Tony Tinderholt has introduced a Bill there that would introduce the death penalty for women having abortions. Vox reports he, â says it would make people âconsider the repercussionsâ of having sex.
2. The Effect on Womenâs Health Service Providers e.g. Planned Parenthood
Secondly, the Hyde Amendment makes providers of womenâs health services, like Planned Parenthood, vulnerable to attacks from anti-choice activists.
Planned Parenthood receives half a billion dollars a year from the federal government to help fund the multiple health services they provide, mostly to women. However, anti-choice activists represent them as doing nothing but abortions and are constantly calling for their funding to be taken away. Theyâve even had success in some red states in relation to that.
The reality is that only three percent of Planned Parenthoodâs services relate to abortion. Further, the money they get from the federal government, while significant, only accounts for around 40% of their funding. All anti-choice activists do when they deny Planned Parenthood funding is ensure women, especially those who are poor or otherwise vulnerable, have less or no access to healthcare.
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(Planned Parenthood graphic. Sourced via NPR)
Anti-choice activists know this, of course, but they donât appear to care. Some even freely admit that theyâll do whatever it takes to get a win for their cause. Anti-choice activists call themselves pro-life (and Iâll get to why thatâs a myth later), but some wonât even condemn the extremists within their movement who go so far as the murder of abortion providers. In fact, a small number not only endorse violence and murder, they raise money to support those who carry out such acts. Their opinion is theyâre committing justifiable homicide. In the US at least, theyâre almost exclusively conservative Christians, whose interpretation of the Bible is that God opposes abortion.
 The USA Wants Roe v. Wade to Remain the Law
In the past, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has been a reflection of US society. When the issue of same-sex marriage came before them, for example, they were in large part reflecting the changing views of US society in making it legal.
Therefore, if any cases relating to abortion make it to the Supreme Court, abortion should remain legal too. According to Pew (their emphasis):
About six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) said in a 2018 survey that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 37% who said it should be illegal all or most of the time. Public opinion on this question has been relatively stable over more than two decades of Pew Research Center polling, and there is little difference between the views of men and women.
When it comes to the Supreme Courtâs landmark 1973 ruling, about seven-in-ten Americans (69%) said Roe v. Wade should not be completely overturned, according to a survey conducted in late 2016.
There are demographic differences, all of which readers can probably predict:
1. Democrats are more likely to think abortion should be legal than Republicans.
2. The more educated you are, the more likely you are to think Roe v. Wade should not be overturned.
62% of those with a high school diploma or less;
70% of those with some college education;
74% of those with a college degree;
88% of those with a post-graduate qualification.
think Roe v. Wade should not be overturned,
3. The only area of the country where a majority think abortion should be illegal is the Bible Belt.
 Abortion and the Republican Party (GOP)
The US Republican Party (GOP) has always been anti-abortion. Its official platform on abortion doesnât even make exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
In the past, their attempts to completely take away a womanâs right to choose have been unsuccessful. There has been a lot of success in states that Republicans control though, making it more difficult for women to exercise that legal right. However, the election in 2016 of a misogynist who cares more about the anti-abortion Evangelical Christians that cheer him on than the wishes of the majority of his citizens is a worry for all of us who care about womenâs rights.
Donald Trump and Abortion
Before he was a Republican politician, most of Trumpâs views were more progressive. There was a time when he was pro-choice. But now that he needs to appeal to far-right Christian conservatives, thatâs what heâs doing. During the 2016 election campaign, he was even heard to call for the punishment of women who have an abortion, just like the Christian abortion extremists heâs trying to appeal to.
Those in the Republican party who are anti-choice are taking advantage of having a sympathetic ear in the White House. As a result, theyâre having some success in their moves towards making abortion illegal again.
A safe, legal abortion is a choice that should be available to all woman when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, or one that she doesnât want to go ahead with because of the risk to herâs or the future childâs health or life. But, following the election of Donald Trump, that choice is increasingly at risk.
Why is Trump Supporting a Position a Majority Donât?
President Donald Trump is a populist, and normally he attempts to appeal to the majority. However, abortion is different, for reasons I will get to.
Trumpâs approval rating hasnât made it to 50% the entire time heâs been in office. Itâs never even been above his disapproval rating. He personally feeds off rallies where as many as tens of thousands act as if heâs a rock star, but those crowds are not a true reflection of the US population.
Trump Job Approval (Source: Gallup. Click graphic to go to source.)
 Trump knows deep down that his win wasnât down just to those Evangelical Christians, or even to a majority of USians. Help from the Russians in three key states was what got him into the White House. (The Weekly Standard article: âThe Election Came Down to 77,744 Votes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michiganâ lays the details out clearly.) Within the White House, staff know not to mention things like Russian interference in the 2016 election in front of Trump. He appears to view mere mention of the topic the height of disloyalty. Staff even warn others not to bring the subject up in front of him.
Therefore the few policy positions Trump and his enablers stick to fall into two areas. Theyâre either favourable towards Russia (e.g. GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell has gone so far as to block bipartisan legislation to stop Russian interference in the 2020 elections), or are those Evangelical Christians support. Opposition to abortion, of course, falls into the second of those two categories.
Living in a country that doesnât have separate states, Iâve always had difficulty understanding the issue of stateâs rights. Iâve never seen the point of it. In the past Iâve thought of that as simply a lack of cultural understanding on my part. More and more though, Iâm starting to see it as a dangerous way to run a country. (Itâs not only the US where I see problems. Catalan independence in Spain, and the use of Sharia in Aceh province in Indonesia, are two other examples.)
(Source: Wikipedia. Click graphic to go to source.)
There are several areas where I see having separate states with separate laws causing problems in the US. This is not the place to go down that rabbit hole, but for me one of them is the effect on womenâs rights. It is already appalling that women have less rights than men in what is supposedly the worldâs leading democracy. Whatâs even worse is that women in some states have even less rights than their compatriots in other states.
I believe that attempts to deny women the right to control over their own bodies is as much about controlling women as it is about a belief theyâre saving lives for many anti-choice activists. There are many reasons I have for that opinion, but one relates to the issue of stateâs rights.
On the whole, the states that are trying to make abortion illegal again are the same ones that didnât endorse the Equal Rights amendment to the US Constitution. Take note on the graphic on the right of which states donât think women should have equal rights to men, and you will see they largely correspond with those that are doing the most to try and prevent women from having control over their own bodies.
The Affect of Statesâ Rights on Abortion Rights
There are now six states that have only one clinic remaining that provides abortions thanks to anti-choice activism. They are: Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia. The last clinic left in Missouri may soon have to close. The only thing currently keeping it open is a court order against the latest state law putting impossible conditions on abortion providers.
These states (and others) make laws with unreasonable conditions that are so difficult to comply with, the clinics have no other choice but to shut down. In that way the states arenât actually breaking the law that gives women the right to an abortion, it just means thereâs nowhere for them to go to get one thatâs safe and legal.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 452 clinics in the US that included abortions as part of their services to women in 1996. By 2005 that was 381, and by 2014 it was 272. (There are no data available post-2014.)
 Abortion in Republican-Controlled States
Red states have brought in literally hundreds of laws since 1973 making it more difficult for the women living in them to obtain a safe, legal abortion. Many other laws that sought to do the same have been overturned by the courts due to the advocacy of groups on behalf of women. However, the fact remains that women living in red states have less rights than those living in blue states (i..e. states where the government is in Democratic Party control).
Once again, this is obviously an appalling situation, and one that should not be acceptable to anyone. What should be happening is that women have the same rights across the country. Medical science, social science, and economics all tell us the best thing is for women to have the right to choose whether or not to continue with a pregnancy.
Itâs also the best thing if you really want to reduce the number of abortions. There will be those reading this who object to the way Iâve been framing opponents to abortion as anti-choice. They will say this is about saving the lives of unborn babies. However, that is simply not true. All the evidence, from both the US and the rest of the world, shows that making abortion illegal actually increases the number of abortions. If you really want to reduce the number of abortions, the best way to do that is by making it legal. The leaders of the anti-choice movement know this. This is why they focus on the number of abortions taking place, rather than any other data. (More on this below)
Basically, where the Republican Party is in control of government, women are losing the right to control of their own bodies. Donald Trump, a man who changes his position on issues more often than he washes his hands (and heâs a germophobe), has actually kept one of his election promises, and is on track to keeping another. Unfortunately, both relate to making abortion illegal again in the US.
 Trumpâs First Promise in Relation to Abortion
Trump made a promise that he would only appoint justices to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), as well as judges to other courts, that come with the recommendation of both the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation. That means (among other things) justices who oppose abortion.
Unfortunately, Trump has had the privilege of appointing two justices to the Supreme Court.
The first, Neil Gorsuch, was a replacement for justice Antonin Scalia who died during the presidency of Barack Obama. However, Republican senate leader Mitch McConnellâs (a Trump enabler) absolute refusal to allow a vote on Obamaâs choice (Merrick Garland) to replace him meant it was Trumpâs pick that took the vacancy.
The second, Brett Kavanaugh was, if possible, even more controversial. It was clear he had a history of, at the very least, not treating women as equals. However, all Republicans, and even one (male) Democrat, still voted for him.
As a result, a majority Supreme Court justices are all personally anti-choice. This has led to a hive of activity amongst anti-choice activists in red states. Each wants to be the first to get a Bill from their own state attracting enough opposition from those who are pro-choice that it makes it through the courts to the Supreme Court level. At that point, they hope the Court will take the opportunity to make abortion illegal again.
This, they think will make them heroes in the anti-choice movement, which it probably will. Perhaps more importantly to many, they will feel they have done Godâs will. Thatâs because for most of them, itâs their faith that informs them when it comes to this issue, not the facts.
 Abortion, God, and the Election of Donald Trump
Abortion is one of the main reasons more than 80% of Evangelicals, and a sizable chunk of other conservative Christians, gave Trump their vote in 2016. A majority of Evangelicals even go so far as to believe it was God who made Trump president, and stopping abortion was the reason He did it.
To believe that God made Donald Trump President of the USA sounds, well, unbelievable. However, you only have to do a Google search on the topic to find multiple links to articles and videos of people who believe this. And donât be tempted to dismiss the belief as a coming from a small fringe element either.
Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in an interview in January with the Christian Broadcasting Network:
I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times, and I think that He wanted Donald Trump to become president, and thatâs why heâs there, and I think he has done a tremendous job in supporting a lot of the things people of faith really care about.
That interview continued with an exchange attacking Democrats for anti-Semitism.
(Here, I must compliment all those Trump-supporting a$$hoÂŁâŹ$ marching and chanting, âJews will not replace us,â and âBlood and soil,â in Charlottesville in 2017 for how well they hid their affiliation to the Democratic party. /sarcasm)
Next the interview turned to the issues on the southern border. That led to mention of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) calling the wall âimmoralâ. This somehow enabled Sanders to segue to abortion:
I mean honestly, itâs very hard at this point to even take a lecture from Democrats on what is moral and what isnât. People who are willing to allow legislation to pass supporting late-term abortion, the idea that they would take out, âso help me God in the platform,â the House Democrats have raised this week âŠ
Sarah Sanders views on abortion an God when she was in the White House were by no means unique.
 The Future of Sarah Sanders
The evidence is that Sarah Sanders is returning to her Bible Belt state of Arkansas in order to start campaigning to become its governor. Her father is former Arkansas governor and twice candidate to be Republican presidential nominee, Mike Huckabee. So her chances arenât as remote as you might imagine. However, whether or not she gets the job, her particular set of principles are ones that are typical of a Bible Belt politician.
Governor Huckabee has clearly been a big influence in his daughterâs life. Itâs obviously a good thing for a father and daughter to have a good relationship. However, when that father does things like blame the Sandy Hook massacre on the Bible no longer being in schools, you have to wonder whether some kind of intervention was in order.
Heâs also always made his own opposition to abortion clear. This graphic is from one of his successful gubernatorial races.
And this is an example of a Huckabee tweet (iirc, I made the screen capture of this tweet in 2015):
To me, these views seem extreme, but theyâre typical of the majority in the Bible Belt of the USA. I originally made a copy of the tweet above, and some others by the governor, because I felt an enormous amount of hate emanating from them. I thought about Christians, including the governor, telling people that Christianity is all about love, but I think they express a quite different mindset.
 What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?
As with so many things, itâs pretty hard to get a clear direction from the Bible on abortion. Besides that, Christians are pretty good at only following which parts of it suit them at the best of times. Eating pork, getting tattoos, and even decorating a tree to celebrate Christmas are all things that are forbidden in the Bible. However, you will also have no trouble finding web pages that provide arguments why itâs okay to do those things, no matter how literal your reading of the Bible.
If they want to do something forbidden in the Bible, they will find a way to make it okay. If they want to make a group of people the subject of their derision of hatred, they will.
 The Bible does appear to consider abortion wrong. However, unlike many anti-choice activists, it does not appear to consider it murder. The punishment in the Bible for murder is death. âA life for a life.â Women who abort a child do not face this punishment in the Bible. Therefore, I think itâs safe to assume that abortion is not considered murder.
Thatâs not the interpretation of many conservative Christians though. The conservative Catholic website, Crisis Magazine has a âReproductive Rights Glossary for the UnWokeâ. I didnât know whether to laugh or be angry when I first read it. However, every article Iâve read in the magazine in the past has made me angry, so that is probably what theyâre going for in people like me. (Iâm the liberal, pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, atheist, outspoken feminist you were warned about.) The magazineâs combination of ignorance, intelligence, and influence over a large number of people worries me greatly.
When it comes to information about abortion, Crisis Magazineâs readers would be far better off reading Valerie Taricoâs âRight-Wing Christiansâ Hostility to Science Destroys Livesâ. Itâs one of the best things Iâve ever read on the subject, and I canât recommend it highly enough.
 The Attempts of Republican States to Ban Abortion Nationwide
There are now eight states in the US competing for the title of âMost Draconian Abortion Lawsâ. They are: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Utah. By no coincidence, those states have several other things in common. Theyâre all not only reliably Republican, they are all strong supporters of President Trump. All also have a larger than average conservative Christian population. (Alabama is the most religious state; Mississippi is third; Arkansas is fifth; Georgia is sixth.) Most are also among the most poorly educated states.
Itâs not good for a stateâs economy either. Most of these states are also very poor financially, and their stance doesnât help that. Companies these days are putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to doing the right thing. Several states saw what happened when they tried to enact anti-transgender legislation. The same is now happening with anti-choice legislation. For example, AMCâs flagship TV show, The Walking Dead, is considering leaving Georgia after nine seasons. The reason? Georgiaâs foetal heartbeat bill.
Republicans, Abortion, and Morality
Most countries believe the fallacy that being religious equals being moral. In most Western democracies a majority hold the belief that Christianity equals morality, though this belief is steadily declining. The belief is stronger in the US than most, and conservative Christians in particular believe they have cornered the market when it comes to morality. Since Ronald Reaganâs call to the Moral Majority, Republicans have embraced their role as their countryâs moral police. (This wasnât a new role for them, but it became a greater part of their core identity with Reagan.)
Of course, the reality is that on most measures that society considers represent morality, itâs atheists that are, on average, the most moral US citizens, and a majority of them vote or lean Democrat. (I wrote about this, with the evidence, almost five years ago.) Weâre also constantly getting evidence that the so-called Moral Majority are, in reality, a bunch of hypocrites. It seems hardly a week goes by without another breaking story that exposes a leader of the Moral Majority. A recent one was Jerry Falwell Jr., president of the evangelical Liberty University. (You can see Rachel Maddowâs (MSNBC) excellent take on the events here.)
 The Anti-Choice or Forced-Birth Movement
Those who are anti-abortion call themselves âpro-lifeâ. This moniker could not be further from the truth. As mentioned above, making abortion illegal actually increases the number of abortions.
I am not refusing to refer to them as âpro-lifeâ to get at them in any way, but because the term is simply not accurate. The terms âanti-choiceâ and âforced birthâ are both more accurate, and thatâs why I use them.
I also find it really, really annoying that many in the anti-choice movement represent women who have abortions as simply using abortion as a form of contraception.
Another person, whatever their gender, cannot imagine what any individual goes through when they discover they have an unplanned pregnancy. Some forced-birth activists present abortion as if women use it as a form of contraception. They produce anecdotes of women casually having multiple abortions as if this is common.
The truth is very different. The fact that a woman has chosen to terminate the pregnancy does not mean the choice was easy. For most itâs one of the most difficult decisions she will ever make. On top of that, one of the things that makes it far more difficult is the stigma around that choice. And, it is anti-choice activists who create that stigma. They make what is already a difficult choice far harder. They speak of the emotional harm a women suffers for the rest of her life, but most or all of that harm is because of the rhetoric of anti-choice activists.
The Lack of Compassion of Anti-Choice Activists
What especially concerns me about many of those in the US who are part of the forced-birth movement is that their care for the foetus that canât, in their words, âspeak for itselfâ, does not extend to:
1. The cost of any care of the foetusâ (e.g. healthcare) before itâs born.
2. The cost of any care of the baby/child after itâs born (e.g. healthcare, education, housing, food). This is especially the case if the child they are forcing to be born has some form of special/high needs.
3. The cost of any of the needs of the mother either before or after the birth (e.g. healthcare, child care, interruption in education/career, mental health care).
4. The cost of the needs of the future childâs siblings. The parent/s may no longer be able to afford to help with the cost of tertiary education, for example.
5. The cost of any of the needs of the father (e.g. mental health due to the expectations around caring for a child or a larger family). The Guttmacher report notes that a large proportion of abortions are for women who already have several children. The abortion is because they feel they simply cannot afford another child mentally, physically, emotionally, or financially.
 The Myth of âPro-Lifeâ
Those who oppose abortion say they are doing so to save the lives of all the babies who would have been born if there was no abortion. This is absolute codswallop. The stupidity of it perhaps makes me even angrier than the attack on womenâs rights because of what the truth really is.
Making abortion illegal does NOT mean no more abortions. What it means is:
1.Women being forced by desperation into breaking the law.
2. Women DYING from what is a simple medical procedure when carried out by a properly trained medical professional.
3. More women, especially poor women, suffering long-term medical complications.
4. More women being trapped in poverty.
5. More children suffering because their parent/parents have more children than they can look after financially, physically, emotionally, or mentally.
6. People, especially women, being trapped in unfulfilling (or even abusive) relationships because couples stay together, âfor the sake of the child/ren.â
7. Places like Planned Parenthood forced to close. That means a lack of information about, and access to, contraception as well as other healthcare needs. It also means women who donât have an abortion, which is most of their clients, lose access to healthcare.
Making Abortion Illegal Increases the Number of Abortions
But most of all, the evidence is that making abortion illegal does NOT reduce the number of abortions. The USâs Guttmacher Institute produced a comprehensive study: Abortion Worldwide 2017 (pdf here). It states:
Abortions occur as frequently in the two most-restrictive categories of countries (banned outright or allowed only to save the womanâs life) as in the least-restrictive category (allowed without restriction as to reason)â37 and 34 per 1,000 women, respectively.
Yes, you read that correctly. There are more abortions where it is illegal or heavily restricted than where itâs freely available.
  More Sex Education and More Contraception are the Best Ways to Stop Abortion
It bears repeating. Note those figures in the quote above from the Guttmacher Institute report. There are actually, on average, more abortions in countries where itâs illegal or heavily restricted. The report concludes thatâs because legal abortion usually goes hand-in-hand with better access to, and knowledge of, contraception.
What makes that second sentence important is that Christians from the far right usually not only oppose abortion, they oppose contraception too. Most especially, they oppose education about sex and contraception for teenagers. Their advice is to stay a virgin until you marry and spend your fertile years either pregnant, or trying to get that way.
Valerie Taricoâs article (same one referred to above) was written in response to an initiative in Colorado in 2015. It begins:
When a pilot program in Colorado offered teens state-of-the-art long acting contraceptivesâIUDâs and implantsâteen births plummeted by 40% [3], along with a drop in abortions [4]. The program saved the state 42.5 million dollars [5] in a single year, over five times what it cost. But rather than extending or expanding the program, some Colorado Republicans are trying to kill itâeven if this stacks the odds against Colorado families. Why? Because they insist, wrongly, that IUDâs work by killing embryos, which they believe are sacred. This claim, which is based in bad faith and scientific ignorance, undermines fiscal prudence and flourishing families.
Gloria Steinman was on CNNâs Amanpour recently. They spoke about Alabamaâs new abortion law. She pointed out that before Roe v Wade, one in three women in the US had an abortion. Following it, that dropped to one in four. The US followed the same world trend: the more freely available abortion is, the less it occurs. Therefore, itâs likely that if the anti-choice activists succeed in making abortion illegal again, this will actually increase the number of abortions.
 The Example of Nazi Germany
Like me, Steinman sees the current attacks on womenâs independence as part of the international increase in white nationalism and authoritarianism. She noted that the first impulse of every authoritarian government she has ever studied is to control reproduction because itâs the single thing they canât imitate.
Steinman further pointed out one of the very first acts of that most famous of authoritarians and white nationalists â Adolf Hitler.  When he first took control his bully boys were immediately physically padlocking all the Family Planning clinics. At the same time, he made abortion an act against the state. Abortion doctors were given death sentences, and women wanting abortions were put in prison in order to force them to give birth. Those women he didnât want giving birth (and the men he didnât want fathering children) were either sterilized or murdered.
Iâm not, of course, suggesting thatâs this a path that Trump and the Republicans are going to go down. However, Trump makes no secret of the fact he believes heâs in possession of superior genes. And, the white nationalist movement thinks weâre already in a race war and embrace the theories of eugenicists.
 Alabamaâs New Abortion Law
When I see the photo (below) of Alabama Governor, Kay Ivey, proudly signing her stateâs Bill making abortion illegal, wearing her Republican-red suit, I see the colour of blood. The blood of all the women who will die because of that Bill is on her hands. Itâs also on the hands of the men in the Alabama senate who voted for the Bill. And I say, âmenâ for a reason; not a single woman in that senate gave it her support.
Today, I signed into law the Alabama Human Life Protection Act. To the billâs many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamiansâ deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God. https://t.co/DwKJyAjSs8 pic.twitter.com/PIUQip6nmw
â Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) May 15, 2019
Governor Ivey notes in the tweet above that her faith is the reason for her opposition to abortion. As with most anti-abortion rhetoric, thatâs misguided. Due to a life of being told that by her church, she probably believes that God opposes abortion. But, as so often with the deeply religious, thereâs a failure of independent thought. Like so many of the deeply religious, itâs unlikely sheâs read the Bible from cover to cover. She probably relies on religious leaders for her view on the subject. Thatâs understandable, but a bad example in a leader.
This Act also exemplifies why I think such legislation is more about controlling women. While it prevents women from having abortions, it does not apply to frozen embryos.
 Exceptions for Rape, Incest, and the Life of the Mother
Most abortion bills have exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or if it would endanger the life of the mother. Notably, at least two of these latest bills, Alabama and Missouri, do not have rape and incest exceptions. This is apparently deliberate as the writers of the bills believe this is more likely to get them to the Supreme Court.
However, even most of those who are anti-choice and want to force women to give birth, also want to see an exception for rape and incest. They acknowledge that in these cases a woman should have a choice whether she carries the foetus to term. They can see that the choice of the woman, who is already a person, should take precedence over something that only has the potential to be a person. In such cases, they are able to empathize with the woman.
So, why do they feel differently when a woman becomes pregnant against her will but whose sexual activity was willing? This is often where conservative religion takes control of their thought processes. Sex was a choice, so suffer the consequences. The high failure rate of many contraceptives doesnât move them. If theyâre not married, they shouldnât be having sex anyway.
The Role of Right-Wing Media
Further, thanks to right-wing media like Fox News, many who are anti-choice make the assumption that all women wanting an abortion are single. They think women are using abortion as a form of contraception and itâs something they do easily and casually.
This all gives them a picture of women who have abortions as young, sexually promiscuous, irresponsible, and, most importantly, not behaving in a manner that meets with Godâs approval. In their eyes, such women should suffer in some way. An unwanted pregnancy meets that criteria; everyone will know theyâve been sinning.
(Here, we also see the danger of the Christian belief in free will. I wonât discuss determinism in this post, but in the unlikely event you donât know what it is, look it up. Neither the women or the men, of course, had no choice whether they had sex.)
The interesting thing is, the abortion rate in many religiously conservative states are among the highest in the country. Women from religiously conservative families are able to justify their own abortions while still condemning all other women.
Abortion Rate per 1000 women aged 15-44 (Click graphic to go to source.)
 Why Are Women Wanting An Abortion Different?
Republicans think government should stay out of their lives and there should be as few laws as possible. This rule of no rules, however, doesnât seem to apply when it comes to women. They, it seems, should have to put up with anything, especially if theyâre pregnant. The Federalist Society doesnât believe women should have the freedom to choose what to do with their own bodies. If a woman is pregnant, she should, in their opinion, have to continue with the pregnancy no matter what the circumstances.
While the Republican party says itâs all about removing government from peopleâs lives, again, that doesnât seem to apply to women. They insist they support equality for women, but the evidence does not support that.
Over and over again, when there is legislation in relation to womenâs rights and equality for women, the Republican Party fails to support it.
The GOP is constantly making itself harder to vote for. It has become the party of Trump, and his antics are chasing voter away. Women and people of colour in particular no longer feel they have a place in the party.
However, many voters say they donât care about the things he says as long as the things he changes are ones they like. Conservative and Evangelical Christians are over the moon about a conservative Supreme Court for decades to come. Further, if they vote for him in 2020, thereâs a good chance heâll be able to make another appointment given the state of Ruth Bader-Ginsburgâs health. There is plenty of evidence of religious hypocrisy in the world for any of us to think Trumpâs disgusting racism, misogyny, ignorance, narcissism, and all the rest, will stop them voting for him again.
The Democratic Party has to give voters something to vote for. Voting against Trump wonât cut it. Only with a Democratic administration can a womanâs right to choose start to become safe again.
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  Abortion and the GOP Before we go any further, I should note that I am unapologetically pro-choice. I've been pro-choice for as long as I can remember.
