5.9.22
As much as the National Republican Senatorial Committee would like Republicans to stay away from the abortion issue except to insist they are compassionate and caring about life, it isn't really working. There is little hope of eliding the consequences of their decades-long crusade to send women back to back-alley butchers. Nonetheless, they are haplessly trying to pretend that they are truly committed to helping all the people who will be forced to give birth against their will once the right to abortion is overturned. It's not credible: According to the National Women's Law Center, Mississippi has the highest poverty rate for women in the nation, one of the highest uninsurance rates for women in the nation and ranks last in the country for women's and children's health outcomes. If they revere life so much, why have they been punishing the poor women and children in their state who chose not to get abortions for the past 50 years? When Republican House leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said that removing exemptions for rape and incest simply went too far, "at least 11 US states – including Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas – have passed legislation that bans abortion without any such exceptions." The idea has taken off like wildfire.
And as much as they insist that they aren't coming for contraception — they're coming for contraception. Governors and statehouses are already passing draconian laws, testing novel new legal theories and pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable even two years ago. Yet Republicans have been all over social media and cable news over the last week insisting that Democrats are being overwrought in their reaction, that they aren't going to see much change in the status quo and everyone just needs to calm down. But as you can see, the status quo is changing very, very quickly. Governors and statehouses are already passing draconian laws, testing novel new legal theories and pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable even two years ago. Yet Republicans have been all over social media and cable news over the last week insisting that Democrats are being overwrought in their reaction, that they aren't going to see much change in the status quo and everyone just needs to calm down. But as you can see, the status quo is changing very, very quickly.