I have long maintained that the pro-choice position, when all relevant things are considered, is actually more pro-life than is the strict anti-abortion position. Because of draconian anti-abortion laws now on the books in hard-right conservative states, it has become riskier than ever before for a woman simply to become pregnant. In these states, any woman who has any health or life-threatening issues resulting from her pregnancy is in danger of not getting the best medically appropriate treatment to protect her health or even her very life. In these states women have, in some cases, been investigated and prosecuted merely for having a miscarriage, which occurs in something like a quarter or more of all pregnancies, sometimes even before they knew they were pregnant. Doctors can be suspected and prosecuted by ignorant politicians even in the case of ending ectopic pregnancies, which have zero chance of resulting in a live birth and can seriously endanger the life of the woman if not expeditiously ended. Ob/Gyn medical specialists are becoming reluctant to practice in and are fleeing such states, for fear of being criminalized merely for practicing some medically sound procedures needed to treat women endangered by problem pregnancies.Republicans have been telling us for years that they care so deeply about the lives of babies in this country, and that’s why they are obviously anti-abortion. But reports have been out for a while showing that babies are being found in dumpsters and ditches across the state of Texas, and those very same “pro life” Republicans are completely silent. It was never about the life of an infant – it was always about controlling women, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.
For decades, we have been told by these so-called pro-life Republicans that they just care about the lives of the babies. They want babies to live and flourish and have a chance in this world. And that's why we have to stop those evil old abortions, right? Because they care so deeply about the babies lives, these Republicans do. And of course, ever since the overturning of Roe versus Wade and then all these statewide abortion bans, Republicans have reiterated that, Hey, we're just trying to protect innocent life, they call it. Which is why it is remarkable right now that Republicans are completely silent about a devastating trend happening throughout the abortion ban state of Texas. And that is that babies, most of them dead, are being found in dumpsters and roadside ditches across the state of Texas, dead babies in dumpsters that people just dumped in there.
And the pro-life crowd has been eerily silent about this. Those people who care so much about the lives of the unborn do not give a about babies once they exit that birth canal. You're on your own kid. Best of luck to you. And by the way, yeah, this is what happens when you ban abortions. This is what happens when you take the state funding from Texas that is supposed to go towards telling parents that, Hey, we do have safe haven laws. You can drop the the infant off with authorities no questions asked and give it up for adoption. But instead of spending the a hundred plus, I think it's more than 160 million they have allocated on those programs. Instead, they've spent the money in Texas on anti-abortion messaging.
Babies are dying. Women are dying from the abortion ban too. But babies are dying right now in a state that banned abortion to protect the lives of babies. And all these pro-life activists, all these pro-life Republican politicians are dead silent on this issue. And we all know why. It was never about protecting the lives of babies. It was about controlling women. There is nothing pro-life about this so-called pro-life movement. They're just anti-abortion. And by extension, they seem to be anti-women. And to be honest, based on their actions right now with what we know is happening out in Texas, they also kind of seem to be anti baby, don't they?
They are the anti-life movement. They have no care. They have no concern. They have no empathy. They have no desire to fix what is a real problem happening in the state of Texas. No, they solve the problem. They banned abortion. That's good enough for them. No money for prenatal care, no money to teach women that, Hey, we have these programs that most people don't know about, where you can just go. You can go to a fire department, you can go to police station, you can go to a hospital, hand over the baby and say, thank you. I'm out. And that's it. That's the end of it. Instead, they're spending that money teaching these women that you are evil if you go have a baby, if, if you don't have a baby that you clearly can't care for. That's what this is. It's not pro-life. It's anti-life. It's not pro infant. It's not pro baby. It's anti baby. That is who these people are, and that is who they have always been. And this story is just further proof of that.
The only legitimate arbiters of whether or not to abort should be the woman and her medically qualified doctor!
ETA: This is why when I'm asked whether I am pro-life or pro-choice, I always answer "both!" I see no contradiction in that!
