War on Women's Rights
This week Republican Congress members have been aiming to increase protections for ProLife institutions and individuals. House Republicans introduced resolution 3 which requires the presidential administration to take threats against anti-abortion clinics and individuals seriously. Resolution 3 maintains that the vandals, thieves, and combatants should be punished accordingly. Another bill entering the House Floor is H.R. 26, by which babies born after botched abortions would have the same legal rights as any other newborn. Bill 26 was proposed by two women, Rep. Wagner and Rep. Cammack, along with new House majority leader Steve Scalise.
Some Democrats have responded by adorning themselves in all-white outfits, to represent their support for a woman's right to an abortion. They are protesting the aggressive attack on women's rights following the 2022 Dobb's decision that killed the Roe v. Wade precedent. Many proclaim to vote no on both of these resolutions due to the fact that the motions are presented in conjunction with legislation restricting abortion. It appears as though the conversation has shifted away from the punishment of lawbreakers and has turned back to legalizing abortions.
Clearly, some Twitter users disagree with the message that Rep. Wilson has in her statement. One user even intended to make a mockery of many "democratic" ideals all in one tweet, by trying to derail the argument with semantics. Others remind Rep. Wilson that many abortion laws, although very strict, do offer some exceptions. Twitter has not reacted as crazily to these House Bills this week as it did last week, before the official beginning of the 118th Congress. Although Republicans could not get it together to choose a speaker until the 15th vote, they are well on their way to accomplishing their goal to protect the unborn. In a male-dominant Congress, we are seeing more women be active participants in legislation about their bodies. With the proposal coming from two women and the rebuttals coming from more women, we are starting 2023 with lots of women on both sides of the aisle.https://live.house.govhttps://twitter.com/RepWilson https://wagner.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/wagner-scalise-cammack-introduce-born-alive-abortion-survivors
It is interesting we both chose abortion legislation for our first topic. There are many interesting points you alluded to from the circumstances you covered. The first that caught my attention was “H.R. 26, by which babies born after botched abortions would have the same legal rights as any other newborn.” This framing is incoherent with the line of reasoning some pro-choice advocates use, that of women’s bodily autonomy superseding a fetus (presumably of now legal rights). Do the children get rights only because the abortion fails? That seems pro-life.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I am finding the argument Rep. Wilson uses to be weak with regard to men’s opinions on abortion being inappropriate, or less than, simply because a man hasn’t experienced pregnancy. This line of reasoning is weak because the inverse is equally ridiculous. A disproportionate number of those who participate in war are men, does that mean women have less a say in when or if we conduct war as a nation? Of course not.
Lastly, some of the implicit remarks about ‘male domination’, either in the world or congress alike, may actually be counter intuitive to the point at hand. Taking the attention away from strong arguments and placing it into abstract ‘male domination’ related theories is a much more weak and less persuasive argument than say, Rep. Wilson’s personal story of the ridiculous laws she lived under during her miscarriage. My blog highlighted the misalignment with the Dobbs ruling and the American public’s sentiment behind abortion. I’m worried similar logic like this may be why. There are much better ways to illustrate discontent with the abortion law’s many states have. We may just not be doing as great a job at articulating our perspectives.
I believe everyone should protect abortion laws. Considering I had the opportunity to meet Rep. Wilson some years ago I was not aware of her story up until recently. People should be able to relate directly to her story as many American women faced the same issues in states that did not allow abortion. Rep. Wilsons' personal story is more persuasive than just throwing out the term "male domination". Her story helps people relate and find similarities. No one should have to carry a miscarriage and hopefully this with strengthen the argument for the use of abortion.
ReplyDeleteAbortion laws are a really big topic of discussion these days, and kind of has always been. I think there are always reasons that an abortion may be the better course of action than carrying the child to full term. Some people may not believe in abortion but that should not mean tat get to make that decision for everyone else.
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