Six unbelievable things that Republicans have actually said about reproductive rights
By Lucy Ritzmann, COURIER Staff
The war on reproductive rights has continued to carve a devastating path in Americans’ lives since the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Just last month, the Supreme Court heard arguments about the power of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires that hospitals perform abortions when it is a medical emergency. If the Court sides against EMTALA, women across the nation could quite literally bleed to death on hospital floors while being denied life-saving care
And so we find ourselves asking the same questions we’ve been asking for almost two years now: how can the GOP and everyone who opposes abortion be this cruel? How can they stomach making the “moral” argument about “saving” a cluster of fetal cells at the cost of a definitely alive, very real woman? How can they look at survivors of horrific acts and tell them that after being violated and out of control of their bodies, they still don’t get to determine how they heal?
The answer – and somehow, yes, there is an answer – seems to be massive disassociation. Whether it’s simple willful ignorance or genuine evil, anti-abortion Republicans seem to be totally deluding themselves about the suffering that they’ve been the cause of.
And you don’t need a psychology degree to figure that out – although I would really love a piece on that. No, the GOP has made their intentional disinterest in the literal death and despair of millions of women incredibly clear through their commentary on abortion this year.
Below are several incredibly glib or unfeeling comments that GOP candidates have actually said about abortion this year – and behind each, I assume, is their communications director silently screaming and banging their head into a wall.
Two things that I ask you to think about while reading these: the first is to notice how you can almost feel these candidates squirming and frantically attempting to pivot through the page. They are desperate not to be accountable for something they are fully responsible for because it very well might be the reason they lose this year.
The second is to notice how many of the people who are talking here do not have a uterus. This explains, at least in part, why the comments are so heartless and, frankly, ridiculous: they have no idea what the hell they’re talking about. While that usually would be embarrassing and a little funny, in this case, people are literally dying because of it.
Now, onto the comments:
Rick Scott (FL): Abortion is “a tough issue for women” but adoption is a ‘better option’
Florida Senator Rick Scott, a former Tea Party darling with ties to Trump, is facing a challenge from Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a congressman who immigrated from Ecuador to the US as a child, this November.
Scott set the bar high when it comes to drastically understating the issue of abortion and clearly not knowing – or not caring – about the devastating impact that anti-abortion laws have on women. In an interview with The Hill in January, he seems to have attempted empathy by stating that he understands that abortion is “a tough issue for women” but followed that up by stating that adoption is a “better option” that women should pursue instead. In other words, he claims to understand that carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term might do irreparable damage to your body and mental health, but he thinks it would be best if you had a child and then placed it into a system that can work well but also includes incredibly sketchy actors and abuse.
Also, the use of the word “option” in his statement is interesting, as an abortion ban, by definition, denies women the ability to choose between options. I think he meant to say “the only path for you which I am going to make sure you take.”
Kari Lake (AZ): Arizonans can just “go three hours” to another state to get an abortion
After her failed bid for governor in Arizona, Kari Lake, a former news anchor who is very close to Donald Trump, is going up against Ruben Gallego, a Democratic congressman and former US Marine, in the Grand Canyon State. In response to – and in defense of – the Arizona Supreme Court’s April decision to reinstate a near-total abortion ban that dates back to 1864, Kari Lake attempted to downplay this blow by stating that women could just “go three hours that way, three hours that way, and you’re going to be able to have an abortion.”
Lake, a pro-lifer who has also literally edited her stance on the issue on her website several times, offered no further explanation as to why she seems to have no moral qualms about people having abortions as long as they’re just past her state’s borders.
She also failed to address the issue of paying for and finding transit if one is forced to leave the state for reproductive care – which is perhaps not top of mind for her as she is worth an estimated $2-4 million and seems to regularly receive thousands of dollars from her MAGA friends.
Bernie Moreno (OH): Women need help with strollers, not abortion
Bernie Moreno is a businessman and the Republican Senate nominee running to unseat Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio. Moreno has already made waves for deep insensitivity this electoral cycle: he has shifted from being a public supporter of LGBTQ+ rights to a hardline opponent – a flip-flop that was thrown into the spotlight when a profile attributed to Moreno was found on a gay dating site, which Moreno then blamed on a former intern.
The insensitivity continued when Moreno was asked about his stance on reproductive rights in February of this year. He shunned any direct answer and instead an anecdote about his daughter struggling with her child’s stroller. He then offered that helping women carrying strollers are “the kinds of things that we can do.”
There was no further context given as to why women do deserve assistance and care when it comes to strollers, but not in an instance of rape, incest, or an emergency medical situation.
Larry Hogan (MD): Abortion is an “emotional issue for women.”
Larry Hogan, Maryland’s former Republican governor who is now running for Senate, will face off against a Democrat this fall – whether that’s David Trone or Angela Alsobrooks remains to be seen. Hogan has been described as a moderate in the past, but that hasn’t prevented him from building a long history of opposing abortion: most recently, in 2022, he vetoed legislation that would have expanded abortion rights in Maryland. He has also followed in MAGA footsteps of arguing it should be left up to the states to decide. So I think we can go ahead and call him a MINO.
In the first TV interview of his campaign, Hogan also followed the extremist trend of lacking any real care for this issue, and when asked about abortion, he simply commented that he understood abortion to be “an emotional issue for women.” This is not, of course, incorrect; it does, however, entirely miss the point.
Ted Cruz (TX): “Just call our press office”
You may remember Ted Cruz as the failed 2016 GOP presidential candidate who is deeply hated by everyone who should like him, from college roommates to Senate colleagues. Cruz is also Texas’s junior senator who is facing a challenge from Democrat, lawyer, and former pro-footballer Colin Allred this year.
Cruz, who is staunchly anti-abortion and celebrated the Dobbs decision, made headlines this past winter when he refused to discuss the case of Katie Cox, a Texan mother of two with a fatal fetal diagnosis who was forced to leave the state to receive an abortion. Instead of offering thoughts or acknowledgment or even a shred of apology, Cruz told reporters to call his press office – which they then did several times and received no answer.
So for those keeping track of the Cruz-Allred match-up, here’s the bottom line: Cruz is totally cool with bodily autonomy if the issue is something like cigarettes. But if you want to save your own life? Forget about it.
Marsha Blackburn (TN): “The Constitution grants us rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – not abortions.”
I would be remiss if I did not include Senator Marsha Blackburn’s infamous Twitter/X commentary on abortion. Blackburn is a Republican running to keep her seat as Tennessee’s senator and is facing a challenge from TN State Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is a member of the Tennessee Three.
Blackburn also made headlines back in 2022 when she decided to talk about abortion in a tweet. The post, which is still live, reads “The Constitution grants us rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – not abortions.” People were quick to point out that Blackburn was so wrong in many ways, including the fact that she was actually quoting from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. So zero points for Marsha on governing or US history.
People also pointed out that attempting to claim that bodily autonomy is not a crucial element of liberty – as well as life and the pursuit of happiness, in fact – is not even close to a good argument.
