America Supports Abortion

[Novara]

America Supports Abortion

snip................

Abortion rights had a resounding win last night in Kansas, where voters overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have removed abortion protections from the state constitution. In addition to being an incalculable victory for the people of Kansas, the referendum results make plain what feminists have been screaming for decades: Abortion is a winning issue.

It’s time to start treating it like one.

From ‘safe, legal and rare’ to framing abortion as a tragic choice rather than an essential freedom—Democrats have tiptoed around abortion rights for far too long. (Even last night, in the wake of a massive triumph, President Joe Biden’s tweet in response to the vote didn’t include the word ‘abortion’.)

There is no benefit in being tentative. Apologetic messaging certainly didn’t protect Roe, and it ceded the most important advantage we have: The moral high ground. After all, we aren’t the people who want to force 10 year-olds to give birth, we aren’t making devastated women carry dead and dying fetuses, and we aren’t the ones mandating rape victims sign affidavits or ‘prove’ their attack before being allowed basic care.

Forcing someone to be pregnant when they don’t want to be is cruel, and voters know it: Six-in-ten Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and a whopping 85% of Americans want abortion legal at least in some circumstances. The extreme abortion bans going into effect across the country don’t reflect what voters actually want.

There’s a reason Kansas anti-abortion groups made the referendum language as confusing as possible, and why they tried to trick voters with misleading text messages, telling people to “Vote YES to protect women’s health.” (A ‘yes’ vote would remove abortion protections.)

Conservatives know that banning abortion is a losing issue.

More: https://jessica.substack.com/p/america-supports-abortion

It's worth reading the whole thing (not very long). She gets at what I've said for a long time: we were suckered into using the enemy's language. "Safe, legal, and rare" was always bullshit, and it implies that there's something terribly wrong with a woman deciding to not be pregnant. Women have the right NOT to be pregnant if they won't want to be because we OWN our own bodies.

This is obviously a winning issue and we need to keep it in the forefront.

[FakeNoose]

1. I prefer to say "America Supports a Woman's Right to Choose"

[Novara]

2. Fine. You get to choose how you want to say it.

Isn't that kind of the whole point? Choice?

We ceded the upper hand to conservatives by using their apologetic verbiage. Since we can see this is such a winning issue, there's no need to be timid. State it clearly and definitively: a woman has the right to decide when OR IF she wants to be pregnant. No one has the right to take that decision away from her. We need to keep framing is as taking away rights because that is clearly a winning issue for Dems.

[inthewind21]

3. Sure wish

America had realized this when voting in past elections. You never know what you have, until it's gone.

[genxlib]

4. I don't think of it that way.

I don't think of it as apologetic language.

I think of it as comprehensive supportive policy.

Abortions would be more rare if we had...
1) Comprehensive sex education
2) Cheap and accessible contraception
3) Good family leave policies
4) Accessible prenatal care and health care
5) Supportive child care and education policies
6) Living wages

Women should always have the choice. I just want to go above and beyond to give them everything they might need to make those decisions.