Ohio Republicans declare motherhood "necessary," want to make it mandatory [View all]

[DonViejo]

Ohio Republicans, empowered by the Kavanaugh Supreme Court, move aggressively toward forcing childbirth on women

AMANDA MARCOTTE
NOVEMBER 21, 2018 6:00PM (UTC)

While the name of Brett Kavanaugh has fallen out of the headline news cycle, the religious right has not forgotten that his recent addition to the Supreme Court now means they likely have five votes to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion. While the endless churn of outrageous Trump stories occupies national headlines, anti-choice activists and politicians are swiftly moving to pass laws that they clearly hope will lead, perhaps within a year, to vacating the current legal protections for abortion rights.

In the stampede to ban abortion, Republican politicians don't always bother to keep up the pretense that their opposition to abortion is about "life." All to often, they let slip how much it's rooted in contempt for women having control over their own bodies and their own futures.

Last week, the Ohio state house passed a bill that would ban abortions at six weeks. That would effectively ban on most abortions, since performing the procedure before a pregnancy shows up on an ultrasound, which happens at just about six weeks, is not medically recommended. During debate over the bill in the Ohio state house, Republican state Rep. Christina Hagan brought her infant twins onto the floor to shame women who aren't mothers about their alleged selfishness.

"Motherhood isn't easy but it's necessary," Hagan dramatically declared when arguing for her bill to make motherhood mandatory.

Perhaps we should be grateful to Hagan for using her floor time to unsubtly suggest that women who have abortions are lazy and selfish. There should be no doubt that this is the belief that motivates the anti-choice movement in general, but most abortion foes have become media savvy enough to realize that they get more sympathy if they ascribe views to a religious delusion that equates embryonic life to that of actual babies. So at least Hagan showed her true colors, revealing the resentment of childless women and desire to exert control over other people's lives that lies at the center of the anti-choice movement.

more
https://www.salon.com/2018/11/21/ohio-republicans-declare-motherhood-necessary-want-to-make-it-mandatory/