The GOP has long postured as the party of solid Christian values. Point of fact: The Republican Congress replaced the original 1782 national motto “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many one) with “In God We Trust” on 7/30/1956. But their decades-long manipulation of the abortion issue by pretending that they care about the unborn is their last failed attempt to fool people into believing that they have any Christian morals left.
Contrary to the hateful rhetoric of calling pro-choice supporters “baby-killers,” I don’t believe there is any person in America who wants a woman to resort to abortion. Men certainly don’t need to tell women the devastating consequences or the physical and emotional trauma of having an abortion. Despite the righteous superiority of those who judge, it is still a woman’s private and personal choice; hers alone.
The MAGA crowd that raged against government overreach when asked to wear a mask to protect the vulnerable against COVID now turns around and demands that the government make laws dictating what a woman must do when it comes to her own body. The same people storming the Capitol justifying it as their 1st Amendment right to protest are willing to ignore the 14th Amendment granting privacy and choice for women.
No, the GOP can no longer pretend that they care about constitutionality or morality, except when it benefits them. Not when these politicians claiming that life is so precious do the bidding of the NRA instead of protecting innocent people like those gunned down in Buffalo, New York. Not when these same politicians denounce and target violence against LGBTQ individuals, immigrants and non-whites.
If right-wing Republicans actually believed in ending abortion, they would increase support for Planned Parenthood. The number of abortions in this country has already been greatly reduced by better access to birth control and pre-natal medical care. They could support women struggling alone to raise children instead of voting against childcare supplements in the Build Back Better Act. They could believe rape victims instead of judging them for “bringing it on themselves”. Moralists show no compassion for women living in unimaginable circumstances.
When people finally realize the hypocritical morality pretense of pseudo-Christian politicians (who profess love for the unborn, but not love for anyone they’ve judged as lacking) only then can the abortion decision return to a woman’s personal or religious choice, where it belongs.
Martha Hodges is a resident of Kailua-Kona.