"Pro-life" is a Joke

Republicans and Evangelicals left their fly unzipped in response to "Dobbs" giving us a closeup look

I’ve been working on a post about abortion, trying to add some scientific and statistical angles to the political debate. I asked deep questions, like how would the “life begins at conception” religious view square with the estimated 50% or more of fertilized eggs (zygotes) that fail to implant in the uterine wall or are lost in the first few weeks after implantation, or, for that matter, the 33% of embryos and fetuses lost from implantation to term, commonly known as miscarriages? Who “murdered” these lost ones - God? I exposed how the “heartbeat” at 6 weeks gestation, shoring up Republican-led “heartbeat” abortion bans in many states, is simply electrical activity in a few cardiac cells that would do exactly the same thing in a petri dish on a lab bench. And how there is no actual heart until after 18-weeks gestation. I quoted statistics on complications with pregnancy and childbirth - 15-23% and 15-20%, respectively, and listed common life-threatening problems facing mothers-to-be like maternal pulmonary hypertension, maternal severe preeclampsia, ectopic pregnancy, severe maternal kidney failure, maternal cancer (requiring treatment) and lethal fetal anomalies like anencephaly. I tried hard to make it thought provoking.

It was a waste of critical thought. You see, as badly as I want to inject reality and reason into the discussion the truth is that this issue has only one driving force — a toxic union of evangelical Christianity and the Republican Party — and to discuss literally any other aspect of the abortion issue is pointless. This group is not interested in reality or reason. Their singular interest is in having power over you and me.

Evangelical Christians, as a voting bloc of the Republican Party, adopted abortion as their billboard issue decades ago, and after a few murderings of abortion providers settled into a long-term strategy to essentially impose their brand of religiosity onto everyone else via legislation and a carefully crafted Supreme Court to back it up. The unease and confusion that most people naturally feel over abortion itself they have used as a ruse to give them influence over their “pro-life” following on many other “conservative” issues. What could bring a greater sense of self-edification than being cloaked in Godliness?

But it’s a total sham — there is literally NOTHING “pro-life” about this power-seeking group. This long-running, right- wing evangelical-Republican movement, for whom the Dobb's v Jackson Women’s Health Organization is just a foot in the door (my door and your door), has trapped millions of Americans in a self-destructive culture of hate and cruelty, distracted by the fetus and blinded by decades-long sedimentary layers of lies. That Godliness cloak comes with a matching blindfold.

This is your “pro-life” movement:

• Guns are the leading cause of death among children 19 and younger, and yet holier-than-thou Republicans not only block any and all efforts to control firearms but have gone to great lengths to make guns more accessible, even to the untrained and imbalanced.

• Republican-led states, right-wing media, evangelical leaders and the Trump administration spread so much misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 that “Red” states experienced death rates about 40% higher on average than “Blue” states.

• Right-wing media and a substantial chunk of the Republican party now support Vladimir Putin and Russia in its unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, in spite of documented Russian war crimes, residential and hospital targeting, more than 26,000 civilian casualties and deaths (+1600 children), the life-altering mass evacuations of mothers and children to safety in other European countries and even the forced abduction and deportation of thousands more Ukrainian children back to Russia.

• Republicans have sustained continuous efforts to rescind “Obamacare” and deny or block all other modest potential options (expansion of Medicaid, for example) for even these woefully inadequate provisions of BASIC healthcare to underprivileged Americans.

• The “pro-life” crowd viciously pursues a mysterious and obsessive persecution of transsexual individuals, particularly children, their parents and professionals practicing accepted standards of emotional and medical care to this vulnerable (sometimes suicidal) population.

• Republicans voted against reauthorizing the “expanded child credit” which lifted 2.9 million children out of poverty in 2021, and they killed the extended SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamps) program.

• The Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention (most recently) and others have been embroiled over decades in horrific scandals surrounding systematic sexual abuse of children and women in particular, going to great lengths to coverup and cover for the actual abusers.

• Republican politicians have lately scammed and kidnapped migrants who are legally seeking asylum in the U.S., flying or busing these vulnerable humans to strange places and dropping them and their children without food or proper clothing as if they are props in a fraternity prank.

• The minimum wage of $7.25 was set in 2009 — 14 years ago.

I could go on for pages reviewing more of the small ways and large ways the Republican “pro-life” moniker is just an ugly joke — climate change denial is an existential anti-life position, but even now, in this hottest month in recorded history, existential climate change is “fake news.” What I’ve suspected all along is that the radical Christian-Republican “pro- life” banner flies for the unborn, but for nothing else. And now the abortion issue demonstrates this scam beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Understand that broadly about 85% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in at least certain circumstances. Support for abortion to protect the life of the mother is at 91% and in the case of rape or incest support is 86%. Even Republican-only polling shows support for those two circumstances stands at 86% and 76%, respectively. But that overwhelming level of public moderation hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of “Red” state legislatures to “swing for the fences” in banning abortion completely with no exceptions, so far in 10 states more or less (bans blocked by courts in another 8 states), and several other varieties of bans based on the “heartbeat” thing or some other random time period. It must be noted that the rape/incest/life of the mother exceptions, where included, tend to be unclear and excessively burdensome. And although many national-level Republican politicians, looking to backstroke away from the mayhem and public outcry, are pushing for a national law with some allowances for abortion, it’s only because they apparently haven’t yet realized the Evangelical rampage leaves the Republican Party no longer theirs to guide. For most of these “pro-life” states, the ones the Supreme Court decided could “best” resolve the questions, rape and incest and maternal morbidity and mortality are just tough luck - God’s will. And like many other evangelical-Republican partnerships, the cruelty and the constant “demonizing” of all fellow citizens with a different view are essential components of the power play. As is the ridiculous notion that Christianity in the United States is “under attack.”

I’d like to offer some empathy to the Republicans and Christians who perhaps don’t subscribe to these extremes. But they have in great part and for so long been quietly tolerant that I will refuse to acknowledge their inner thoughts. If they won’t fight for a normal Republican Party and a loving and forgiving Christianity, why should I offer a kind word? They too are witnessing a startling perversion of Christianity, driven by white- male nationalism nourished by the now-dominant extremist wing of the Republican party and its media in exchange for their votes. Matthew 7:12’s “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” has no place in this world, nor do any other biblical teachings about love and tolerance for all. And the surrendering of all things historically “conservative” has left the Republican party representing little more than a grand vision of a white-nationalist theocracy, clearly illustrated in detail by the total disregard for women in the sprint to ban abortion with no, or oppressive, exclusions.

The big question is why are these once- normal Republicans and once-normal Christians going along with the cruel and intolerant clown show? I mean we’re looking at aberrant behavior beginning with “all things Obama” including their willingness to completely sacrifice governance solely to disrupt any successes for his Presidency, the bullshit rhetoric “justifying” the blockade of Merick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court (and the ensuing and comedic reversal of that “ethic” with the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett), the rush to change state election laws in 2021 and every other aspect of Donald Trump’s complete takeover of the Republican party and a notable chunk of Christianity. Top that off with an actual insurrection aimed to fraudulently and violently seize control of the government and the ongoing pathetic defense in the Republican Party and the Church over the 78 felony charges (and counting) Trump and a bare few of participants now face. How has this been acceptable for so long? Psychologists will have to answer the question of how and why.

What the evidence shows us right now is that there are no moral or ethical boundaries to the Evangelical- Republican fascist-like movement and there is a wholly inadequate supply of Republicans or Christians willing to intercede. Even the so-called “normal” Republican candidates for the presidential nomination in 2024 reliably return to the “Democrats are evil and trying to destroy our country” script, mana from heaven for those looking to justify literally anything in response, including violence. This, by the way, is classic “cult strategy” — dehumanize the “other.”

There is hope, but there is also potential disaster. The current circumstances are a losing game for both Christianity and the Republican Party. Polling by YouGov.com in late June showed 57% of registered voters under age 30 have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party, and that unfavourability is greater than 50% for all age groups and even higher among women, anyone with “some college” and with independents. In most polls Trump’s unfavourability exceeds his favorability, in some by more than 20% points. The “church” is on a comparable slide. Survey respondents to the statement religion is very important to me has fallen from 63% to 39% over the past 25 years, and in 2020 church membership fell below 50%. Among Gen Z (younger than age 26) 34% report being “religiously unaffiliated,” a long-term trend from the “Silent” generations’ 9%, the “Baby Boomers’” 18%, “Generation X” 25%, and “Millennials’” 29%. One is tempted to just let time take its toll. But that’s not going to be sufficient.

For one thing, our constitutional systems are designed to facilitate minority political power. Wyoming’s +570,000 citizens have the same representation in the Senate as California’s 39,000,000 citizens, and the current iteration of the Senate filibuster in today’s cemented and immovable partisanship can effectively block any legislation. And don’t forget how the Electoral College leaves landslide popular vote victories in Presidential elections hanging on votes in just a handful of “swing” states. Secondly, elected Republicans, both state and federal, are obviously not influenced by the majority opinions of their constituents, as the rush to ban abortions (and to expand access to guns) clearly illustrates. And thirdly, as I mentioned above, today’s Republican party and its Christian supporters demonstrate every day that they have no qualms about lying, cheating and inciting violence to remain in power. All the proof we need that any view alternative to the Republican-Evangelical view is worthy of attack, figuratively and literally, is condensed now within the abortion issue.

The 2024 elections are the only possible saving grace (pun intended), but it doesn’t take a genius to see that lying, cheating, hatred and even violence will be on the menu still — those are now official Republican/ Evangelical strategies. Currently, Donald Trump, who already tried to seize control of the government by lying and cheating and fomenting violence (and will likely face close to 100 felony charges by New Years Day 2024), leads all other Republican primary candidates by more than 30 percentage points. To end this tragic comedy will require an extraordinary and overwhelming voter response in favor of President Biden. And this election will be monumentally messy — Biden’s age, Vice President Harris’s unpopularity (partly racist to be sure), third party temptations, criminal trials that somehow energize the Republican-Evangelical doom loop and voters exhausted by eight years of this never-ending shit show make things look unpredictable right now. And it’s clear to me that a sizable part of our population simply doesn’t believe that this country could, in the blink of an eye, disintegrate into an authoritarian theocracy — a fatally misplaced confidence in the foundations of democracy left unguarded. But while it has been and will continue to be a tragedy for women, it may just be the gluttonous response of the right-wing evangelical enterprise to the “Dobbs decision” that pulls back the curtain on this slow-motion decomposition of our inalienable rights and saves the day.