By Jim Hightower & Laura Ehrlich
Last week, the Journal of the American Medical Association released a study on the number of rape-related, forced-pregnancies since the horrendous Supreme Court decision to roll back reproductive rights for women. Since the end of Roe, there have been 65,000 rape-related pregnancies (and births) in the 14 states with total or near-total abortion bans. Over 45% of those rape-related, forced-pregnancies (26,000) were in Texas.
“But what about the children! We must save the babies!” the right-wingers cry.
It’s never been about “the babies,” has it? Ask Kate Cox.
Last December, this 31-year-old woman with a non-viable pregnancy had to go to court to fight for her right to terminate the pregnancy and fight for health. After Kate took four trips to the emergency room, each time with pregnancy related complications (but complications that were not severe enough for state of Texas to deem her life in danger, even though doctors did), Texas Attorney General (and rabid Trump supporter) Ken Paxton said that anyone who helped Ms. Cox terminate her pregnancy would be prosecuted. Kate fled the state to terminate her very much-wanted but non-viable and life-threatening pregnancy.
After her return, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against Cox, stating that she would not have qualified for a medical exemption to the state’s cruel abortion laws.
If this were really about “the children,” those states with total or near-total abortion bans might actually want to help children in need. But no: those states are denying a $40 a month federal stipend to feed hungry children in their state during the summer (when hungry kiddos are unable to get any meals at school).
And in case you didn’t know, there is actually a corporate control element to denying reproductive care to women and birthing people–Hightower wrote about it back in 2013, when Wendy Davis took a stand in the Texas legislature.
Then there’s a surprising funding source that surreptitiously supports the no-abortion zealots: Corporate America. The involvement of these super-rich entities has drawn practically zero media coverage, and you certainly won’t see corporations up front at rallies or proudly listing their brand names as sponsors of anti-choice groups.
But who do you think financed and helped organize the hundreds of legislative, gubernatorial, and congressional campaigns of current officeholders who’re now pounding women with the harshest, most oppressive, and goofiest laws against reproductive rights and equality?
