I began writing this piece several days ago, while contemplating news out of Oklahoma about yet another abortion ban and rehashing my thoughts on the politics, hypocrisy, and cruelty of forced birth laws/forced birthers.1 Obviously, the bombshell leak of the draft of Justice Alito’s potential majority opinion in Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Jackson), while unsurprising, still managed to break my heart.
Of course, conservatives are outraged that the leak happened, which is ironic— they think the Supreme Court should have greater privacy rights than women.
I noted to my kids that I truly, truly appreciate forced birth proponents who oppose all abortions, even in the case of rape or incest—as is the case with the Mississippi statute at issue in Jackson.2
I admit, the kids looked at me funny.
You appreciate these people? What?! Wut?
I know, I know, it sounds crazy, right? I mean why would I, a staunch supporter of the right to abortion, appreciate the most extreme of forced birth extremists? It may take a little bit of time, but I promise I’ll get back to it.
Forced birth extremists claim (without any basis in science or medicine) that life begins upon fertilization of an ova by sperm, and that a blastocyst (as the rapidly dividing ball of cells is called in those first days), zygote, or embryo is not simply a life, but an innocent life.3 Thus, forced birth logic posits that a woman does not have the right to put her own life and well being above this “innocent life.”4 In other words, fertilized ova are instantaneously imbued with greater rights, greater value to society, greater worth, than the person within whom said fertilized ova resides.5
However, this discussion cannot be had without addressing the context in which these forced birth ideologies and laws germinated: patriarchal, faith based sexism and misogyny ingrained in our society. This ingrained system manifests around us daily in the ways we discuss and police gender, sex, reproductive health, birth control, and unwanted pregnancies in this country. The only way forced birthers can justify their assertion that a fetus’s value and rights outweigh that of pregnant person, is by pitting the value—the worth—of an “innocent” fetus, to that of a woman, who must inherently be more “sinful” and thus, of less value, less worth. Ultimately, this is entrenched in the religious and historic premise of women’s sinfulness, fickleness, and fecklessness, and, therefore, makes it easy for society to judge women—sentient, productive, vital, worthy people—as less worthy of value and bodily autonomy than a non-sentient, non-viable, potential life.6
Without going too far into the weeds, I think we can agree that while most religions, and the sects within those religions, have varying beliefs and social mores about gender, sexuality, women’s rights, and when or if abortion is to be permitted, the main push in the forced birth movement is from a far right coalition of predominantly Evangelical, but also conservative Catholic and non-Evangelical Christians.7 We also know that many in those same religious and conservative groups teach that women should be subservient, or at least deferential to men8, promote chastity and purity (where girls who are not pure are described as used pieces of gum no one will want)9, oppose LGBTQ+ rights (including marriage and children)10, and have vocally stated their intent that the United States be a “Christian Nation,” wherein laws are based on their beliefs: in god, the bible, and their interpretations of such, and without separation of Church and state.11
As a result of this patriarchal, religious ideology, even now in the 21st century, the U.S. still struggles to account for the abuse of women, be it sexual assault, or domestic violence. It took until nearly the end of the 20th century for every state to even acknowledge that marital rape is a thing, because becoming a wife is not blanket consent to sex. The crime of rape in this country is one where, with unfailing regularity, the initial response to anything but the most violent of rapes, is to doubt the victim, where, thanks to victim blaming, the majority of women who are raped don’t report it, and where when it is reported, the rapist often won’t get more than a slap on the wrist.12
In the last decade alone, we’ve seen elected leaders, candidates, and conservative personalities ignorantly, and cruelly, dismiss rape and its consequences, including pregnancy. Who can forget Republican, Missouri senate candidate Todd Akin’s famous claim: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down”? Or, Texas State Rep. Jody Laubenberg’s (R) assertion that rape victims don’t need abortions because “rape kits” clean them out (rape kits are for gathering forensic evidence of rape)? What about Rick Santorum (R) telling rape victims that a resulting pregnancy is “a gift” and to “just accept what god has given to you”?13 Or, most recently, Michigan state house candidate Robert Regan (R) proudly stating, “I tell my daughters, well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it.”14
We’ve also seen them belittle the #metoo movement, and watched as these leaders, and their talking heads on Fox and conservative radio promoted rape culture, culminating of course, not just in their election of a man who admitted on tape to “grabbing women by the pussies,” but later, in the seating of a Supreme Court Justice credibly accused of assault, and replete with their outraged indignation that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford would even dare come forward. And boy, were they outraged. I mean, who doesn’t remember this?
Or this?
Emboldened by this new wave conservatism, Republicans have used their misogyny as a political tool, refusing to renew the Violence Against Women Act, filibustering the Paycheck Fairness Act, attacking insurance coverage for contraception, and loosening Title IX protections for victims of assault on college campuses. We’ve seen judges, as well as conservative identifying friends and family in our lives, express more care and concern for the future fortunes of college boys who assault coeds, than the future and suffering of their victims.15 It’s an era where the governor of Texas, upon enacting a draconian ban on most abortions claimed dismissively that pregnancies from rape won’t be an issue, because he’ll make sure rapists are removed from the streets.16
Which begs two questions: if it was that easy to do, what was he waiting for, and what is he going to do about the rapists that live in people’s homes?
Circling back to how religious, patriarchal ideology imbues this ingrained sexism, are ideologies of female purity, gender roles, and the double standard applied to sex, wherein women who have consensual sex outside of marriage are sluts, but men who do the same are studs, or just “sowing their wild oats.” In 2012, Erick Erikson wrote17,
Young men, regardless of political persuasion or ideology, are intent on having sex, being boys, getting drunk—doing what young men in college often do. All to [sic] often there are also a few young ladies willing to shame their parents if their parents only knew.
In the same year, conservative icon Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute,” because she thought contraception should be covered by employer provided insurance. Limbaugh suggested that he’d buy her aspirin…to keep between her knees instead.18 Meanwhile, conservative groups like Concerned Women For America spent the early 2000’s publishing disinformation about contraception in order to stigmatize the use of it, including claims that the Pill is an abortifacient, and during the Obama presidency, these extremist groups pushed even further in their claims, saying that emergency contraception and IUD’s induce abortions, and alleging that the contraception provisions of the ACA violated their religious freedom, culminating in an exemption for it under Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.19
Decades of statistics illustrate that women in the workforce make less money than men, and this disparity increases with children, whereas for men, children can be the basis for a raise.20 Young women who get pregnant are often unable to finish their education, and even more often, unable to continue on to higher education.21 Countries that rank highly for gender equality, are also those where women enjoy robust reproductive health and sexual rights protections.22 Simply put, evidence shows that women cannot achieve equality if they do not control when, with whom, or if they bear children.23
Which, of course, is the purpose of the Republican and conservatives forced birth agenda.
For all their talk of the sanctity of life, conservatives only seem to find it sacred as long as it prevents women from exercising bodily autonomy. George Carlin had it right in a 1996 performance when he said,
They will do anything for the unborn, but once you’re born [middle finger gesture], you’re on your own. Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that, they don’t wanna know about you. Nothing! No neo-natal care, no daycare… no welfare, if you’re pre-born, you’re fine, if you’re preschool, you’re fucked.
Republicans regularly try to gut programs like Medicaid, TANF, and SNAP (which directly assist families with children), gut public education funding, refuse to provide paid parental leave, and despite the fact that guns are the leading cause of death for children in this country, refuse to enact any reasonable gun control legislation.24 And, lest we forget, they’re also fond of separating children from their families, and putting them in cages as well. Therefore, the claim that these forced birth extremists are, by any metric, pro-life, is utterly absurd. As Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B., in a 2004 interview with Bill Moyers stated25,
I do not believe that just because you are opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, a child educated, a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.
The truth is that forced birth proponents aren’t enamored of life, but of controlling women’s behavior. The proof is not only in their refusal to actually fund lives, but in their response to arguments of young and/or single women regarding the negative impact of an unwanted pregnancy on that woman’s life, which is usually something along the lines of her “suffering the consequences” of her choices, a response that puts paid to claims, like Santorum’s, that an unwanted pregnancy, is a gift.25 Take Texas Rep. Tony Tinderhold, for example, who in 2017, when defending his bill banning abortion, noted that doing so, “would ‘force’ women to be ‘more personally responsible’ with sex.”26
This mentality of “consequences” almost exclusively redounds to women (as well as transgendered men and nonbinary persons), particularly poor women and women of color, and the men involved—who are 100% culpable in the impregnation of a woman—are rarely forced to similarly “suffer the consequences.”27 Coupled with ideologies of female purity and chastity, double standards regarding sex, interference with the ability to access contraception, and a dangerous disregard for women’s physical safety and the consequences of assault, it is clear that this is not simply part of some residual ingrained sexism of our society, but particularly of the misogynistic, faith based patriarchy of forced birthers, and their desire to keep power and control over women in the hands of men.
Which, finally, brings me back to my appreciation of forced birthers who make no exceptions for rape and incest.
Oh yeah, that.
As I’ve laid out, the force birth movement isn’t actually about life, but in order to maintain that lie, they have to turn the abortion debate into one about which being has more value: the “innocent” embryo, or the “sinful” woman who had the temerity to have sex, who is refusing to “face the consequences,” and, therefore, has no right to put themself first.
However, forced birthers who include exceptions for rape and incest reveal the lie, because they make a judgment call about the value of those particular blastocysts, zygotes, embryos, or fetuses, and determine, apparently, that those particular ones are not actually innocent lives that are more important than a woman’s bodily autonomy, mental health, and life prospects.
Somehow, those particular fertilized ova, are not miraculously imbued with that greater value to society, that sanctity, that miraculously accompanies the fertilization of other ova. Without that bit of mental gymnastics, forced birthers who support exceptions for rape and incest would have to admit that life does not actually begin upon fertilization or, that they aren’t actually as “pro-life” as they pretend to be, but rather political animals embracing culture wars. The hypocrisy of it is…phew. 
Instead, these hypocrites mask their pretzel logic in benevolent patriarchy, where a pregnant person—but only a victim mind you—is given permission to value their life higher than a zygote, embryo, or fetus. Thus, these forced birthers make clear that it is actually okay to prioritize or value one life over another, as long as the ability to exercise that power is in their hands, not a woman’s.
So yeah, I appreciate the total commitment of forced birthers who refuse to allow for any exceptions. At least they are pretending to maintain intellectual honesty about how little they regard the worth, value, and existence of women.
Footnotes
*I’ve tried my best to check all the links, but this site can be a bit wonky with footnotes, so please let me know if something isn’t working.
1. These extremists are not “pro-life,” only pro-forced birth. States with the most restrictive anti-abortion laws, also have the worst outcomes for maternal and child health across a range of metrics. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/public-health-paradox-states-abortion-laws-maternal-child-health-outcomes Also, of the thirteen states with anti-abortion trigger laws (outright bans that go into effect if Roe is overturned), twelve are in the half of the states with the highest maternal mortality rates. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/maternal-mortality-rate-by-state
2. “Abortion limited to fifteen (15) weeks’ gestation except in medical emergency and in cases of severe fetal abnormality. ” Miss. Code Ann. § 41-41-191(4)
3. “There’s six things God hates, and one of those is people who shed innocent blood.” Arkansas State Sen. Jason Rapert https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2021/02/22/arkansas-senators-pass-near-total-abortion-ban-it-now-goes-to-house
“I believe life begins at conception and that abortion takes the life of an innocent human being.” Senator Rand Paul https://www.paul.senate.gov/issues/advocating-sanctity-life
“…if you believe as I believe very strongly that an innocent, unborn child in the mother’s womb is in fact a child.” Mississippi Gov Tate Reeves https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/05/politics/tate-reeves-abortion-oral-arguments-supreme-court-cnntv/index.html
“I believe all innocent life is precious and sacred, and as governor I pledge to you to do everything in my power to protect life.” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/12/kim-reynolds-iowa-abortion-ban-fetal-heartbeat-conservative-faith-freedom-coalition/602946002/
4. I use woman/women here, and elsewhere in the essay, because the same conservatives attacking abortion rights, refuse to accept transgender men, or assigned-female-at-birth nonbinary folks as anything but women, and while I normally do not cater to their bigotry on the matter, in this case it illustrates how that bigotry is entwined with their misogyny.
5. I posit that forced birthers would be aghast at being made to donate blood, or an organ, even to save an innocent life, and would vehemently oppose any such laws, as we saw in their opposition to masking during Covid19. Even a corpse in this country cannot be harvested for organ donation without prior (or sometimes familial) consent. Rightly leading to the premise that forced birthers assign more bodily autonomy to dead people, than to women.
6. An ideology that goes back historically, in mythology, and in the bible, wherein women are repeatedly blamed for various evils, including their own rapes: Eve’s original sin, Pandora’s whispering box, Lilith—who refused to “submit” to Adam sexually—becomes a she-demon, Medea who murdered her children in revenge for her husband’s infidelity, Susanna—whose beauty was apparently to blame for two men attempting to rape her, and Cassandra who was doomed not to be believed, because she rebuffed the god Apollo.
7. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/views-about-abortion/ and https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/opinion/jan-6-christian-nationalism.html
8. An ideology known as complementarianism. https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/the-unmaking-of-biblical-womanhood
10. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/anti-lgbtq-legislation-agenda
11. Hence, the questioning of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson about her faith, or Rep. Hetzler who believes we need god in government. https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article260326000.html, and Fox News personalities vocally calling for Christian Nationalism. https://www.salon.com/2022/03/30/kayleigh-mcenany-wants-more-christian-babies-its-an-overt-call-out-to-paranoia/
12. https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system
13. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-10-dumbest-things-ever-said-about-abortion-and-womens-rights-195166/ and https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/jan/25/rick-santorum-rape-pregnancy
14. Regan is also a virulent anti-Semite, who once claimed that feminism is a Jewish plot to subjugate white men. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/carol-glanville-robert-regan-michigan-house-race-1347460/
15. https://www.vox.com/2016/6/7/11866390/brock-turner-stanford-sexual-assault-explained
18. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rush-limbaugh-sandra-fluke_n_1313891
20. https://www.thebalance.com/how-the-hidden-penalty-of-motherhood-affects-women-careers-4164215 and https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/06/cost-of-motherhood-on-womens-employment-and-earnings.html
21. https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978-017-0378-2
24. https://time.com/6170864/cause-of-death-children-guns/
25. https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/archives/chittister_now_flash.html
26. It should be noted that “suffer the consequences” line, also ignores married people/families who simply cannot afford another pregnancy or child, but don’t have reasonable or affordable access to birth control, or whose birth control failed.
Musings of a Restless Mind 