Men get blamed for Anti-Abortion Wave

Abortion is one of the most controversial topics in America. It is especially sensitive because it goes beyond politics and into ideological and religious territory. Territory that has always elicited passionate and aggressive discourse in our society. In 2019, now that the Republican Party has secured a majority on the Supreme Court, and there is a chance that Roe v. Wade could be overturned (although unlikely), the topic is more hotly debated than ever. Many red states are passing anti-abortion bills in hope that they get elevated to the Supreme Court.  Georgia recently passed what is being called the Heartbeat Bill, which bans abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy. Ohio and Utah are passing similar bills. Alabama took it a step further and passed an abortion ban in which abortion is illegal in almost all cases (including rape and incest) except for a provision for when the mother’s life is in serious risk. As you can imagine, this has sparked a lot of conversation, both in support of the bills and in opposition. And in what has become fairly common in the MeToo era, a lot of the opposition outrage is being directed at white, Republican men simply because of the fact that they are white, Republican men. Left-wing celebrities and media personalities have gone to social media to point out that the male members of congress that voted in favor of these abortion bills are incapable of being pregnant or having an abortion and are therefore unfit to cast a vote on such a topic.

While we expect members of congress to seek input from citizens that would be directly impacted by a bill before casting their vote on it, it is impossible to expect that they should only vote on bills that directly impact them personally. The idea of electing a representative at any level is that they represent their constituents’ core values to the best of their ability regardless of what the specific topic is. The reason that we as voters put so much emphasis into understanding a candidate’s moral fiber is because we don’t always know what kind of issues will arise during their tenure but if we know what kind of person they are then we can get an idea of how they might approach various situations. This model, theoretically, means that an elected official’s positions should reflect the majority of their constituency’s core values and beliefs.  With that being said, let’s look at how the women of America feel about abortion (and whether or not they are engaging politically). If there is a large gap between the recent bills being passed and women’s feelings about the issue, then the left may be justified in their accusations. However, if the policies outlined in the bill are aligned with the position of the majority of women in America then these accusations may amount to nothing more than another lame political tactic.

 So let’s look at how American women feel about abortion on a national level. According to a 2018 Gallup News Poll, 47% of American women self-identify as Pro-life. That statistic alone seems to be a direct contradiction to the idea that male lawmakers are going rogue in legislating women’s rights laws. In fact, I found this statistics to be in such contrast with the narrative being pushed by liberal media that it inspired me to write this article. Once I learned that roughly half of the women in America were anti-abortion, my next question was, are they voting? The answer is a resounding yes. Women in general, regardless of their stance on abortion, are voting more than men. According to a Pew Research Survey, more women voted in the 2018 mid-term elections than men, which has been the case since 1998. Not only are women’s votes being counted and their voices being heard but more women are running for office than ever before.  In 2018, 529 women ran for office in the house or senate. This number is up dramatically since 2016 (in which only 312 women ran). There are more women in politics than we have ever seen and “women in congress pass, on average, twice as many bills as their male colleagues”, as reported by Vox. In fact, the Alabama abortion bill was written by state representative Terri Collins, a woman. It was signed into effect by Governor Kay Ivey, another woman. So while it may appear (on twitter at least) that, to the horror of women everywhere, renegade male lawmakers are passing misogynistic laws all over the country, in actuality, half of the women in the country agree with the basis of these laws. Add in the fact that women typically vote more than men and that women elected to office are passing more bills than their male counterparts and it becomes clear that this anti-abortion push is being led by both men and women.  So why are men being blamed for this recent wave of anti-abortion legislation?

The reason is because the idea that society is run by a male-dominated patriarchy can be very attractive to female voters. The democratic party is and has been completely ignoring pro-life women. Which is a huge mistake considering these same women helped elect Donald Trump in 2016. If democrats believe in the right to an abortion that is fine but pushing the narrative that all women are pro-choice and that men are trying to suppress them via anti-abortion laws is inaccurate. Next time you hear someone blaming men for anti-abortion legislation keep in mind that those in congress that are voting on that legislation were put in office by both the men and women in this country at a time when women are more politically engaged than ever before.