After a State of the Union laden with both paeans to the recovery and appeals from the left to save the still-struggling middle class, one might think that the last thing Republicans would want to do is resurrect the Todd Akin wing of the party. Last November, their demagoguery about being obsessed with job creation seemed to work well enough for them–even if it relied heavily on low turnout.
But January is a strange and disturbing month for women’s rights in Washington. Every year, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, misogyny clogs the streets of the nation’s capital, as the self-described “March for Life” publicly mourns the end of the back-alley abortion era. Conservative lawmakers tend to show solidarity with them and this year was no different.Though the GOP has recognized its own struggles to appear anything other than completely repugnant to women and those who recognize their agency, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) were among Republicans all too happy to mark the 42nd anniversary of Roe by effectively supporting calls for its reversal.
Perhaps they’re deluded into thinking the masses of never-been-kissed school kids who heavily attend the March—presumably, without much say in the matter—represent the future of a country that has had little interest in allowing its states to ban abortion.
Whatever the case, it led to some troubling political maneuvering. Giving the nation a glimpse of what it would do if it controlled both houses of Congress and the executive branch, the Republican Party, as it did last year, attempted this week to pass anti-choice legislation in the form of a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of gestation.
Women in the caucus, however, revolted this year. They were furious that the bill only carved out an exemption for rape victims who had filed police reports, and House leaders, on Wednesday, scrapped the measure.
Undeterred by other internal concerns about younger voters lacking an interest in a 19th century approach to reproductive rights, the party pressed on. On Thursday, the House passed a bill extending the ban on the use of public money for abortions. The measure, in the words of the AP, “would permanently bar federal funds for any abortion coverage and block tax credits for many people and businesses buying health insurance that covers abortions.”
While a fundamentalist agenda was, undoubtedly, what carried the bill, Republicans clumsily couched their justification for proffering the measure in economic terms.
“This common-sense measure restores a longstanding agreement that protects the unborn and prevents taxpayers from being forced to finance thousands of elective abortions,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said.
It has zero chance of ever being signed into law. The President has already issued a veto threat. But this hamfisted attempt at finding the intersection between plastic populism and religious extremism should play right into a post-SOTU Democratic Party’s hands (that is, if they fully embrace trusting women’s judgment–they have been somewhat reluctant to do so in the past).
A renewed embrace of anti-choice law is just the latest example of Republicans’ indifference to the 99 percent. As the Congressional Budget Office alluded to, in scoring the 20-week ban that failed, conservative abortion laws and widespread prosperity are at odds. More unwanted pregnancies seen to term would burden Americans who are barely treading water as it is. In the case of the post-five month termination ban, taxpayers would be left with an additional $23.5 million in annual Medicaid bills alone, according to the CBO.
Just as conservatives effectively seek to keep the working and middle classes desperate to rent their labor through weak protections for unions and half-assed consumer regulations, they are doing the same by straining to restrict a woman’s right to choose. Their retrograde initiative can, however, further Democrats’ points about the right’s embrace of social stratification and stagnation for the vast majority of Americans. Either way, it should have progressive strategists chomping at the bit to kickoff 2016 campaigns—both Congressional and Presidential.
