Mariella Gattini

Republicans are once again doing damage control after their hard stance against abortion. They have been capitalizing on their anti-abortion position for decades, knowing that Roe vs. Wade was a precedent very difficult to reverse, so they have used it as a campaign contribution and votes magnet. Republican legislators have made entire careers based on this issue, but now that they have delivered, in part and in some states, they can not put the cat back in the bag.

After the referendum about abortion in Kansas (a red state) this summer, that kept some abortion rights, republicans have realized that the majority in the country is in favor of Roe vs. Wade, among them many republican voters, and for that reason, republican candidates are now trying to backtrack their hard-line position by even accusing democrats of putting words in their mouths.

Abortion is a difficult issue for most women, no woman take it lightly, and no woman recur to such drastic measure painlessly. For a woman to make this kind of decision, it has to be for a very serious reason, rape being one of them. Consequently, we can not possibly generalize and impose one point of view over another. In my case, I don’t think I have the right to tell another woman what to do with her own body or with her life, and I’m a woman. For that reason, I do not accept what a man has to say about this, no matter his importance in politics, government, or in any other position of power. His point of view is irrelevant in this particular case, unless he wants to carry the baby to term himself and take care of that baby the rest of his or her life.

If the defense of the rights of the unborn were a real issue for republicans, they would have arrived to a consensus decades ago, but that’s not what they are about. They are in the business of making noise and more noise so that they can fill their pockets with campaign contributions to establish their long political careers. So now, they don’t know what to do because it’s obvious that their attempt to reverse Roe vs. Wade at federal level got out of their hands, and it is going against them this time, because more and more women are registering to vote this year.

It is customary in the politics of this country that when a president wins an election, his party loses the majority in Congress the following midterm election, whether it is in the Senate, in the House, or both, until now. The very same Mitch McConnell said that he didn’t think they were going to obtain the majority in the Senate in the midterms this year, due to the quality of the republican candidates. Thus, those so-called “low-quality” republican candidates are back-pedaling their harsh words against women who have to recur to abortion as their last resort.

However, this is only an effort to control their image as conscientious citizens, so that republican voters can get lost in their rhetoric and accept their dubious explanations. It’s all optics, and no substance. Once in power they do exactly what they please, because for republicans, women are only good for two purposes: reproduction and entertainment, but always with their mouths shut. And republican women are happy to play the game, basically for two reasons: money and power, but that money and power are predicated upon the interest of their owners, sorry, their donors and higher members of their party, who generally are male. Servitude to the men in their party is sad and counterproductive to the advancement of all women, including republican women in their constituencies.

As a consequence, we now have to witness republican candidates’ pitiful explanations about their stances on eliminating most abortion options, even in case of rape, incest, deformities of the fetus, or the possible death of the mother.

As George Carlin said, republicans care about you when you are in the womb, but once you are born, they couldn’t care less about you anymore.

In general, women do not need help, but nowadays there is a blunt attack against our right to decide for ourselves what to do with our lives. This is not only about women susceptible to get pregnant in a difficult situation, this is about men in power infringing on our civil liberties, something only seen in autocratic governments, where there is a male tyrant dictating the law of the land. We want this republic to be a true democracy, and for that, ladies and gentlemen, you need the women of this country on your side. And we come in different colors, sizes, backgrounds, genders, creeds, cultures, and languages.

Brace yourselves because this wave is going to be exuberant and rich in support of all women, especially the ones who find themselves in a difficult situation right now. There is no better opportunity than this one to show the world what we are really made of. We are strong women, able to overcome anything, and keep going. If some of us have to recur to the unthinkable to be able to survive, the rest of us should understand and show a little compassion. No one has the right to dictate what is best for us but ourselves.

George Carlin was right, you’re more bankable in the womb for republicans, once you’re born and poor they have no more use for you, they do not care about your education, your health, your well-being, your ideas, or your dreams. Because they themselves are the middle men who need to answer to the whims of the higher power of dark money.