Opinion: Let’s win the messaging war on the freedom of abortion – The Connecticut Mirror

With the six Republican-appointed justices on the U.S. Supreme Court now authorizing states to cancel freedom of abortion for mothers, Connecticut and other Democratic-led states will maintain protections once established by Roe v. Wade. Many Republican-led states, however, have moved in the opposite direction, banning freedom of abortion well before fetal viability and as early as conception.

These states have made no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape and other states are preparing to target exceptions that would save the life of the mother. As extreme as it is to have no exceptions, other states are considering going further, seeking to curb abortion-related freedoms, including contraception, as raised by Justice Clarence Thomas.

To preserve the freedom of abortion in all states, activists need to reframe the messaging in the debate. New and effective messaging will persuade voters to elect candidates who will win back this essential freedom in the Republican-led states that wantgovernment in charge of making our decisions.

Opponents of the freedom of abortion in the U.S., predominantly in the Republican Party, have advanced four essential arguments in favor of restricting it. First, they believe life begins at conception and, thus, the fetus is life. Aborting the fetus means aborting life.

Second, a mothers life is equal to that of the fetus she is carrying. So, if push came to shove, some opponents of abortion freedom would have a hard time picking who ismore important not just if the mother were in danger of death during delivery but also for any matters prior to delivery.

Third, a living but miserable kid is better than an aborted one.

Fourth, why get an abortion when you can just put the thing up for adoption how hard can that be?

These four arguments are often borne out of religion. Through strict Christianity, many opponents of the freedom of abortion have been instructed that life begins at conception. It hasmotivated them to take their religion to the extreme, wanting to impose their beliefs on everyone else, including on those who have a different religious view.

Hypocritically, many of these same people revere the freedom of religion protected by the U.S. Constitution. In fact, its freedom of religion that theyve pointed to to decline to bake a wedding cake for same-sex couples, or to cover contraception in employee health insurance plans, or to vaccinate their child.

Further, they condemn extremism in other religions, often chastising Sharia law in Islam. In the 1990s, for instance, the Taliban enforced a version of Sharia in Afghanistan to restrict the freedom of women to go to school or leave the home. As a result, high-profile supporters of the freedom of abortion in the U.S. recently have compared extreme Christianity to Sharia.

Though the comparison has drawn criticism from Muslim Americans who believe the comparison is unflattering to Sharia, what are we left to conclude from Christian Sharia extremists who are in positions of power to enforce our freedoms? That freedom of religion only applies toyou if you comply with their religious views.

Nonetheless, defenders of the freedom of abortion must directly respond to these arguments with messaging of our own.

The final two messaging arguments here having to do with parental rights and fewer tax increases are why Republicans just put the thing up for adoption argument fails. This casual approach toward adoption is not only costly for taxpayers, but it, too, has led to forced births struggling in foster care, a temporary placement until theyre permanently adopted.

Currently,420,000 children are waitingin foster care, costing taxpayers at least $9 billion before healthcare expenses are factored in. While parents should maintain the right to give up their child for adoption, its a decision that should be left to parents, not to the government. In forcing births into adoption, the government is imposing a one-size-fits-allfor all parents, infringing on parental freedom. In short, the government has narrowed parental choices for their children to two: poverty in adoption or poverty at home.

Of course, we can expect the Republican hypocrisy on abortion to continue after abortion is outlawed in their states. In recent years, weve heard several accounts of the most ardent Republican opponents of abortion having impregnatedwomen with whom they were having an affair. Surprising no one, these Republicans encouraged their mistresses to obtain an abortion.

Among the examples: a current Tennessee Congressman, a former Pennsylvania Congressman, and a former senior campaign advisor to President Trump. Despite their public and political opposition to abortion, Republicans have maintained one narrow exception in favor of it: abortion should be legal only in the case of a pregnant mistress. This narrow preference for abortion contrasts with progressives broader support for it because of the contrast in each partys ideologies: Democrats are largely driven by empathy while Republicans are driven by individualism. While Democrats tend to care about issues that affect people they dont even know, Republicans will limit their interests to only issues that personally affect them. It follows then that Republicans will oppose abortion for your wife or daughter, but not for their own and certainly not for their mistress. In effect, its ok for me, but not for thee.

Where opponents of the freedom of abortion will lose on this issue is on their extremism. They wont be able to help themselves in abusing their power and privilege. Now that states can criminalize freedom of abortion within their borders and to jail mothers who need it, states have already moved in the extreme.Several states have enacted blanket bans that include no exceptions for rape while at least one state is targeting its exception to save the life of the mother. Other states will ban out-of-state travel and medication by mail.

In Texas, after six weeks of pregnancy, a rapist can sue his victims doctor for helping the victim seek freedom from raising the rapists child. In Missouri,Republican legislators are looking to prevent mothers from traveling to another state for an abortion. In Tennessee, anyone helping mothers to obtain abortion medication in the mail face lengthy jail time.

The people, however, wont stand for it. As weve seen during Covid, many Americans value their liberty, even if it means risking their life. Through persuasive messaging on the freedom of abortion, we can entice more people to join us in electing candidates who will restore freedom.

Riju Das is a Connecticut attorney.

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Opinion: Let's win the messaging war on the freedom of abortion - The Connecticut Mirror