This is a great article, but I'm sure you know that none of these arguments carry any weight with no-choicers. The only argument I've come across that they have a hard time with is the legal punishment aspect.
The only real valid (public) reason to ban abortion is that it's murder. Therefore, when abortion is banned, it must follow that any woman who aborts or arranges the abortion of their unborn child shall be found guilty of first degree murder or conspiracy to commit murder, and must be sent to jail for years or decades. Maybe even some of them, depending on the state, would be eligible for the death penalty. And yet the mainstream media (and even pro-choice groups!), allow no-choicers to, on the one hand, call abortion murder, but on the other hand, allow them to say there will be "no punishment" for women who abort when it is banned! That's never made any sense to me.
Allowing no-choice groups to get away with this obvious contradiction has enabled them to rebrand their movement from the counterproductive* fire-and-brimstone, violent rhetoric (and actions) that dominated in the '90s and earlier, to the more "compassionate" face they put on today. Remember when then-candidate Trump said there should be "some sort of punishment" for women who get an abortion once its banned? He logically correct, but no-choice groups Flipped Out when he said it, and forced him to walk it back. Why did they do this, despite the logical consistency of Trump's statement? Because, to paraphrase no-choice activist Marjorie Dannenfelser, he set the messaging of groups like hers back decades with a statement like that. In other words, he unwittingly told the truth about what will actually happen when abortion is banned regardless of the lies that conservatives tell re: legal ramifications for women.
Want to turn the messaging around? Hammer conservatives on the criminal aspect of this and the blatant logical inconsistency of calling abortion "murder" but saying there will be "no punishment" for women who abort.
*Americans are overall iffy on abortion rights. Often depends how the poll questions are worded. What they don't seem to be iffy on, however, is the prospect of sending tons of women to jail as first-degree murderers. That is in incredibly unpopular. So to get around that inconvenient sentiment, some time in the '00s, the Right decided to start lying about the legal consequences of banning abortion. And because of our feckless media (and frightened pro-choice groups) that almost never pushes back, they've basically gotten away with it.
My puberty coincided with the late 80's-early 90's push to ban abortion. That, along with the AIDS crisis, politicized me. It established a core belief system that influenced my "voting" before I even registered.
The rank hypocrisy has always been the linchpin for me. I can't stand it.
You can't force someone to give birth against their will. That's slavery.
I'm sorry...I could go on but I'm getting too angry just thinking abt it.
This is a great article, but I'm sure you know that none of these arguments carry any weight with no-choicers. The only argument I've come across that they have a hard time with is the legal punishment aspect.
The only real valid (public) reason to ban abortion is that it's murder. Therefore, when abortion is banned, it must follow that any woman who aborts or arranges the abortion of their unborn child shall be found guilty of first degree murder or conspiracy to commit murder, and must be sent to jail for years or decades. Maybe even some of them, depending on the state, would be eligible for the death penalty. And yet the mainstream media (and even pro-choice groups!), allow no-choicers to, on the one hand, call abortion murder, but on the other hand, allow them to say there will be "no punishment" for women who abort when it is banned! That's never made any sense to me.
Allowing no-choice groups to get away with this obvious contradiction has enabled them to rebrand their movement from the counterproductive* fire-and-brimstone, violent rhetoric (and actions) that dominated in the '90s and earlier, to the more "compassionate" face they put on today. Remember when then-candidate Trump said there should be "some sort of punishment" for women who get an abortion once its banned? He logically correct, but no-choice groups Flipped Out when he said it, and forced him to walk it back. Why did they do this, despite the logical consistency of Trump's statement? Because, to paraphrase no-choice activist Marjorie Dannenfelser, he set the messaging of groups like hers back decades with a statement like that. In other words, he unwittingly told the truth about what will actually happen when abortion is banned regardless of the lies that conservatives tell re: legal ramifications for women.
Want to turn the messaging around? Hammer conservatives on the criminal aspect of this and the blatant logical inconsistency of calling abortion "murder" but saying there will be "no punishment" for women who abort.
*Americans are overall iffy on abortion rights. Often depends how the poll questions are worded. What they don't seem to be iffy on, however, is the prospect of sending tons of women to jail as first-degree murderers. That is in incredibly unpopular. So to get around that inconvenient sentiment, some time in the '00s, the Right decided to start lying about the legal consequences of banning abortion. And because of our feckless media (and frightened pro-choice groups) that almost never pushes back, they've basically gotten away with it.
My puberty coincided with the late 80's-early 90's push to ban abortion. That, along with the AIDS crisis, politicized me. It established a core belief system that influenced my "voting" before I even registered.
The rank hypocrisy has always been the linchpin for me. I can't stand it.
You can't force someone to give birth against their will. That's slavery.
I'm sorry...I could go on but I'm getting too angry just thinking abt it.