Abortion Über Alles

 

Apparently abortion is the only issue that anyone in the DC suburbs cares about if the TV campaign ads by Democrats are any indication.  When my kneejerk lefty, very wealthy congressman David Trone was running for re-election, and again during his failed run for the Democratic nomination for Senate (he managed to lose to a corrupt, woke, tax-evading political hack from PG County), if you were not watching closely, you would have thought his constant barrage of TV ads were for a chain of abortion clinics.

Uber-squish Larry Hogan, the GOP Senate nominee and former governor is lambasted because he put aside his stated personal objections to abortion to avidly support legalized (though not publicly funded) abortions.  This is clearly way too right-wing for Maryland. (Personal note: Hogan’s uncle was a staunchly pro-life OB-GYN who delivered our first two kids).

It is odd that abortion is even an issue in Maryland where the legislature has legalized late-term abortions up to roughly the second week of pre-school.  Given the present trend, no one will be able to run for Governor of Maryland or federal office here without having personally performed an abortion on an undocumented trans minor of color.

In Virginia’s 7th, Democratic candidate Eugene Vindman (identical twin brother of the odious weasel who helped engineer the Ukraine impeachment of Trump) is also big on killing babies as a priority issue in his ads.  (That is Eric Cantor’s old district.)

From all these ads I learned that the GOP plans to enact a sweeping federal ban on abortions if they get control of Congress and the White House (just before they eliminate taxes on the rich).  Ironically, in the highly unlikely event that Congress were to enact such a ban, the same Supreme Court that found that it has no authority to make abortion law would likely inform Congress that it also lacks the constitutional authority to do so.  You can only squeeze so much through the commerce clause or through ties to highway funding.

Over the last two decades, the counties surrounding DC have grown at a rapid pace, continue to have household incomes well-above the national average and have gone from 45-55 Democrat-to-Republican to 60-40 with a rising Democrat edge.

Abortion is technically a luxury issue since there is absolutely no chance of any federal or local restriction. Leftists invariably accuse MAGA voters of ignoring actual issues in favor of symbolism and slogans.  But abortion as identity politics for white-collar white women in Maryland and Virginia is far more detached from actual, concrete legislative issues than anything happening in the issue complex on the right.

The attack on Hogan for clinging to some vestigial notion of a moral dimension to abortion is telling.  It is not enough to legalize abortion.  Any semblance of adverse moral judgment must be eliminated.  The sexual revolution was a gift to narcissistic promiscuous males — her body so her problem.  For women the revolution greatly complicated personal struggles regarding self-esteem, social standing, relationships and reputation, directly resulting in billions spent on political advertising solely to affirm the notion that abortion must be a morally positive, or at the very least a morally neutral, undertaking. I wonder if and when we will get past that. It is kinda sad, and an enormous distortion of normal, practical politics.

[I discussed the issue of suppression of sexually-related guilt a few years ago in this post The Age of Herodias ]

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  1. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    Abortion is a human rights issue. If one believes in our Declaration of Independence, one would know this – it is one of the inalienable rights endowed to us by God. I don’t have an answer on how to change minds and hearts (for we will never solve this at the ballot box), but my new favorite writer, Peachy Keenan, has a wonderful idea.

    I love this:

    What if the best way to change her mind was not by focusing on votes, elections, candidates, the legality of a 6- or 8-week ban, or technicalities like viability? What if instead of “abortions are bad,” the argument was: “Babies are awesome!” Imagine connecting the clinical concept of “embryo” and “fetus” to “a little human being who will look like you and have the same hair color as you.”

    <snip>

    After all, babies are designed cleverly by their creator to be as cute as can be. Their entire physical appearance is engineered on purpose to trigger an overwhelming dopamine response in their mothers and, in fact, in most normal people. If babies were not adorable, they’d have a much lower chance of surviving this cruel world. Their toothless grins, their chubby cheeks, those huge eyes in proportion to their heads, those tiny hands. The sweet new baby smell! It’s all a clever magic trick very intentionally perpetrated to help the baby survive.

    And isn’t it ironic that Dem politicians are whining that our birth rate is down so we need all these immigrants.

    “Americans are not having enough babies” Yeah, because you abort them Big Dog.

    And, I think the Left fundamentally hate Christians – our beloved VP showed us this the other day when she was speaking at a pro-abortion rally.

    The Left is demented and demonic. Abortion is their sacrament.

    • #1
  2. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    This guy gets it.

    • #2
  3. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Old Bathos: Abortion is technically a luxury issue since there is absolutely no chance of any federal or local restriction. Leftists invariably accuse MAGA voters of ignoring actual issues in favor of symbolism and slogans.  But abortion as identity politics for white-collar white women in Maryland and Virginia is far more detached from actual, concrete legislative issues than anything happening in the issue complex on the right.

    So why is abortion the most important right ever? Heck abortion rights seem to matter more to the left than freedom of speech, religion and gun rights put together. Do leftists know that this is 90% about the right to sex without consequences?

    • #3
  4. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    For some reason this was necessary:

    • #4
  5. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    On their podcast, Mollie Hemingway and David Harsanyi were discussing the languaue of abortion.  They noted that the left refers the right as wanting to “ban” abortion.  I forgot which prson said it, but they said the right should refer to putting a “limit” on abortion.  After all, we have speed limits, but it doesn’t mean we’re banned from driving.

    Personally, I’d throw the gun control language of the left back at them and refer to “common sense abortion laws” . . .

    • #5
  6. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Stad (View Comment):
    Personally, I’d throw the gun control language of the left back at them and refer to “common sense abortion laws” . . .

    lol well done

    • #6
  7. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):
    Personally, I’d throw the gun control language of the left back at them and refer to “common sense abortion laws” . . .

    lol well done

    Better yet, call them “regulations” because the left loves the regulatory state . . .

    • #7
  8. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Fox News just played a generic smear of Trump on the abortion issue. Cute woman, blah blah blah from her teenage to adult years and he’s going to hose her with the abortion law. They make suburban women hysterical about this topic and it’s not even a topic.

    Abortion went up by 15% after Roe versus Wade was wiped out.

    According to Democrat operative, Jim Messina, 80% of swing voters don’t want the government involved in abortion.

    Carry on.

    • #8
  9. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    I was in Wisconsin in early September and they were running an ad in TV from some PAC featuring teen girls announcing they are too young to vote, so you adults have to vote so they will be able to have an abortion.  It was very disturbing.   We don’t get those ads here in rah-rah-abortion-Pritzker’s Illinois.

    It is all about hearts and minds.

     

     

    • #9
  10. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    9thDistrictNeighbor (View Comment):

    I was in Wisconsin in early September and they were running an ad in TV from some PAC featuring teen girls announcing they are too young to vote, so you adults have to vote so they will be able to have an abortion. It was very disturbing. We don’t get those ads here in rah-rah-abortion-Pritzker’s Illinois.

    It is all about hearts and minds.

     

     

    But it’s gotta suck having that hairline already when you’re just a baby.

    • #10
  11. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Old Bathos: The sexual revolution was a gift to narcissistic promiscuous males — her body so her problem. 

    Thank you. I’ve been trying to get this point across, but you did it better.

    • #11
  12. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Old Bathos: The sexual revolution was a gift to narcissistic promiscuous males — her body so her problem.

    Thank you. I’ve been trying to get this point across, but you did it better.

    And to feminism, in terms of women being just like men.

    • #12
  13. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Old Bathos: The sexual revolution was a gift to narcissistic promiscuous males — her body so her problem.

    Thank you. I’ve been trying to get this point across, but you did it better.

    And to feminism, in terms of women being just like men.

    The Big Lie of feminism is that women would rather be just like men than be mothers. It’s so unnatural (against women’s nature), it’s no wonder feminism has made women so miserably unhappy. 

    • #13
  14. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    Zafar (View Comment):

    For some reason this was necessary:

    Awesome!  I’m probably the only Ricochet member who loves this song.  I have two of their  killer albums and I even re-mastered one of them because the sound lacked a normal echo effect, like it was being played inside a couch.  I saw the Dead Kennedys live in the 1980’s and I even helped carry lead singer Jello Biafra after he stage-dived into the audience.  Those were the days!

    • #14
  15. W Bob Member
    W Bob
    @WBob

    Almost no national Democrats support any restrictions on abortion whatsoever. It’s beyond pathetic that Republicans can’t capitalize on this and put them on the spot about late term abortion. “Do you support restrictions on elective third trimester abortions”? They will try to change the subject, yes, but just keep asking it! Do you support restrictions or not? Force them to actually say something indefensible. What’s so hard about that? They will never say that they support any restrictions because of the ideological absolutism on this issue in their party. This is their Achilles heel but no one ever uses it against them. 

    When a solid majority of Americans support something, as they do on late term abortion restrictions, but it doesn’t materialize politically and legally, there’s something really wrong. 

    Here’s a recent article about this in the Atlantic of all places:

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/democrats-third-trimester-abortions/680163/

     

     

    • #15
  16. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Democrat advertising  makes abortion an issue when it isn’t an issue. Not only are the Democrats good at this, they have a ton of money for it.

    They make suburban women hysterical about it when it isn’t an issue. It’s all vague hysteria and it works.

    How many levels of decent prenatal care can the government force? Not enough in my opinion. You can’t control what they consume and you can’t make them hate the baby or be anxious about it in the third trimester, which is a known producer of attachment problems in the kid. This is a real bitch to fix, even if you have the money and a good psychologist.

    Supposedly the latest you can know you are pregnant is 45 days. Add three weeks to that and you get nine weeks. Make it 10, so it’s easy. Nobody in the GOP should support anything over 10 and leave it at that for the next four presidential cycles. Get political power and finish it later.

    • #16
  17. Saxonburg Member
    Saxonburg
    @Saxonburg

    Last year, my wife went to a baby shower in our neighborhood. Is there anything that should be more joyous that a baby shower?   My wife got to talking to one of the more liberal neighbors (a public radio broadcaster) whose married daughter just had a baby.   Apparently, when the daughter found out that she was pregnant (intentionally), it struck her just how important the Dobbs decision was.   Not because the daughter realized how precious life was, but because she realized how much responsibility she now had.   The Dobbs decision was bad because it might have limited her options.   This is Minnesota, so her options were not really limited at all.

    • #17
  18. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    Fallen man doesn’t change. Going through American history in high school, I wondered how people were able to feel comfortable standing up in public advocating for slavery. Well, here we are now and women are shouting their abortions, allegedly taking abortion pills on the steps of the Supreme Court, and a political party having a mobile abortion wagon at its convention. I still don’t understand one taking glee in announcing that you advocate killing babies but I get to witness something similar to the slavery debate during my life.

    My wife has noticed that a lot of people are historical warriors. They picture themselves as conductors on the Underground Railroad, hiding Anne Frank in their attics, etc. She wonders why these brave people aren’t joining her to protest the abortion clinic. Abortion and abusive responses to Kung Flu by governors have tested people and they aren’t as strong as they think they are. Maybe I’m not as strong either. I’ve only joined her once on a protest. 

    • #18
  19. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Old Bathos: The sexual revolution was a gift to narcissistic promiscuous males — her body so her problem.

    Thank you. I’ve been trying to get this point across, but you did it better.

    And to feminism, in terms of women being just like men.

    The Big Lie of feminism is that women would rather be just like men than be mothers. It’s so unnatural (against women’s nature), it’s no wonder feminism has made women so miserably unhappy.

    It’s not exclusive to the left, either.  I saved this comment someone else made, a few years ago.

     

    Interesting podcast where a bunch of people who have few children (does Robinson have 4? Rob I don’t know…) speculate on why no one has kids. Ask yourselves and your wives? Outside of intense religiosity feminism means your wife works and the kids go to daycare and there isn’t much left for kids beyond 1-3. Whites in the US are below replacement rate and almost at European levels. Religiosity is falling like a brick. These are connected as the rise of feminism even among the religious, and celebrated by conservatives who want their daughter to be a doctor not a mother, results in people being too concerned with this world and not the future and their children.

    Which gets me to the real point – the collapse of Christianity as a serous guiding principle is why society is in decay. Its a complicated issue, but at the heart of it wicked people are decadent and we are a wicked godless nation.

    • #19
  20. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Democrat advertising makes abortion an issue when it isn’t an issue. Not only are the Democrats good at this, they have a ton of money for it.

    They make suburban women hysterical about it when it isn’t an issue. It’s all vague hysteria and it works.

    How many levels of decent prenatal care can the government force? Not enough in my opinion. You can’t control what they consume and you can’t make them hate the baby or be anxious about it in the third trimester, which is a known producer of attachment problems in the kid. This is a real bitch to fix, even if you have the money and a good psychologist.

    Supposedly the latest you can know you are pregnant is 45 days. Add three weeks to that and you get nine weeks. Make it 10, so it’s easy. Nobody in the GOP should support anything over 10 and leave it at that for the next four presidential cycles. Get political power and finish it later.

    Women have been prosecuted for damaging their unborn children through use of drugs, alcohol…

    • #20
  21. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Democrat advertising makes abortion an issue when it isn’t an issue. Not only are the Democrats good at this, they have a ton of money for it.

    They make suburban women hysterical about it when it isn’t an issue. It’s all vague hysteria and it works.

    How many levels of decent prenatal care can the government force? Not enough in my opinion. You can’t control what they consume and you can’t make them hate the baby or be anxious about it in the third trimester, which is a known producer of attachment problems in the kid. This is a real bitch to fix, even if you have the money and a good psychologist.

    Supposedly the latest you can know you are pregnant is 45 days. Add three weeks to that and you get nine weeks. Make it 10, so it’s easy. Nobody in the GOP should support anything over 10 and leave it at that for the next four presidential cycles. Get political power and finish it later.

    Women have been prosecuted for damaging their unborn children through use of drugs, alcohol…

    Oh please. I’m aware of that. I’m talking about being extra anxious or angry about it or simply not watching your diet at all. Nothing stops anybody from eating too many Doritos and drinking too much beer. I’m not even sure how much you have to go see the doctor. 

    • #21
  22. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    From our wannabe Baby Killer In Chief:

    • #22
  23. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    From our wannabe Baby Killer In Chief:

    What would be a religious exemption for abortion?  If your religion doesn’t allow for abortion, don’t get one.

     

    Or do you mean exemption for/from PROVIDING abortions, such as religiously-affiliated hospitals?

    • #23
  24. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    From our wannabe Baby Killer In Chief:

     

    What would be a religious exemption for abortion? If your religion doesn’t allow for abortion, don’t get one.

     

    Or do you mean exemption for/from PROVIDING abortions, such as religiously-affiliated hospitals?

    The question relates to forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Sort of like Obama suing the nuns forcing them to pay for contraception. That is the no religious exemption idea.

    • #24
  25. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    • #25
  26. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    From our wannabe Baby Killer In Chief:

     

    What would be a religious exemption for abortion? If your religion doesn’t allow for abortion, don’t get one.

     

    Or do you mean exemption for/from PROVIDING abortions, such as religiously-affiliated hospitals?

    The question relates to forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Sort of like Obama suing the nuns forcing them to pay for contraception. That is the no religious exemption idea.

    I would have included the word “providing.”

    • #26
  27. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    From our wannabe Baby Killer In Chief:

     

    What would be a religious exemption for abortion? If your religion doesn’t allow for abortion, don’t get one.

     

    Or do you mean exemption for/from PROVIDING abortions, such as religiously-affiliated hospitals?

    The question relates to forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Sort of like Obama suing the nuns forcing them to pay for contraception. That is the no religious exemption idea.

    I would have included the word “providing.”

    Well then you can write that next time

    • #27
  28. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    From our wannabe Baby Killer In Chief:

     

    What would be a religious exemption for abortion? If your religion doesn’t allow for abortion, don’t get one.

     

    Or do you mean exemption for/from PROVIDING abortions, such as religiously-affiliated hospitals?

    The question relates to forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Sort of like Obama suing the nuns forcing them to pay for contraception. That is the no religious exemption idea.

    I would have included the word “providing.”

    Well then you can write that next time

    Or “abortion providers” would be even better and more clear.

    • #28
  29. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Everybody whines about so much free stuff for the government for certain people. How about making procreating a FICA slave free? Prenatal. Delivery. Diapers. I think some staggering amount of babies is paid for by Medicaid anyway. I think it’s like 40% of all of the births in this country are paid for by Medicaid.

    Here’s another one. Say like you procreate four FICA slaves. Why should you have to pay any taxes until the last one turns 22? What if we started doing that in 1946? I’m not saying that’s perfect, but we could have done something like that. You could get some big massive refund if the FICA slave doesn’t have any felonies by age 26. I mean, we have this system set up one way and it’s not set up to pay for itself. It’s insane. 

     

    • #29
  30. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Stad (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):
    Personally, I’d throw the gun control language of the left back at them and refer to “common sense abortion laws” . . .

    lol well done

    Better yet, call them “regulations” because the left loves the regulatory state . . .

    That’s why I refer to too much deregulation of the administrative state.  Trump wants to re-regulate it a little bit.  Use left-wing cliches and terminology against the left.  It’s one of the few joys in life.  

    • #30
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