mookulatorAug 9, 2023

Americans seem to support abortion access. Why do Republicans keep trying to block it anyway?

https://lemmy.world/post/2919096

Americans seem to support abortion access. Why do Republicans keep trying to block it anyway? - Lemmy.world

The recent vote in Ohio is just one of a string of cases where voters show they mostly support abortion access to some extent (1). Polls show the same. (2) So why do Republicans (specifically Republican politicians, not necessarily Republican voters) keep trying to do something unpopular? My (perhaps cynical) view of Republican politicians is that they’re the “do anything to win” party. They would take any stance and pull any trick if it would give them a better chance of winning. So why are they so stuck on a losing issue? https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/08/ohio-takeaways-voters-abortion-00110411?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20230809&instance_id=99621&nl=the-morning®i_id=78332928&segment_id=141508&te=1&user_id=2c229a9eb418d267c58bd9e6c665e49d [https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/08/ohio-takeaways-voters-abortion-00110411?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20230809&instance_id=99621&nl=the-morning%C2%AEi_id=78332928&segment_id=141508&te=1&user_id=2c229a9eb418d267c58bd9e6c665e49d] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/roe-v-wade-abortion-views.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/roe-v-wade-abortion-views.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare] T

Show threadcerevantAug 9, 2023
It is a wedge issue that has locked a portion of the population who are single issue voters into being Republicans despite literally all their other beliefs. That is basically what all the non-financial planks of the Republican platform have on common.
Show threadNewNewAccountAug 9, 2023
I don’t know anybody that votes republican because of their abortion stance that doesn’t also agree with the rest of the party’s policies.
Show threadEnigmaAug 9, 2023

My mom was one. Didn’t realize until I was older, and long after she died. But yeah, she only voted Republican because she was anti abortion. She had an abortion and suffered from unintended side effects and didn’t want other women to experience the same. I get where she was coming from, but she definitely had the wrong idea with banning abortion.

Oddly enough, it was a comment on Reddit that opened my eyes to everything. Something along the lines of “Dems don’t want women to have abortions. But we’d like the choice if need be.”

Show threadmookulatorAug 9, 2023
Wow I’ve never heard of someone wanting to ban a medical procedure all together because they experienced an adverse effect of it. Thanks for the view into a psyche that I didn’t know about.
Show threadEnigmaAug 9, 2023
Yeah, she was unable to have kids going forward and ended up needing a complete hysterectomy at 40. This was also the 90s and I’m positive the procedures are more advanced now. But there can be side effects that are often not talked about among pro choice people. I mean they are rare, but it can happen. I know a lot of women who ended up severely depressed after (my mom ran a support group). But that doesn’t mean abortion should be banned, but that mental health support for women who have had abortions is desperately needed and necessary, especially if the baby is wanted.
Show threadmookulatorAug 9, 2023
Yeah I mean I think most people know that there are negative consequences that can happen, just like with any medical procedure. I’m just surprised by the fact that people might get a medical procedure then want to prevent all future people from getting it because they had a bad experience. Shows what I know about people.
Show threadEnigmaAug 9, 2023
I agree. Like I said, I understand where she was coming from, wanting to prevent other women from suffering the same way she did. But there are other ways to go about that and I don’t think she understood that. She’s also black and let’s face it, there is negative history regarding abortions and black women. I mean to this day, you have doctors who believe in old racist bullshit like black people have a higher pain tolerance; medical treatment is often different if you’re white vs black as well.
Show threadjballs

That’s crazy, because in my mind her voting makes it much more likely that women would have unsafe abortions. It’s like if I went to a dentist and they did a terrible job filling a cavity, the solution isn’t to ban dentists. Because then next time I have a cavity I’m just gonna have to rip my tooth out with a pliers instead.

Probably shouldn’t compare abortions to dental work… But yeah, I think banning a medical professional from performing an abortion just makes it so a non-professional will have to perform an abortion instead, which is way worse.

Aug 9, 2023 at 8:16pmWeb
Show threadEnigmaAug 9, 2023
Of course, which is why her position was idiotic. But it was an emotional position, not factual one. The most you’re able to do is understand and empathize with why that person holds that position. It’s not rational, but not everyone is able to rationalize for the betterment of society, and those people are able to vote. The only thing we can do is try to out vote those people.