When It Comes To Women's Equality, There Are No Moderate Republicans Left
Idaho bans all abortions and last year the fascists who control the state legislature passed a bill making it a trafficking offense to help a pregnant minor go out of state to get an abortion. For now, a federal court has blocked the law— but that isn’t stopping fascists in Tennessee and Oklahoma to pass similar “abortion trafficking” laws. Over the past year and a half, thousands of young women in those states have been forced to give birth after being raped (4,993 in Tennessee and 4,529 in Oklahoma).
There are exactly zero pro-Choice Republicans left in the House: zero. It wasn’t that long ago that there were a few standing up against the extremists. Not any more. Even the ones who occasionally try passing themselves off as “mainstream,” like Mike Lawler (R-NY), Mike Garcia (R-CA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Zach Nunn (R-IA), Young Kim (R-CA), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), David Schweikert (R-AZ) are as radical and extreme as MAGA Mike and the rest of them. Occasionally there may be a voice raised about messaging, but in terms of policy, they’re all on the same page: ban abortions.
Michelle Steel (R-CA) is one of the swing district Republicans who vaguely pretends to be a “moderate”— and who avoids talking about women’s Choice. And yet… when push comes to shove, she’s always there for her extremist conference. On the 18th she voted for two anti-Choice bills, one written by anti-Choice fanatic Michelle Fishbach (R-MN) and another written by another anti-Choice extremist, Ashley Hinson (R-IA). I asked Cheyenne Hunt, the progressive Democrat taking on Steel, what she made out of a vote like that which is so far from mainstream thought in their district.
Today, Hunt told me that “Michelle Steel is a covert yet unapologetic extremist. She tries to appear as a reasonable moderate while being the only Orange County Congress member to welcome Donald Trump off the plane when he comes to town. On an issue as important as reproductive rights, Steel can’t disguise her extremism for anything other than an out of touch attempt to control women’s bodies. In my work in the Senate Judiciary Committee, I fought back against radical Republicans like her who tried to undermine our fundamental rights. We need a candidate in CA-45 who has experience calling out these right-wing politicians and I’m up for the job.”
Oregon progressive Jamie McLeod-Skinner, running for the swing district seat fake moderate Lori Chavez DeRemer has, told me today that “Recognizing women's health and abortion rights as fundamental human rights transcends political affiliations. Lori who advocates for increased restrictions on these rights and aligning with leaders like Trump threatens the collective well-being, perpetuating a stance that undermines the basic principles of equality and individual freedom for all.”