The Religious Right’s Opposition To Abortion Isn’t About The Preservation Of Life, But The Preservation Of Race
By Ty Ross
When former GOP Representative from Iowa, Steve King, spouted racist rhetoric and sympathized with white supremacists, he was publicly criticized by high profile Republican party members like then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Mitt Romney. King was also stripped of his committee assignments and relegated to the background.
King, an advocate of a total abortion ban, is infamous. Not just for his sympathies, but for his anti-abortion argument that if we went through history and took out all the babies born of incest and rape, there would be no population left. But we know he didn’t mean all populations- just the white one.
This was in 2019. King spoke at a conference where he talked about the eradication of white history, culture and ultimately its people due to the rise in immigration from brown countries. He was shamed and run out of Congress. Boy have things changed.
Fast forward to 2021. 3 months after white supremacists and extremists sieged the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, the Religious Right and its supporters have gone all in on replacement theory as a way to rally the base and further their racist and anti-abortion agenda. Just a week ago on his top rated and widely watched show, Tucker Carlson used the fear mongering replacement theory as a talking point.
Many don’t know this (and the Religious Right would like to keep it that way), but there was little pushback after the Supreme Court made abortion legal with the historic Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. In fact, just the opposite. Prominent religious leaders, groups and publications like the Christian Medical Society, Christianity Today, the Southern Baptist Convention supported it. Then President of the convention, and pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, W.A. Criswell, even went so far as to say that until a child was born and able to live independently of his or her mother, it wasn’t a person.
It was seen as another way to control the population of those they saw as unfit to be parents. For years the government aided in the forced sterilization of women of color with funding for organizations and groups that performed the procedures. Over 25 percent of Native American women were subjected to sterilizations either unknown, or under intense pressure. Even Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, a known eugenicist, advocated for control of the reproduction of communities of color.
As the women’s rights movement and feminism reached a fever pitch, with wealthier white women wanting more control over their bodies and reproductive choices, views on abortion among the right begin to change. Particularly in the late ‘70s and ‘80s when the desire to pursue higher education and enter the corporate workforce became a goal of many white women. They wanted their piece of the American pie. Sans children.
Paul Weyrich, founder of The Heritage Foundation, had tried for years to find an issue to galvanize and unite all factions of the Republican party. He had failed until now. The election of 1978 saw anti-abortion politicians get elected, and Weyrich seized on the opportunity. Prayer had already been taken out of schools to little criticism, and the Bible banned. Now was his chance. With charismatic Reagan running for office, the time had come to bring church and state back together. The anti-abortion movement was born.
After decades of fighting and getting only small victories, the election of Donald Trump helped to push the Evangelical movement to ban abortion forward. Instillation of ultra-conservative judges in key courts around the country was setting us up for the ultimate fight. The Supreme Court.
State by state, restrictive abortion legislation has been passed. In 2019, an appeals court upheld Trump legislation that cut off federal funds to Health Care Providers who merely discussed abortion as an alternative with their patients.
A GOP representative in Texas introduced legislation to make abortion punishable by the death penalty. Yes, you read correctly. The death penalty.
This deterrent isn’t for women of color, who generally have conservative views on abortion, nor those who make up the lower income brackets and can’t afford the procedure anyway. No, this legislation is to deter the wealthy. Aka, white.
If people of color keep having children, while white reproduction continues to fall, the balance of power, politics and demographics will soon be upset. And not in the direction the likes of Tucker Carlson, and anyone else who believes the white race is in danger of extinction, would like to see.
As the title states, abortion bans aren’t about the preservation of life, but the preservation of race. A race in decline. Once upon a time white people accounted for 83% of the US population. Now it is barely 60% and continuing on a downward trajectory. At this rate it is estimated that the white population of the United States will officially be the minority. And with Latinos poised to surpass African-Americans as the largest minority group, it’s no wonder the border debate remains at the forefront of right wing talking points and news.
White men are only 31% of the population yet hold 65% of elected offices. They are terrified. But not bout migrants being undocumented, taking American jobs or draining precious financial resources from those born here. No, what they are terrified of is losing their grip on the power they haven’t earned, and sure don’t deserve.
Check out Ty’s book THE POWER OF PERSPECTIVE. It’s a collection of affirmations she wrote to get her through a difficult time in her life. Words of wisdom that apply to anyone, and everyone, to get through the hard times. If you’re questioning yourself, and need a reminder that you are in control… Click HERE to order your copy.
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