Tag: abortion restrictions

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Abortion Elections GOP Joe Biden Viral Video

Haunting New Ad From The Biden Campaign Has The GOP Running Scared

Hours after failed one-term former president Donald Trump gave his mealy-mouthed statement regarding his current position on the issue of abortion and restricting the right of a woman to choose, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign released an ad that quickly went viral online and has Republicans running scared as they desperately try to distance themselves from new anti-choice laws being implemented in states such as Arizona.

NBC News reports the campaign ad deals with a Texas woman who sought to have an abortion and nearly died after she was denied one.

The 60-second ad, which first aired Monday on MSNBC, focuses on Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who sued the state after, she said, she almost died from a miscarriage. In the video, Zurawski and her husband, Josh, discuss how they had started buying things for the baby while Amanda was pregnant, including a baby book.

“At 18 weeks, Amanda’s water broke,” the ad’s text said. “She had a miscarriage.”

As the couple continues to recount memories of the pregnancy, text on the screen reads, “Because Donald Trump killed Roe v. Wade, Amanda was denied standard medical care to prevent infection, an abortion.”

But that’s just the beginning of Amanda’s nightmare, as she eventually wound up rushed to intensive care after suffering from sepsis. She nearly died on two separate occasions and may now never be able to have children, all because the state of Texas passed a restrictive anti-abortion law.

The ad ends with this line: “Donald Trump did this.”

Indeed, Trump did play a role in Amanda Zurawski’s ordeal. He appointed three right-wing justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who ruled that states can tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies.

As you’d expect, Republicans are now trying to distance themselves from the growing political firestorm that has been caused by their draconian laws, the Guardian reported from Arizona, the latest state to decide women have no right to make decisions about their reproductive health.

Republicans in the state took a surprising stance for a party that has historically championed abortion restrictions – they denounced the decision.

Some of the criticisms of the Tuesday ruling came from politicians who had previously supported the 1864 ban or cheered the end of Roe v Wade.

Trump and every Republican who played a role in the anti-abortion movement now have to own the morass they’ve created and pay a political price with voters, the majority of whom say the government doesn’t belong in private decisions made by a woman and her doctor.

Trump and his GOP did this. Never forget that fact.

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Abortion GOP U.S. Senate

WATCH: Woman Slams Ted Cruz For Lying About Abortion During Senate Hearing

A Senate hearing on abortion turned into a verbal dressing down of Texas Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, neither of whom showed up for the hearing, probably because they knew they’d be confronted and humiliated for their refusal to even consider that a woman has a right to an abortion.

Amanda Zurawski was the witness testifying, and she explained that she almost died after she had a medical emergency while pregnant and had to wait until she was on the verge of death before she was allowed to obtain an abortion in the Lone Star State.

“We’ve heard a lot today about the mental trauma and the negative, harmful effects on a person’s psychological well-being after they have an abortion, supposedly,” Zurawski said. “And I am curious why that is not relevant for me as well. Because I wasn’t permitted to have an abortion, and the trauma, and the PTSD, and the depression that I have dealt with in the eight months since this happened to me is paralyzing. On top of that, I am still struggling to have children.”

That horrific situation, Zurawski explained, was forced on her by those who try to make it more difficult for women to get an abortion.

“And I wanted to address my Sens. [Ted] Cruz and [John] Cornyn, neither of whom regrettably are not in the room right now. I would like for them to know that what happened to me, I think most people would agree, was horrific. But it is a direct result of the policies that they support. I nearly died on their watch. And furthermore, as a result of what happened to me, I may have been robbed of the opportunity to have children in the future. And it is because of the policies that they support.”

She concluded her testimony by saying there are other women just like her.

“What happened to me was horrible, but I am one of many. And quite frankly, I am lucky. I am lucky that I have a husband who could take me to the hospital, I don’t have other children that I had to worry about finding childcare for. I have a job that was understanding that allowed me to grieve for three days as I waited to almost die. What about all of the women that don’t have the same opportunities, that don’t have access to health care? They don’t have health insurance; they don’t have a partner? What about them?”

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Abortion GOP

MSNBC Guest Mocks Lindsey Graham For His Abortion Ban: ‘He’s Never Seen A Naked Woman!’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been heavily criticized for suggesting a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks, and his proposal could wind up costing Republicans a chance at retaking control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

Just this week, President Joe Biden weighed in on Graham’s legislation, telling attendees to a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in New York:

“Think about what these guys are talking about. No exceptions — rape, incest — no exceptions, regardless of age. I happen to be a practicing Roman Catholic. My church doesn’t even make that argument now.”

Graham’s abortion ban was also the topic of discussion on MSNBC, Mediaite reports, with host Stephanie Ruhle leading a discussion of the topic:

Ruhle said Graham is “more than doubling down” with the legislation, and said to the panel “I want you to first help me understand, why would he even be doing this?”

“Why do this? Republicans don’t even support it across the board. He’s dividing Republicans. It’s not like you can get white evangelical voters to vote for you twice,” said Ruhle. “And now they’re knocking out a ton of other potential new voters.”

Comedian and podcaster Judy Gold then joined the debate, noting:

“And, the fact that he is telling women what to do with their bodies. Go for it.

“He’s never seen a vagina! He’s never seen a naked woman! And he is telling me?”

Clearly, Gold was insinuating that Graham is gay, which has long been suspected about the South Carolina senator, who is 67 and has never been married.

Ron Insana of CNBC agreed with Gold, to an extent:

“If I could flip that, though, as a married man who’s got a wife and two daughters. I don’t want somebody who’s not married, without a family, dictating my family policy.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUCv5DoJdjU

Why is it that old white men think they have a right to tell women what they can and can’t do with their bodies? Whether Graham is gay or not is immaterial to the larger issue: How can any man legislate what a women does with her body when there’s isn’t a man on the planet who can identify with what making such a decision involves.

Sen. Graham and the rest of the GOP need to sit down, shut up, and quit trying to rule other people’s lives.

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Abortion Elections GOP

Powerful Abortion Ad Aimed At Greg Abbott Goes Viral As His Poll Numbers Slide

Unless you live in the state of Texas or happen to be a political junkie who regularly follows campaigns in other states, you may not have seen the hottest political ad of the 2022 midterm elections.

The ad, which is aimed at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), has quickly gone viral, and is being shown all over cable television and online, where it is quickly earning the reputation as the most brilliant political ad in years.

Newsweek notes:

The Mothers Against Greg Abbott PAC posted the ad on Twitter on Monday, where it has since amassed more than 3 million views.

It begins with a nervous couple waiting in a doctor’s office. When the doctor enters, he solemnly tells them their baby has a “catastrophic brain abnormality.”

Nancy Thompson, the founder of the Mothers Against Greg Abbott PAC, explained the purpose of the ad:

“(It shows) the absurdity and horror of the government making a deeply personal decision – a decision which should be made between a woman and her health care provider. The video has been well received… We’re getting donations, and we’re not going to stop.”

Could a political ad in deep red Texas actually manage to turn the tide against the incumbent Abbott, who is facing a challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke? That depends on who you talk to, but the polls suggest that Abbott is indeed vulnerable and facing the political battle of his life, according to Axios:

In December, after the well-known Democrat announced his campaign, 54% of voters supported Abbott, compared to 37% who supported O’Rourke, a Quinnipiac University poll showed.

This month, 48% of voters support Abbott compared to 43% who support O’Rourke.

What, you may ask, is happening in Texas, long thought to be a conservative stronghold? In a word, pessimism:

Texans think Texas is on the wrong track and have expressed pessimism about their personal finances and the national economy.

Abbott’s approval rating has slipped to 43%, and 26% of Texas Republicans disapprove of the governor’s handling of the electric grid, according to the latest polling figures from the Texas Politics Project.

Additionally, following the money shows where the momentum is in the last three months of the race, with O’Rourke outraising Abbott since February.

Will Beto pull off one of the great political upsets in electoral history? It’s too soon to say definitively, but if it does happen, a viral campaign ad may well prove to have been the beginning of the end for Greg Abbott.

 

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Abortion GOP The Biden Administration

Jen Psaki Has The Perfect Response To Greg Abbott’s Absurd Pledge That He’ll ‘Eliminate All Rapists’

On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made an absurd statement regarding how he planned to “eliminate all rapists” in response to a question about what women in the Lone Star State are supposed to do if they’re raped and don’t want to carry the child to term now that the state has all but made all abortions illegal.

Abbott was asked:

“Why force a rape or incest victim to carry a pregnancy to term?”

Abbott replied:

“It doesn’t require that at all because obviously, it provides at least six weeks for a person to get an abortion. That said, however, let’s make something clear. Rape is a crime, and Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about what Abbott said at her press briefing Wednesday afternoon, and her reply has quickly gone viral:

“Well if Governor Abbott has a means of eliminating all rapists or all rape from the United States then there’d be bipartisan support for that. But given there has never in the history of of the country, in the world, been any leader who’s ever been able to eliminate rape, eliminate rapists from our streets, it’s even more imperative—it’s one of the many reasons I should say not the only reason—why women in Texas should have access to healthcare.”

She then added:

“So it does not change our objectives, does not change our commitment. The Department of Justice, the Attorney General, announced a step on Monday. Our Department of Justice is continuing to look at legal options. Our Department of Health and Human Services is also continuing to look at all options and the president has made clear that it’s a priority to do everything that we can to ensure that women in Texas have access to healthcare.”

And there it is: The perfect way to counter these right-wingers who want to keep women from controlling their own reproductive choices. This isn’t about abortion. It’s about the right to choose what happens to your body. It’s about health care and letting women make the most personal and difficult decision any person can ever have to make.

The government doesn’t belong in the bedroom or the doctor’s office. And it damn sure doesn’t belong in anyone’s uterus.