Missouri senator lies through his teeth to justify GOP abortion ban frenzy
Josh Hawley blamed Democrats for what his own party and state are doing to women.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told a slanderous, entirely made-up story about Democrats and abortion to justify his state’s decision to pass an abortion ban.
On Wednesday, Missouri’s Republican-led Senate passed an extreme bill that would ban abortions at just eight weeks of pregnancy, joining states like Alabama and Georgia in a full-on assault on the right to choose.
Hawley appeared on Fox News on Thursday morning and was asked to explain why states like Missouri are passing these draconian, anti-woman laws.
While state lawmakers have already admitted the correct answer to this question — that the laws are a deliberate attempt to get the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade — Hawley had a different idea.
“It’s a direct response, Steve, to the extremism we’ve seen in places like New York and Virginia,” Hawley said. “You have Democrat [sic] politicians who are saying that passing laws that would allow a baby to be born and then killed after birth. I mean it’s just incredible the extremism that we’re seeing, and I think you’re seeing these states responding.”
The idea that Democrats want legalize infanticide is a disgusting, dangerous lie that could encourage anti-abortion extremists to commit violence. Yet this lie is now effectively the GOP party line, and has been repeated by Trump, Mike Pence, and many others.
In reality, the legislation Hawley referred to simply makes it easier for doctors to use their best medical judgment in dire circumstances when a woman needs to get an abortion late in pregnancy to protect her health.
Republicans like Hawley have twisted these modest but necessary bills into wild accusations that Democrats, doctors, and women are pushing for “infanticide.”
Since the overwhelming majority of Americans do not support extreme abortion bans and don’t want Roe v. Wade overturned, it’s hard for Hawley and his fellow conservatives to be honest about why they really want these bans passed. So instead, they cite completely made up stories and use incendiary rhetoric that fans the flames of violence.
Anti-choice extremism has taken lives and terrorized communities. Hawley’s lies encourage the worst of America.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
Recommended
Veto overrides push Kansas anti-abortion bills into law, while Louisiana seeks to protect IVF
Abortion-related bills continue to be introduced and debated in legislatures across the country, especially in states where the procedure is already banned.
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Idaho Capital Sun - May 10, 2024Missouri Planned Parenthood clinics remain ‘open to all’ despite new Medicaid restrictions
Planned Parenthood says they will continue offsetting the costs of seeing patients on Medicaid despite a bill signed into law Thursday
By Anna Spoerre, Missouri Independent - May 09, 2024Fate of ‘game changer’ women’s health care bill in hands of Missouri Senate
A bill that would improve health care access for Missouri women almost died in the House after some lawmakers conflated birth control legislation with abortion medication
By Anna Spoerre, Missouri Independent - May 08, 2024