Republicans definitely want to punish women for having sex — but they don't want voters to figure that out

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
OCTOBER 16, 2023

With just over a year to go until the 2024 elections, Republicans are beginning to realize that the abortion issue won't just go away. The GOP has faced a political quandary ever since Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, opened the door to abortion bans, which red states started to enact immediately. On one hand, abortion bans are wildly unpopular, and have only gotten more so as we hear horror stories about women being seriously injured or forced to carry dying babies to term. On the other hand, Republicans don't want to just give up on their long-standing dream of using forced childbirth to punish women for having sex.

To square this impossible circle, Republicans have relied on their favorite strategy: Relentless dishonesty. Lots of pseudo-compassionate noises about women's pain, while insisting that their sadistic impulses are "pro-life." They pretend to support hypothetical exceptions to abortion bans, which for the most part do not apply in actual reality. They make weak attempts to rebrand their agenda as "pro-baby." They feign support for contraception access while supporting organizations that actively work to demolish viable birth control.

Continued: https://www.salon.com/2023/10/16/keep-her-legs-closed-angry-that-one-of-them-said-the-quiet-part-out-loud/