He gave misleading statistics, and then he said patently idiotic things like this, "The narrative that women are fighting for their rights against the patriarchy doesn’t make sense." Of course it makes sense because it is THE major element of what is going on with anti-choice rhetoric. "I would never have an abortion" is completely and totally different than making laws that impact all woman's right to make health care decisions in conjunction with their doctor without interference from outsiders. The same legislators (and their supporters, some of whom are women with internalized patriarchy) who are making these draconian laws are at the same time trying to do away with rights to contractraception, and aid to women and children. They don't care about the "sanctity of life" - they care about forcing women to be baby ovens "as god intended." If that wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t be going after contraception, they would be making laws to support women both prenatally and after giving birth, but they aren’t — they are doing the exact opposite of that. Historically Catholic countries like Mexico, Columbia, and even Ireland have more progressive abortion access rights than a lot of US states.
Some Christians do want women to die or they wouldn't be making laws that make that infinitely more likely - not just in botched home abortions but because pregnancy (particularly in the US) has a lot of risks and additionally, women with ectopic pregnancies or who have had miscarriages often can't get the care that they need due to these laws. What you say you care about makes little difference if your actions speak volumes in the other direction. Their laws, their actions indicate that they are fine with women dying if it saves zygotes.
Birth control is already under threat and it's not hyperbole to be concerned about that. A bill to guarantee birth control rights was recently blocked in the Senate.
What kind of "middle ground" is he imagining there is when it comes to whether or not a pregnant woman has the same body autonomy rights that are otherwise available to all Americans under other circumstances? Puhleeze…
Does he care and do you that it feels like being punched in the gut to have your government tell you in no uncertain terms that you are in fact a second class citizen? Because when a ten year old has been raped by a family member and they have to go to extraordinary length so that the poor child isn't forced to bear the fruit of that, including driving to another state, when women with ectopic pregnancies bleed out waiting for the lawyers to determine whether or not a doctor will lose their license if they help her, when women who have spontaneously miscarried go septic because they can't get the D&C they need to prevent that from happening, then that is exactly what we are being told. Women are dying and if he's tired of hearing about that he can go straight to you know where because this is not a rhetorical discussion - it is literally real women's lives and futures at stake.
"Abortion bans, even those with exceptions for ectopic pregnancy, can generate confusion for patients and health care professionals and can result in delays to treatment," the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists writes on its website. "Healthcare professionals should never have to navigate vague legal or statutory language to determine whether the law allows them to exercise their professional judgment and provide evidence-based care."
Anyone who wants to talk about this issue needs to do it by interfacing with facts, the practicalities, and what is actually happening. I have no tolerance for people making up shit to suit their narrative and whining about the visceral trauma that so many American women are now experiencing.
