Melania Trump Claims to Be Passionately Pro-Choice
10.2.24
Click to skip ahead: In Debate Night Redux, how Walz handled abortion rights. Media Rights & Wrongs looks at the headlines claiming Trump would veto a national ban. Trump’s Women are covering for their man. In the States, news from Georgia, California, New Jersey and more. In Ballot Measure Updates, some quick hits. 2024 looks at some more reactions to the VP debate. Finally, in Book News, I was on Morning Joe today and some exciting plans for next week.
Debate Night Redux
You already know how I feel about JD Vance’s ‘minimum national standard’ nonsense, so let’s talk about how Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz did during the exchange on abortion rights. I predicted that Vance would attack Walz for Minnesota’s pro-choice laws—which he did—but I wasn’t expecting similar antagonism from the CBS News moderators.
When Norah O'Donnell asked Walz about the Pro Act in Minnesota, she said it “made Minnesota one of the least restrictive states in the nation when it comes to abortion.” (It would have been just as easy to call it one of the most pro-choice!) She also repeated an attack from Donald Trump, asking Walz whether he believed that abortion “in the 9th month is absolutely fine.”
This is what I mean when I say ‘both sides’ journalism is dangerous. I’m sure that CBS News thought that by framing their question this way, it was showing some sort of ‘objectivity’ on the issue. But the country isn’t in crisis because of so-called late abortions. Women are dying and going septic because of abortion bans; that’s the crisis we’re in, and that’s what candidates need to talk about.
I mean really, we have a vice presidential candidate who lies about supporting a national ban, and who has said he can see why federal legislation would be important to stop women from traveling out-of-state! Surely that’s more urgent than whether someone is able to get care later in pregnancy.
In fact, the most recent data shows that only two people in Minnesota had abortions after 25 weeks. Are we to believe that those two women are more of a danger to democracy than a vice presidential candidate who would pass federal legislation to trap women in anti-choice states?
So given that the question was bunk, I thought Walz did very well: He talked about the real women harmed by these laws, dismissed Vance’s ‘post-birth’ abortion attack, and reminded voters that Americans would very much like Republicans to mind their own business.
A missed opportunity: Vance asked Walz whether he would make Catholic hospitals provide abortions. Earlier that day, California actually announced a lawsuit against a hospital that denied a miscarrying woman health- and life-saving care. She had to drive to another emergency room with buckets and towels in her car in case she bled out on the way. I would have loved to see Walz bring up that suit and send the question back to Vance: Should hospitals be able to turn away dying women?
If you missed my column earlier today about Vance’s steady stream of bullshit during the debate, you can read it below.
Media Rights & Wrongs
It was truly painful to wake up this morning to headline after headline declaring that Trump “commits” and ”vows” to vetoing a national ban. That’s simply not true.
As I wrote on Twitter earlier today, I’ve been warning about Republicans’ attacks on language for over a year now—and the GOP hasn’t exactly been hiding what they’re doing. Political reporters have no excuse for not covering this accurately.
So once more for the folks in the back: When Trump says that he will veto a national abortion ban, he means that he would veto a federal ban that prohibits abortion without an exception for women’s lives. He does not mean that he would veto any federal legislation about abortion.
That’s why I was so happy to see this piece at The Cut by Andrea González-Ramírez who lays out exactly how Trump is tricking Americans. González-Ramírez also reached out to the Trump campaign to ask the questions that I wish all reporters would:
“Does Trump support any sort of national minimum standard that includes exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother? If so, would that minimum standard be at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 15 weeks, etc.?”
You will not be surprised to find out that the campaign refused to answer. With polls showing that Trump and Vance’s abortion lies may be working with voters, it’s more important than ever that journalists are doing their jobs.
Trump’s Women
Unfortunately, we’re not done talking about Donald Trump yet. In what I can only describe as a total crock of shit, former first lady Melania Trump is coming out as a passionate defender of abortion rights. Seriously. The Guardian got ahold of an excerpt from her upcoming memoir—set to be published just a few weeks before the election—that sounds downright feminist:
“It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government. Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”
I find this so gross. Maybe Melania does support abortion rights; it’s totally possible! But I don’t buy that this is some independent move from a woman eager to distance herself from her husband’s noxious policies.
It’s not a coincidence that her supposed full-throated support is being leaked right before the election—the day after Vance fucked up his abortion messaging in the VP debate, no less!
This woman has been complicit in her husband’s nightmare reign and bigotry, and now she wants to help put a glossy, softened sheen on his anti-abortion extremism. This is about covering up and distracting from how dangerous a Trump administration would be for women.
And, of course, it’s about reaching women voters. That’s why Trump has been feigning ‘reasonableness’ on the issue and muddying the waters over his support for a national ban. Most distressingly, it seems to be working.
New polling from The 19th/Survey Monkey shows that almost a quarter of female voters who believe abortion should be legal most or all of the time plan to vote for Donald Trump.
These women reconcile that conflict by buying into Trump’s lie that he’s giving abortion “back to the states” and that the issue will be up to the “will of the people.” Fifty-six year old Laura Carter, for example, said, “States will make their own decisions—the people living in that state will decide by voting.” (This is why it’s so important that we’re reminding voters that Republicans are trying to stop people from having a say in every single state where abortion is on the ballot.)
This polling aligns with the numbers we saw not too long ago from Navigator, which showed that voters in battleground states don’t seem to quite get that Trump would impose a national abortion ban if elected.
All of which is to say: Godfuckingdamnit.
In the States
Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr has appealed a judge’s decision repealing the state’s abortion ban. His filing called Judge Robert McBurney’s fiery ruling “barely veiled judicial policymaking,” and said “there is nothing legally private about ending the life of an unborn child.”
Carr is appealing directly to the Supreme Court, which has overturned repeals of the state ban in the past. But in the meantime, it’s fantastic that people are able to get abortion care in Georgia. I’m just heartbroken for the people in the state whose healthcare is on such tenuous ground.
From Kwajelyn Jackson, executive director of Feminist Women’s Health Center:
“Unfortunately, we have lived through this many times before. We know that our communities have unfortunately been jerked around by changes in the law that happened overnight.”
Georgia has been in the national eye because of the deaths of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller—women killed by the state’s abortion ban. That’s why in response to Monday’s ruling, anti-abortion legislators didn’t just blast the decision itself—but the idea that Georgia’s ban is responsible for the two women’s deaths.
Republican state Rep. Lauren Daniel, for example, repeated the anti-abortion talking points I’ve been tracking from big national groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, saying, “As policy makers, we should be presenting policy that improves outcomes rather than fear mongering and lying to women about a law that does not prevent lifesaving care.”
Is it really “fear-mongering” if women are being killed?
Meanwhile, the Catholic hospital that refused a miscarrying woman care in California has apologized to the patient, an email to staff says. From Garry Olney, CEO of Providence Northern California:
“This was a tragic situation that did not meet our high standards for safe, quality, compassionate care. We are immediately re-visiting our training, education and escalation processes in emergency medical situations to ensure that this does not happen again and to ensure that our care teams have the training and support they need to deliver the best possible care for each patient we serve."
I think that’s a good statement, but the proof is in the pudding—we need to make sure these hospitals actually provide women the abortions they need. As I’ve reported previously, spikes in maternal death rates can often be tracked back to Catholic hospitals taking over a region:
We got more information on the potential travel advisory system for New Jersey pregnant women traveling to anti-abortion states and it’s pretty interesting. State Sen. John Burzichelli wants the New Jersey Department of State to partner with the state health department to create a website that would lay out each state’s abortion policies. The states would be identified by color:
“Blue: Exercise normal caution” — Access to all forms of reproductive medical care without fear of civil or criminal prosecution.
“Yellow: Exercise increased caution” — Restricted access to reproductive medical care that could result in civil or criminal prosecution.
“Red: Reconsider travel” — Extremely restricted access to reproductive care that could result in an adverse medical outcome and individuals being subject to civil or criminal prosecution.
Truly wild and depressing that this is what it’s come to, but it’s a good idea given the horror stories we’re seeing across the country. Whatever way pro-choice states can warn and protect women, they should. I’m just curious to know how and who would be identifying the states and what constitutes a danger to pregnant people.
Quick hits:
The Des Moines Register asks whether abortion rights will help Iowa Democrats in November;
The Ohio Capital Journal has more about Ohio’s increased abortion numbers, and the spike in out-of-state patients;
A prominent breast cancer surgeon is boycotting a national conference in Texas in protest of the state’s abortion ban;
And an emergency medicine physician describes her ordeal being denied miscarriage treatment in Kentucky.
Ballot Measure Updates
Julianne McShane at Mother Jones points out that Republican attacks on pro-choice ballot measures exposes the lie of abortion being given “back to the states.”
An Arizona pediatrician and family medicine specialist write about why they’re supporting the pro-choice ballot measure there, and Arizona NPR points out that this isn’t the first time that the state has voted on abortion rights.
Anti-abortion activists in Florida are launching a bus tour against Amendment 4, telling voters that the pro-choice measure would eradicate parental consent, redefine ‘viability’ and allow random, non-medical abortion clinic staff to perform abortions.
And a Kansas City Bishop has sent a letter to parishioners telling them that Missouri’s abortion rights amendment would allow dental hygienists to perform abortions. Yes, seriously.
2024
Let’s take a look at a few other reactions to last night’s VP debate:
Tessa Stuart at Rolling Stone does a great job digging into Vance’s lies, pointing out that while the vice presidential candidate said he supports “pro-family policies,” he voted against IVF access this summer and just skipped a vote on the same issue a few weeks ago. Vance’s claim that he doesn’t support pregnancy surveillance also doesn’t hold up: He was one of the Republican lawmakers who signed onto a letter opposing HIPAA expansion to protect women’s reproductive health records.
And at Democracy Now, Amy Littlefield from The Nation laid out how Vance is trying to “co-opt Democratic talking points” on abortion because “his own hard-line position on abortion has flunked with the American people.”
In other 2024 news, Rachel Maddow calls out JD Vance for lying about opposing a national abortion ban; KFF put out an explainer on the differences between Harris and Trump on abortion rights and a new poll found that abortion is a top issue for half of Pennsylvania voters when considering who to pick for president.
Book News!
I was super excited to be on “Morning Joe” today talking about my new book, Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies and the Truths You Use to Win. You can watch the segment below. I also spoke to Salon this week about the book, and I’m super excited to share that I’ll be appearing on The Daily Show next week! I’ll give you all the details when I have them. :)
Nora O’Donnells question about abortion in the ninth month displays a level of ignorance regarding third semester abortion beyond belief. It demonstrates a total lack of preparation on O’Donnells part.
Jessica, I just finished reading the chapter in your new book, the one that deals with language. It reminded me forcefully of something my grandpa used to say, when I was just a tadling: Talk is cheap. I realized for myself, later on, that propaganda is just repeating cheap talk over and over again, til people are convinced that the cheap talk is real. Sort of like costume jewelry. Doing things, however, is expensive; people have to back up what comes out of their yaps--or be exposed for the liars and frauds they are. Grandpa was a life long union organizer and communist, so he put those lessons to work for decades. I had to learn how to translate grandpa's lessons into feminism, which wasn't a thing when he was alive. But I've never forgotten the lessons. As I watch the current US election, I still think about all the cheap talk, and wonder where the real, actual action is. Thank you, Jessica, for the excellent book--which exposes the nonsense (and cheap talk) we have to deal with, and the harm it causes, and highlights the reality.