The genius of the conversion of the religious right to the Republican party was harnessing a widespread religious belief to a party platform. Vote for us and Jesus will stop weeping at the mass murder of embryos and fetuses, hallelujah! Say what you will about the cynical motives of the GOP, that maneuver brought them a gigantic block of faithful voters.

Then you bring in the branding and mass marketing people. Being anti-abortion is not a negative position, it is pro-life. The life it protects is not the victim of rape, not the woman whose pregnancy endangers her life, not the family with children who cannot afford to raise another child at that time. The only sacred life in the equation is the fertilized egg, on its way to becoming a fetus. We know this because GOD said so!!!

Hard to argue with motherfuckers who actually believe that God commanded them to do whatever the hell they’re doing, to save the immortal souls of the “unborn”. But in a democratic society where the establishment of a religion is prohibited by the First Amendment [1], we need to argue with them, by every legal means necessary. We need five more seats in the Senate and keep control of the House, for starters.

Here is one excellent argument:

I Was Raped by My Father. An Abortion Saved My Life.

My shame was never about the abortion. I will forever be grateful that my pregnancy was terminated. I am fortunate that my body was spared an additional trauma imposed by my father — one that today would be forced by some state legislatures and courts. No child should be pressured or expected to carry a pregnancy and give birth or to feel remorse, guilt, doubt or unease about an abortion under any circumstances, let alone rape or incest. . .

. . . Abortion bans represent more than isolated state lawmaking or states’ rights — they represent an attack on the fundamental principles of liberty, freedom and autonomy. As Justice Blackmun noted in a 1986 majority opinion that reaffirmed Roe, “few decisions are more personal and intimate, more properly private or more basic to individual dignity and autonomy” than the decision to terminate a pregnancy. Abortion bans that provide no exceptions for rape and incest are a particularly cruel and immoral type of lawmaking.

[1]

Establishment Clause. The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.”. This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another.