The Official Blog of PCPB

Labored logic

Democrats have been buzzing about comments made by state Sen. Nancy Schaefer (R-Turnerville) at a recent eggs-and-issues breakfast in Hart County. We quote from the Hartwell Sun newspaper: "Commenting on illegal immigration, Schaefer said 50 million abortions have been performed in this country, causing a shortage of cheap American labor. 'We could have used those people,' she said."

So now we know what many of these so-called pro-lifers think when it comes to abortion. They know that often economic issues have a lot to do with whether a woman will choose to abort her baby or not. Rather than to deal with this by providing social programs and empowering people by giving them a living wage, Republicans like her decry the lack of "personal responsibility." Perhaps the poor should not have babies that they cannot afford. By casting blame in this manner and by blaming the poor for being poor, they can justify dismantling the social safety net, because they perpetually promote the myth that the poor are poor because they're lazy, shiftless, and morally tainted. It is no accident that abortion rates have declined under the Clinton administration and picked up under the National Litterbox Administration. It's simple. If you want to deal with abortion, make sure you have a good social safety net.

The quote proves that for many Republicans, their concern is not for the fetus or the mother. Rather they are upset that corporations and factories are being denied "cheap labor." Many of these Republican politicians do not reveal such things for fear it would alienate pro-lifers, but when it slips out, it speaks volumes. This is just one facet of what is known as pro-life ideology, Republican style. Not about the fetus or the mother, not about life or happiness, but all about power, control, and cheap labor.

If they were truly concerned, they would not make such asinine comments. Also if they were truly concerned about life, they would have also included in addition to the ban on almost every abortion in South Dakota, funding for adoption programs and foster care programs. They could even raise taxes on the wealthy to fund these programs, but Republicans would never dare do that. If a bill was introduced, it would die quickly proving that money trumps pro-life ideology any day for Republicans. They would have tried to provide a good safety net in addition to the abortion ban. The fact they did not do so only validates the claim that they are not pro-life but only concerned about the fetus because in doing so they can fool the religious base into believing that they really are pro-life and deserve their votes. It validates the claim that Republicans don't care about you after you are born.