Are all women born to be mothers? The GOP plarform in 2012+ Op-Ed from WaPo

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Last edited Mon Jul 25, 2022, 11:11 AM - Edit history (1)

Source-https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/are-all-women-born-to-be-mothers/2012/08/31/b5df2f0e-f2b1-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_story.html

Are all women born to be mothers?
By Jessica ValentiAugust 31, 2012

snip-"But given the GOP’s extreme antiabortion platform, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest, focusing on motherhood as a gateway to women’s hearts and votes seems misguided. After all, no matter how many platitudes are thrown around, this is the party that wants motherhood not to be a choice, but to be enforced."

snip-" In 2006,[during Shrubs' term my addition] the term “pre-pregnant” was coined in a Washington Post story about a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending that all women of childbearing age care for their pre-conception health. The agency said all American women — from the time of their first menstrual period until menopause — should take folic acid supplements, not smoke, not “misuse” alcohol, maintain a healthy weight, refrain from drug use and avoid “high risk sexual behavior.”

The CDC was asking women to behave as if they were already pregnant, even if they had no intention of conceiving in the near — or distant — future. For the first time, a U.S. government institution was explicitly saying what social norms had always hinted at: All women, regardless of whether they have or want children, are moms-in-waiting.


snip..."In fact, most American women spend the majority of their lives trying not to get pregnant. According to the Guttmacher Institute, by the time a woman with two children is in her mid-40s, she will have spent only five years trying to become pregnant, being pregnant or in a postpartum period. So to avoid getting pregnant, she would have had to refrain from sex or use contraception for 25 years. That’s a long part of life and a lot of effort to avoid parenthood."

The article is not paywalled.


The GOP has always always been misogynistic and clear that women are just incubators.