Re what is it about Republicans and abortion?

[Tony_FLADEM]

Conservatives use the abortion issue to give their political movement an emotional and moral element they otherwise wouldn't have. They love the abortion issue because its easy to be against abortion. You don't do anything to be "pro-life" accept talk. They use the moral legitamacy of the abortion issue to help win votes.

[neuvocat]

1. It has nothing to do with morality.

All the moral talk is simply a cover. Large numbers of children ensure that a family will have less resources, thereby having much less in the way of scalability. However if a family is fairly small, then there would be better chances of becoming more affluent, which is something the repukes wouldn't want to admit because there would be less wealth for them.

After all, in a Bush administration, it has become almost economically fatal to have a child.

[Military Brat]

3. People with several children need to work

If someone is desperate to work, they'll take any job, at any wage, just to feed and clothe their family. The more kids they have, the less likely they are to risk being unable to provide. It's a never-ending source of cheap labor. They also won't be able, in all likelihood, to send their children to college. So the cycle begins again.

And for those who think such people should use birth control instead of abortion, that's a medical argument about the efficacy of birth control methods.

The problem with right-wing Christians is they expect everyone to be perfect except themselves. And you can bet your bottom dollar if abortion becomes illegal, that a lot of rich white young girls who get pregnant will be sent to Europe to "visit their aunt."

[dreissig]

2. It's a Control Thing

Control of sexuality makes it easier for them to impose discipline. Reich was disowned by both the right and the left for saying this.

[raysr]

4. Pro-Life

You'd think that that pro-life stance would extend to the death penalty.

[aldian159]

10. yeah

Gotta love the oxymoronic stance of being pro-life and pro-death penalty.

[MI Cherie]

8. It IS a control thing ...

... if people let the government impose mandatory motherhood when it is convenient for them — who can doubt that they could also impose a child limit if it were convenient for them? (As in China)

[RandomKoolzip]

5. It stems from the fear of women.

Republicans are still pissed off that we gave women the right to vote and live their own lives without their every move controlled by men, and are dying for some way to show women "who wears the pants around here." And if they can do it under the facade of being "anti-murder," then, well, bucko, there's the ideal republican political stance: an impotent, desperate grasp for power hidden inside a lie, disguised as a plea for morality.

[meow2u3]

6. Karen Horney called it 'womb envy'

Repuke men-children hate women because they're jealous they themselves can't bear kids, so they want to make it as torturous as possible for women in retaliation--not to mention because they're bigger and stronger.

BTA, if men could have kids, they wouldn't be able to stand labor pains:evilgrin:

[RandomKoolzip]

7. And the tampon industry would collapse overnight...

Because not only would they be free, they'd be distributed like the mail (and no one would complain about "big government social programs" concerning this service!)

[0rganism]

9. What about republican women? Do they fear themselves?

Just curious.

[leftofthedial]

11. the first thing that occurs to me

is that Repukes are walking examples of the necessity for abortions.

Other than that, it is a wedge issue (which they love) and gives them a guaranteed number of zealously committed votes no matter what else they do (which they love).

There is no true ideological commitment. It's just politics.

[morningglory]

12. I saw a RW conference on abortion on C-Span, and when it was all

said, they almost plainly stated that pregnancy and 18 years of child-rearing drudgery is the punishment for having sex. But I also agree completely about keeping the wages low, the uneducated women in the home making biscuits.

[no_hypocrisy]

13. It isn't really about abortion. It's about curtailing the "libertine"

and libertarian ways of fellow citizens who may be having unrestrained, unfettered sex without guilt and fear of pregnancy.

It's about sexual mores. Sex is bad. If you have sex for reasons outside of marriage and procreation, you should bear the punishment/burden, e.g., pregnancy and societal derision (if unmarried).