Ocasio-Cortez Responds to Alabama Abortion Law with Claims of 'Brutal Form of Oppression'
Democrats are getting riled up over the string of abortion bills being signed into law around the country. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the latest to add her two cents to the situation on Wednesday, responding with claims that abortion bans are about “owning women.”
Most recently, such states as Georgia, Missouri and Alabama approved strict abortion laws, though Alabama bypassed Georgia’s “heartbeat” bill, allowing exceptions to abortion only if the mothers face a critical health risk.
The controversial bill also outlines 99 years of felony jail time if doctors were to perform an abortion in the state, NPR reported.
Ahead of the signing on Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez criticized the Alabama bill.
“Alabama lawmakers are making all abortions a felony punishable w jailtime, [including] women victimized by rape+incest,” the congresswoman tweeted. “It’s going to @GovernorKayIvey‘s desk. She will decide the future of women’s rights in Alabama.”
Alabama lawmakers are making all abortions a felony punishable w jailtime,incl women victimized by rape+incest.
Of course, no added punishments for rapists.
It’s going to @GovernorKayIvey‘s desk. She will decide the future of women’s rights in Alabama.https://t.co/IRR0EtsxHp
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 15, 2019
Later on Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez denounced abortion bans as a way to not only control “women’s bodies” but also their sexuality.
“From limiting birth control to banning comprehensive sex ed, US religious fundamentalists are working hard to outlaw sex that falls outside their theology,” she said.
She went on to say that abortion laws are about women’s authority.
“When women are in control of their sexuality, it threatens a core element underpinning right-wing ideology: patriarchy,” Ocasio-Cortez claimed, adding that abortion bans are “a brutal form of oppression to seize control of the 1 essential thing a person should command: their own body.”
Ultimately, this is about women’s power.
When women are in control of their sexuality, it threatens a core element underpinning right-wing ideology: patriarchy.
It’s a brutal form of oppression to seize control of the 1 essential thing a person should command: their own body.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 16, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez’s tweets garnered a lot of attention on Twitter. Lila Rose, pro-life activist and founder of Live Action, responded by arguing that women’s control over their bodies is not tantamount to abortion rights.
“Our control over our bodies doesn’t equal the right to kill a child,” Rose tweeted. “My sexual choices do not include a choice to kill.”
Our control over our bodies doesn’t equal the right to kill a child. My sexual choices do not include a choice to kill.
Early 1st trimester—starves child to death
Other 1st + 2nd—suctions baby into pieces or uses forceps to dismember
3rd—lethal injectionhttps://t.co/jCkDKkQmuu— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) May 16, 2019
In a subsequent tweet, Rose said that the freshman New York representative is advocating for “systemic violence” that kills many unborn children every year.
“Almost 1M children are killed in the womb annually because of fear, coercion, & for many – sexual convenience,” she said. “This isn’t freedom; it’s brutality.”
No matter how you spin this, Alexandria, you are advocating for the systemic violence that destroys millions of innocent human lives. Almost 1M children are killed in the womb annually because of fear, coercion, & for many – sexual convenience. This isn’t freedom; it’s brutality.
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) May 16, 2019
Lauren Enriquez, public relations manager for Human Coalition, told The Western Journal that Ocasio-Cortez has no “basis in reality” or “justification” for her talking points on abortion.
“The goal of pro-life laws, like the ones we are seeing in Georgia and Alabama, is to restore human rights to the marginalized preborn child and to challenge the wildly misogynistic notion that women must sacrifice their own children in order to succeed in life,” Enriquez said after encouraging Ocasio-Cortez to “educate herself” on pro-life groups.
“The pro-life movement is here to say what the abortion industry desperately tries to obfuscate: Your child is valuable and you don’t need to choose between a stable life and carrying your child to term,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez was not the only politician active Wednesday on Twitter following news about the Alabama abortion law. Sen. Bernie Sanders also attacked the law in a series of tweets, claiming that abortion is a “constitutional right” and “health care.”
Abortion is a constitutional right.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 15, 2019
“When we pass Medicare for All, we will be guaranteeing a woman’s right to control her own body by covering comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion,” the socialist senator tweeted.
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