I don’t remember if you’ve talked about this before or not, but the pro-life movement started out as a leftist movement, where abortion was seen as evil right-wing eugenics, especially when it came to the racial differences in abortion rates. Most pro-life people in America were Catholics that were also in the labor movement, so pro-life was seen as leftist and even communist. Evangelicals didn’t really care about abortion until the 1970s. Daniel K. Williams’s book Defenders of the Unborn is a must-read when it comes to the history of abortion politics in America.
This comment struck me as a classic Rob Henderson luxury belief in action: “She belongs, in other words, to one of the demographics whose members are least likely to be socially punished or economically penalized for getting out of a marriage.”
I think much of the "abortion is 100% men" trope for many pro-lifers is an auto-immune reaction to being slandered as a men's movement seeking to control women for a half century.
I suppose part of this could be explained by not wanting to preach to the choir (perhaps), but I also don't doubt that many women involved in these single issue organizations have no carefully thought out political philosophy but have much of their worldview implicitly shaped by the dominant leftist monoculture.
Kristan Hawkins' background is a Bush Administration staffer... But a newer thing to the pro-life movement is explicitly left-wing prolifers. They aren't a large group, but they get a lot of attention, mostly as a rebuttal to the other side's talking points.
I have the impression in general that Bush administration types prefer being on friendly terms with their nominal political rivals on the left, over being in the same party with the anti-Bush types that have wrested control of right-wing leadership since then.
All that being said, the phenomenon exemplified by the tweet our host pointed out occurs even in otherwise solidly conservative political subcultures, in my anecdotal experience.
I lean towards the explanation that, like "complementarianism" as actually practiced, it's a way to try to sound feminist or at least not anti-feminist/anti-woman. Perhaps fits into the model of "engagement rather than opposition"; or perhaps just into the general trend of mainstream/establishment Republican figures trying to prove we're not bad to the left on the left's terms – although it's more of a popular argument than a leadership undermining their base, sort of thing, so, not exactly the way those issues usually run either.
I don’t remember if you’ve talked about this before or not, but the pro-life movement started out as a leftist movement, where abortion was seen as evil right-wing eugenics, especially when it came to the racial differences in abortion rates. Most pro-life people in America were Catholics that were also in the labor movement, so pro-life was seen as leftist and even communist. Evangelicals didn’t really care about abortion until the 1970s. Daniel K. Williams’s book Defenders of the Unborn is a must-read when it comes to the history of abortion politics in America.
This comment struck me as a classic Rob Henderson luxury belief in action: “She belongs, in other words, to one of the demographics whose members are least likely to be socially punished or economically penalized for getting out of a marriage.”
I think much of the "abortion is 100% men" trope for many pro-lifers is an auto-immune reaction to being slandered as a men's movement seeking to control women for a half century.
"I know you are but what am I..."
I think it's noteworthy to see how many of the tweets of the quoted pro-life movement woman are left-wing coded, e.g.:
https://x.com/KristanHawkins/status/1900547701126598859 In which pro-choice woman is schooled by person of color
https://x.com/KristanHawkins/status/1900362209558986969 In which being old and white is derided.
https://x.com/KristanHawkins/status/1900275176253555131 in which women are assured that having a child won't keep them from their dream career. (Several such tweets)
https://x.com/KristanHawkins/status/1898726522875150535 in which even questioning whether a politician with adopted children from Haiti might not be "America First" is rejected as out of hand.
I suppose part of this could be explained by not wanting to preach to the choir (perhaps), but I also don't doubt that many women involved in these single issue organizations have no carefully thought out political philosophy but have much of their worldview implicitly shaped by the dominant leftist monoculture.
Kristan Hawkins' background is a Bush Administration staffer... But a newer thing to the pro-life movement is explicitly left-wing prolifers. They aren't a large group, but they get a lot of attention, mostly as a rebuttal to the other side's talking points.
I have the impression in general that Bush administration types prefer being on friendly terms with their nominal political rivals on the left, over being in the same party with the anti-Bush types that have wrested control of right-wing leadership since then.
All that being said, the phenomenon exemplified by the tweet our host pointed out occurs even in otherwise solidly conservative political subcultures, in my anecdotal experience.
I lean towards the explanation that, like "complementarianism" as actually practiced, it's a way to try to sound feminist or at least not anti-feminist/anti-woman. Perhaps fits into the model of "engagement rather than opposition"; or perhaps just into the general trend of mainstream/establishment Republican figures trying to prove we're not bad to the left on the left's terms – although it's more of a popular argument than a leadership undermining their base, sort of thing, so, not exactly the way those issues usually run either.