On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that Texas cannot place restrictions on abortion clinics on the basis that it would create an “undue burden for women seeking an abortion.” With that ruling, Texas’ HB2 was overturned.
Had this not been the outcome, opponents had said that Texas’ law would have shut down abortion clinics all over the state. Justice Ginsburg even insinuated that the law was intended to close options for abortion to women rather than provide them with safe and accessible facilities.
Since the ruling, numerous reproductive rights activists have expressed their delight and support of the ruling, calling it a “win” for women. Regardless of your perspective, it can be said that the ruling is one of the most significant and most progressive for the pro-choice movement since the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey case.
Hillary Clinton and President Obama voiced their support of the SCOTUS decision immediately.
SCOTUS’s decision is a victory for women in Texas and across America. Safe abortion should be a right—not just on paper, but in reality. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 27, 2016
Women’s opportunities are expanded and our nation is stronger when all of our citizens have accessible, affordable health care.
— President Obama (@POTUS) June 27, 2016
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah tweeted out its own distasteful expression of support:
Celebrate the #SCOTUS ruling! Go knock someone up in Texas!
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) June 27, 2016
The left’s previous shouts of joy and tweets of approval were short-lived as the torrent of angry and agitated tweets began in response to The Daily Show’s joke. “Irresponsible” and “embracing rape culture” were some of the descriptors used among the countless tweets in response.
But the seemingly contradictory ideology of the pro-choice movement should be noticed.
If the upset pro-choicers were questioned whether or not The Daily Show was treating the SCOTUS ruling and sex with flippancy, their answer would most likely be a resounding “yes.” Yet the people who are aggravated and upset about the flippancy with which The Daily Show is treating pregnancy or sexual intercourse are the same people who are themselves demeaning the sanctity of life.
Proponents of abortion might respond, “Sanctity of life? There’s no life in that womb. That’s not a person.” But studies show that as much as 20-35% of babies born at 23 weeks and even some at 20-22 weeks survive without major medical impairments. The idea that “there’s no life in that womb” isn’t feasible.
The question needs to be asked of those on the left: if pregnancy doesn’t matter, if abortion is a legitimate option for the sake of convenience and should be readily accessible, if biological consequences of sex are avoidable, then why does it matter if someone goes and “knock[s] someone up in Texas”?
Logically, it is unwise and hypocritical to use a particular line of reasoning in an argument and then become upset when someone else takes up the same reasoning – a logical fallacy known as ad hominem tu quoque.
Let’s be consistent.
Megan Gentleman is a student at Liberty University and serves as a summer intern at the Family Policy Institute of Washington.
