Ohio Republicans Say It's Their 'God Given Right' to Restrict Abortion Access
rollingstone.com
Republicans in Ohio want to undermine the will of voters who approved a measure enshrining reproductive freedom into the state’s constitution
Republicans in Ohio want to undermine the will of voters who approved a measure enshrining reproductive freedom into the state’s constitution
Republicans went against their own rules and held a special election in August to stop abortion; they lost. Republicans then lost in November and abortion rights were enshrined in Ohio's constitution. Now Republicans are saying no to democracy and laws.
Our problem here is all the Republicans. They're anti-American. Ship them off to a place that fits them better.
"If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy." - David Frum
See also the "We're a republic, not a democracy" talking point that swelled a year or two ago (and was even repeated by a senator). It's patently stupid to anyone who knows the meaning of those words, but it was also testing the water for overt anti-democracy rhetoric.
Honestly, they've been well-actually-splaining that for quite a while now. Usually it goes along with a lecture about how "kids these days" are not forced to take a Civics class, and therefore, all these scholars have to step into the breach...
Very true. Subjectively, it just seemed to have a bit of a peak not too long ago. It was one of those right-wing talking points that got popular before they realized it was embarrassing and didn't work.
And yeah, I'm real sick of reactionary armchair "experts" who think they know more than people who actually study (and experience) the things they talk about with such confidence.
deserted island in... hmm. lets go with the south china sea.
Fuck that, just send 'em to russia.
Putin’s propaganda machine would love that. They even have a nice little village all ready to go,
Here is uniform, Comrade, here is Z decal for your car, here is Chinese-made AK-47, here is map to Ukraine border, now go or you will be shot.
I hear Gaza is nice this time of year.
What? And give the Israelis more reason to bomb the place?
The Palestinians have enough problems to deal with already.
How about Somalia?
Let them build their perfect society on (spins globe) Marion Island.
I was thinking south china sea so that they get into trouble with china and wind up in one of their detention camps.
But that works, too.
Get your god out of my government. Shitbags.
And off the money And out of the pledge And out of the schools
Could not agree more. These dumbasses just cannot grasp the rules in their little club are for them, not for me. Their rules don't apply to me. Any extra-secular claims are completely invalid in our government.
If anyone's curious exactly which rights are bestowed by God, I've compiled an exhaustive list:
Where's the list?
Edit: Oh lol. I should go to sleep.
and it's still too long lol
But then, that implies that you don't have rights until you're born...
Guess it's time to take the guns away. Pack them up, second amendment doesn't take my God given right to protect children.
Redefine birth = conception. Solved.
Does that fucking suck or is sucking fucking?
I was just about to quote this exact thing. That has to be the winner. The most idiotic anti abortion quote ever. Congratulations to that lady.
*baby
It's my Constitution-given right to not give a fuck what anybody's god says I should do.
Or shouldn't.
I have just the gadsden flag for this
It should be socially acceptable to punch anyone in the face whenever they say stupid shit like this.
This is the uniquely American experience; if you do that, they will shoot you.
Are you sure it's not? It's illegal, sure, but I don't think I personally know anyone who's bothered by fascist punching.
They definetly have the right to not have abortions themselves. But that's probably where the line should be drawn.
If the Dems get their way they'll be forced into abortions
/s
You joke, but they really do make the forced abortion claim.
You can say you're being sarcastic but it can easily be seen they weren't when saying the same gorramn shit.
Upvote for FF.
If God wants it so bad, why doesn't he handle it his goddamn self?
Because mysterious ways and free will
I mean, whatever delusion you'll buy that's equivalent to any sense of anything after death, now cocks gun.
From the party that brought us great hits such as: Don’t Tread on Me, and Small Government! comes their new hit singles: Tread on You and Threateningly Massive Government!
A God given right to enforce laws over the public at their own whims?
So... Like a Monarchy and court of the throne?
How deliciously un-american of the Ohio Republicans.
If they'd like to join into a monarchical society, why not rejoin the Ol' British Empire as a Colony?
Shall we get the band back together on a mission from god?
All you have to do is kneel before the king.
So... Go on then... Kneel.
(/S if you couldn't tell, fuck the Monarchy)
They might be disappointed with some of King Charles' opinions, especially when it comes to the environment. But, you know, God given right and all that!
It's ironic because the word "republican" was invented to describe anti-monarchists.
That's pretty much the only connotation the rest of the world thinks about that word. Until political news from Washington happens because of US-defaultism.
Your god didn’t give you the right to make laws, the people who overwhelmingly voted to legalize abortion did
As a non- American, I straight up don't understand how political representatives are not required to action the collective will of the people who elected them. It should be against the law, or subject to legal penalty in some way. .
As an American, You are 100% right. Unfortunately these endless fuckholes think otherwise.
They're strongly disincentivized to enact policy that allows anyone to hold them accountable.
A magic man in the sky told me I could take away your rights.
Pretty sure this is the subtitle of the Bible.
I say we make all the gods battle like Pokemon and whichever wins gets bred until they produce a sub-par sequel Universe that lets us collect and battle new gods! It will eventually become a multi-universe franchise but can only be played on the Super Cosmocom - unless you guys prefer collectible card games?
What they say their "god" says does not matter in a secular government. They can go fuck themselves. Whenever anyone talks about their god, in my head, I give it about as much relevance as if they were talking about what Harry Potter demands. Or
Also, I'd like it if more people were to ask these radical right wing religious extremists which god they are talking about. All too often, we give this provincialism - that talking about "God" must mean we have to assume they are talking about Jehovah/Yahweh/Allah - a pass. Make them spell it out.
Hey, don't get the Muslims involved. Their god sanctions abortions (under specific circumstances, though over the years these have mostly evolved to: mother in danger, rape, child will be severely handicapped or the old, we don't have the effing money for one more mouth to feed and may God forgive us and we won't talk to anybody about it).
That's why it baffled me to see Canadian Muslims support their Christian counterparts to ban abortions.
At this point, I have to say that they've never even read their books.
Same with Judaism. The fetus isn't considered alive until it emerges from the woman. Until that point, it's considered potential life and not as important as the woman's actual life. In fact, the fetus is considered part of the woman the same way as her hip bone is part of her body.
In Judaism, getting an abortion isn't considered murder like some Christians think it is. Then again, those Christians don't care what other religions (or people who aren't religious) think. They want their religious views to be the law of the land.
My comment was not about Muslims, it was aimed at xtians and the way the term "God" is provincially just meant to mean theirs. Interestingly enough, they have the same god as Muslims, since they are both Abrahamic religions. Allah = Jehovah.
If we consider them to be literary characters rather than an actual divine being, then I'm comfortable saying the God of Jews, Christians, and Muslims are all separate. They're about as similar as Ares and Athena (both fitting into the god of war slot for the Greeks, but in different ways).
They all use the same source material as their origin story and source of "authority", even if there have been various retcons and reboots. Shrug.
I know, sorry I worded it that way.
Obviously. Anyone who has read them knows fucking better. Pun intended.
Ftfy. They do not follow the same rules they try to impose.
Keep taking Ls at the polls, Christofascists.
Guys, they wanna take our freedoms.
Shocking.
God hates democracy apparently?
Makes sense he is a dictator
No, the people that presume to speak on God's behalf hate democracy
You're not giving me a good reason now to raise my children to believe in your god.
The last kind of government that claims to have a "God-given right" was a monarchy. Am I out of the loop and have missed the coronation of the King of Ohio?
Some conservatives actually like the idea of a monarchy. It's the ultimate manifestation of 'rich people are rich because they're inherently better', which is all conservatism really is about.
They need to be removed from power by any means available.
You know what the smart political thing to do here is? Shut up and go along with it. It was an off year and voters chose it in a landslide. Keep quiet, and they'll probably consider the issue settled by 2024.
Instead, they're going to make this an issue persisting into 2024 that drives massive turnout against them. They feel power slipping, so they tighten their hold, but that only makes it slip faster.
God gave you free will but the only choice you are allowed to make is to obey. Same logic here. That's republican's understanding of democracy.
So does their "pro-life" stance hold any water once gun control is mentioned?
We need to start referring to it as it is. Pro-birth or Anti-woman. Continuing to use their name for it is giving them validation for an invalid stance.
Personally, I go with "forced-birth."
they arent pro-life, they are pro-forced birth.
They don't give a single shit about what happens to life after it exits the vagina.
It holds no water once the kid is born
That's what water breaking is about for them
That's funny because I believe that it's my god given right to have one. Checkmate religious extremists! Need me to quote a Bible verse on it? Gimme a bit, I'm sure I can misinterpret one somewhere just like you guys do all the time.
"Ordeal of the bitter water" is what you're looking for, from the Book of Numbers I think. But good luck, extremists are happy to ignore scripture that doesn't fit their narrative.
Most notably Matthew 6:5-8.
It’s my unicorn given right to punch republicans in the face
Glad to know we agree that God, if they exist, gave us the ability to perform abortions and you won't do anything to restrict them.
Fucking christians...
Have they provided evidence of that right and would they be prepared to debate that right within decent and structured debate?
*Restrictions may apply, see preacher for excuses
Well the Allfather says I can gut these gormless welps with a rusty machete, does that override their gods word?
That would be an ecumenical matter.
I think you've identified the excuses that might be put forward. I really to want to see all such claims exhibited for public scrutiny and responses
I believe I have the god given right to give access to abortion to everyone. Source? God said so, I believe it, and most importantly, I've given you the exact same arguments as you gave me.
Fuck Ohio Republicans!
Now, now, there's no need to bring Ohio into this.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“The Ohio legislature alone will consider what, if any, modifications to make to existing laws based on public hearings and input from legal experts on both sides.”
The strategy Republicans are now proposing would essentially strip Ohio’s courts of the authority to repeal existing abortion restrictions before the new amendment goes into effect on December 7.
“No amendment can overturn the God-given rights with which we were born,” state Rep. Beth Lear (R-Galena) added in the Republican’s statement.
Another representative, Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), claimed the referendum had only passed due to “foreign election interference.”
Rep. Bill Dean (R-Xenia) said the amendment “doesn’t repeal a single Ohio law,” and that its language is “dangerously vague and unconstrained, and can be weaponized to attack parental rights or defend rapists, pedophiles, and human traffickers.”
Gretchen Whitmer, told The Detroit News that “it shouldn’t be lost on people that these right-wing organizations and radical Republicans in the Michigan Legislature are cherry-picking courts to try to once again overturn a constitutionally guaranteed right because they can’t win with voters.”
The original article contains 387 words, the summary contains 175 words. Saved 55%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I can't wait until Jennifer Gross has to watch her husband fuck another woman to beget children. Disgusting pick-me traitor to her gender is going to keep fucking around until she finds out that no, these men don't think she's special and no, she hasn't earned an equal place among them by giving away her own rights. There's a special place in the hell she believes in waiting for her one day.
Of course Xenia and west Chester’s representatives are saying this shit. Daytonian suburbs are an absolute shithole
Oof, I just got shit on by a guy who knows Ohio really well
Live here long enough and you learn to hate every area for its own terrible qualities. Xenia frankly could use even more tornadoes and west Chester sounds like it hasn’t gotten better since the 70s
I wasn’t aware that god was handing out rights.
God doesn't give out rights or authority in a secular republic, the people do. When you use the authority delegated by the people to take away some of those people's rights and tell them God gives you that right, it's called bullshitting.
That's always the weakness of a democracy/republic; it's when charlatans convince people to consent to give up their power that they fail into autocracies
Ronny thinks so: https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/01/08/ron-desantis-becomes-floridas-newest-governor-our-rights-are-endowed-by-god-not-government/
Maybe he does, or maybe he thinks if he says so enough, voters will vote to actually give him authority as if it was God-given.
Rights aren't actually given out by anyone, you're born with them. They're inherent to your existence as a human being.
Rights don't really exist in a meaningful way outside of like humans agreeing on them. They're not like mass that you can measure. If everyone decided "Blue eyed people don't have the right to own property" well then that's the world. Compare with if everyone said "Gravity on earth accelerates at 5 m/s^2"
Rights are agreements. They are aspirational. But they don't just automatically exist in any meaningful way.
That's not true. Just because they're immaterial doesn't mean they don't exist -- best practices in terms of social interaction aren't limited to humans, and most of what makes life what it is -- our thoughts, dreams, imaginations, even our religions -- are immaterial and unfalsifiable. Other species even have self-awareness and theory of mind, so you can't argue rights don't exist.
Your reasoning is a blatant bandwagon fallacy and therefore invalid. If everyone else in the world decided blue-eyed people didn't have rights, those blue-eyed people would still have them. You all simply decided to violate them collectively, and the revenge and war your actions would bear would be ones you rightfully deserve. Rights aren't about who can do what. They're about your existence on this earth and what it is you should prioritize and choose to fight. They are the spiritual essence of self-worth.
They exist regardless of whether other people agree to them or not. That's the whole point of rights.
You're clearly looking for a way to either dismiss rights or dismiss me, so let's make it easier for you: That's just lame ass authoritarian tripe you were told to convince you to submit to the lockdowns and other covid restrictions. You're one of those types. The type who watched everyone collectively ignore and reject respect for human rights and decided, "Well, if rights truly existed, how could we have gotten away with bullying everyone else to being put on house arrest for three years and all the other cruel shit we did to them?". And you're just an idiot blowhard for thinking that way.
Now prove my point by completely derailing the debate with meaningless pro-lockdown talking points, come on. 🙄
Please show your work proving that rights exist beyond things people agree to.
They're aspirational but they're also made up. They change based on culture and context. We can say people have a right to a fair trial, but that is created, not discovered.
You can say you have the right to do whatever but that's just something you said. It's not enforced by anything unless people agree. Rights are just customs and laws with better branding.
I have no idea why you're talking about the pandemic, either.
Says so pretty fucking explicitly in the founding document of your own nation.
But you're just some wack-ass authoritarian so what little can we really expect of you than to go full mask-off? Burn in hell, fascist
You think I'm a fascist? You clearly don't know me.
Furthermore! Just because it says something in an old document, that doesn't prove anything. Lots of old documents say lots of things. And additionally, the declaration of independence doesn't even have legal weight. It's not the constitution. And even furthermore, even if it did have legal weight, the important part would be the laws and their enforcement, not some nebulous axiomatic """rights"""*
Wait, do you think I'm anti-abortion or siding with the republicans here?
Sure, you're born with them, but only if you're born to the right parents, in the right place on a map, at the right time. They're not holy writ, not natural law- they are an expression of a social contract, whereby you get them by upholding and respecting them in others.
That not everybody has the same rights should be a bright signal that they aren't God-given, they're granted by people, and if they're not actively upheld and protected, they're just nice words somewhere that will mean nothing when someone violates them
The reason I'm going to the effort to argue that our rights arise in the social contract is not to pretend they don't exist, it is rather to point out that unless people participate in protecting and upholding them, they can be taken away. My concern with the 'they are God-given' crowd is that they seem to want people to be passive about rights, and that's how they can be taken away.
See my response to the other guy
Honestly, after two defeats I was a little worried that turnout for Nov 2024 would decrease since protection is now in their state constitution. It's really kind of these folks to keep their losing issue relevant for us.
Oh, I’m certain God has a post-it note on his fridge reminding him of tasks to complete in Ohio, Earth.
☑️ Make sure that voters can pass laws they believe in, like abortion rights
☑️ Laugh at the fuckwads who don’t realize that the plan all along was for kind people to win, but selfish assholes kept getting in the way
☑️ Go fuck a literal black hole because I’m God and I built the tighest holes in existence just for me
I want to know what is wrong with people that they vote to protect abortion but then ALSO vote gross Christian fundies into office.
It's just racism isn't it?
Person for person, Ohio is pretty evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, but since it's gerrymandered beyond all recognition, Republicans have an sizeable advantage when it comes to electing representatives.
Then let GOD do, you stupid asshole human.
Everything The God Of Abraham EVER did was within this tiny circle. https://imgur.com/a/Y2Uiz3N
If God desires things to be a certain way, couldn't he just snap his fingers and make it so?
Well, not if he's not real he can't, but that won't stop the deluded masses from invoking his name anyway.
UNLESS God speaks through the Pope in which case God is wrong!
...born?
So they keep saying that because of the bible, but thr bible also says to help the people in need and I do not see a republican doing that.