For the past week I’ve been mulling a comment by Nikki Haley in the recent Republican candidate debate where, on the issue of a federal abortion ban, she said we need to “humanize” rather than “demonize” the abortion issue.
And in a recent “Fox & Friends” program on Fox News, the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said it again.
Noting, in the debate, an impossibility of a Senate and House majority for a federal ban, Haley said: “Let’s find consensus. Can’t we all agree that we should ban late-term abortions?”
She also said “can’t we all agree” that adoptions should be encouraged, medical professionals opposed to abortion shouldn’t have to perform them, contraceptives should be available, and that women should not be jailed or executed for having abortions.
“Let’s treat this like a respectful issue that it is and humanize the situation and stop demonizing the situation,” Haley said, to the applause of some in the debate audience.
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Friday, on “Fox & Friends,” co-host Ainsley Earhardt repeated what Haley had said in the debate and told Haley: “Yeah, we don’t have enough votes in the House or in the Senate to abolish this.”
“How did you come up with this answer, and what are you hearing from the voters after that debate?” Earhardt queried.
“From my heart,” is how Haley described her comments in the debate, noting how “God has blessed me with an amazing husband and two wonderful children.
Do agree GOP candidates like Haley are trading morality for polling points?
Yes: 90% (36 Votes)
No: 10% (4 Votes)
“But having said that, I think it’s really important that all of us remember everybody has a personal story,” she continued.
“So while I’m unapologetically pro-life, I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice. I think that we have to humanize this issue. We’ve got to stop demonizing this issue.
“I think the division in this country has gone too far,” according to Haley. “We have to start looking at the vision going forward. My vision is how do we save as many babies as possible and support as many moms as possible.
“If that’s the case, be honest with the American people. Tell them what is possible and what’s not possible, and let’s bring people together based on humanity, not based on making people hate each other. And I think it’s happened too long, and I’m just not going to be a part of that. I refuse to be a part of that,” Haley said.
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Certainly a lot of people share the thoughts of Gov. Haley’s, currently at 3 percent in polling. And I’ll agree with her that everyone has a personal story.
I hear some of those stories as my wife — while protecting confidences — brings them home from her job at a crisis pregnancy center. And, yes, governor, there’s a deep human element to these stories, some of them truly sad.
But what Haley said appeals to certain emotions. But, like a federal ban on abortion, they’re not realistic.
First, how can one develop a consensus regarding abortion?
After all, is it a political issue or a moral matter?
There’s no middle ground on this. It’s like — and I’m sorry, but this is the only illustration that comes to mind — it’s like a woman cannot be only partially pregnant.
She is or she is not.
If abortion is a moral issue, it’s absolute — no middle ground.
If it’s a political issue, then why bother? After all, like taxes or a land use issue or an antitrust case, it can be negotiated. And a consensus can be derived.
But it’s a moral issue. And many moral issues by their nature are divisive. There’s no singing around the campfire on the life and death of unborn children.
Secondly, how can one come to a consensus with Democrats about an intimate issue involving women when they can’t even define what a woman is?
And there is a third issue here, which for Republicans is the donkey in the room. The GOP for years could hide behind Roe v. Wade as the law of the land without taking responsibility one way or another.
Now, with Roe v. Wade overturned, Republicans are having to step up and express their real beliefs. And as the pols read the polls, that can be difficult.
Abortion, as always, is divisive and some Republicans are telegraphing it will cost votes, especially in swing states, The New York Times said.
And Sean Hannity, who has been happy to promote his image as a Catholic, has said a pre-15-week abortion ban would cost Republicans suburban voters.
His Fox News colleague, Martha MacCallum, has called abortion a “losing issue” for the GOP, according to Breitbart News.
So that’s a growing spector as Republicans are being forced to step up and take a real stand on a serious moral issue.
Which may explain some of the smoke being blown by Nikki Haley — no one is calling for jailing or executing women getting abortions. Why did she make such an extreme statement?
Also, she mentioned contraceptives — that’s an old issue abortion advocates have trotted out stemming back to the days when the Catholic Church had influence over legislation prohibiting the sale of contraceptives.
That’s now a non-issue.
Why did Haley bring that up? As did Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) as she endorsed Haley’s positions and called Republicans extreme on the abortion issue, according to The Washington Examiner.
And if Haley says we can all agree on banning late-term abortions (which isn’t true) isn’t she just saying she’s fine with early abortions?
Years ago I read a book with a title that I can’t accurately recall, but it said something like one could say they were pro-life but their actions were pro-abortion.
That’s a good way to view politicians. Are they flying the flag of pro-life conviction or a wishy-washy flag of convenience?
