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Sam Zaleski, a GOP political operative who works in campaign media, research, and analytics, thinks Republicans should get over abortion. Just embrace the idea, she says, because it’s better for the party. Besides, she knows things.
Writing in Politico, Zaleski seems to imply that Republicans are hypocritical when it comes to abortion. They point fingers at Democrats for fostering extreme pro-abortion views, when, in fact, women in the GOP have the procedure, too:
“Republicans talk as if abortion is something only Democrats seek and undergo. Not in my home. Not in my church. Not in my community.”
However, she continues:
“The data tell us that at least 600,000 people get abortions annually. Statistics vary and only account for legal abortions. But some of the reddest states in the country — states that struggle to even elect Democrats to public office — still see significant numbers of abortions, even with very few clinics operating in these states.”
Don’t doubt Zaleski, either, because she knows how campaign numbers work. She has spent her career “committed to helping Republicans win elections as a pollster, data analyst and strategist.” As a result, she “knows numbers…and politics.” So she then asserts that “many women who have supported Republicans have had abortions. Many women who agree with various conservative policies, too, have had abortions.”
But Zaleski complains that Republican-majority state legislatures still pass laws that restrict or ban abortion. Plus, GOP politicians either ignore the issue or “articulate extreme and alienating views.”
So just who expresses such positions? Zaleski points to this guy as an example:
I rolled my eyes at this. Whether you like Matt Gaetz or not, those were not serious comments from a serious man. This was throwaway red meat tossed to a young adult crowd, delivered to get yuks. If Sam Zaleski thinks this is an example of a Republican pushing an “extreme view,” then she doesn’t know earnest and sincere pro-life Republicans.
Undoubtedly there are women in the GOP who have had abortions. Just as there are devout Christian women who have undergone the procedure, too. In the women’s restroom at my church, there are posters which provide the names of groups which women who feel guilt after abortion can contact for counseling. And it’s not just at my church — crisis pregnancy centers offer emotional support too. So yes, the pro-life community recognizes that abortion does happen. This is not the “lack of compassion” that mars the Republican party, as Zaleski claims.
Besides, just because something is commonplace doesn’t make it morally acceptable. Remember there was a time when images like this were everywhere in the South.
Credit: Adam Jones/flickr/CC BY 2.0.
Just as Jim Crow laws are immoral, so is the wanton destruction of an unborn human baby. No matter how ubiquitous abortion has become.
As you may have guessed, Sam Zaleski is passionate about legal abortion because she terminated the life of her unborn baby. And she doesn’t regret it, either, because it was all about her.
“I ultimately had an abortion, and I don’t regret the decision. It made me a firm believer in the importance of abortion rights — for economic mobility, for autonomy, for mental health. I did choose life when I chose to have an abortion — my own life.”
And there you have it: I chose my life. She further excuses her decision by pointing out that she was a high school senior involved in a “controlling and unhealthy relationship.” Plus, her situation wasn’t like that of the character “Juno” in the film of the same name.
“Unlike Juno, I did not have a loving, nerdy best friend as the father, and unlike her, I did not want to go through parenting or a long adoption process with him.”
So rather than offering her baby to a family with “loving, nerdy” parents, Sam Zaleski decided to dispatch her unborn child. With no regrets, either.
Zaleski ends her opinion piece by asking, “If you don’t truly think you know someone who has had an abortion, how can you empathize?” she asks.
Well, I do know women who have had abortions. I probably know more than I actually realize, and you probably do too. And I still believe the vast majority of abortions are immoral.
But if we Republicans “are proud to be the party that protects human life,” as the platform reads, then we must continue to oppose the practice of abortion on demand, even if GOP women like Sam Zaleski excuse it.
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Featured image: GPA Photo Archive/flickr/cropped/CC BY-NC 2.0.
jbspry says: “We all own slaves. We furnish our homes by selling their children. It’s how things are done – get over it.”
-Jedediah Zelensky, political consultant, circa 1859-
MCP says: I came here to express my outrage that this entitled woman took advantage of a liberty she worked so hard to deprive to others. Then I saw your comment about how she said “I chose my life.”
Well… ya. If put my kid in a car, and I get drunk, and I have an accident, and my kid is bleeding out, and my blood transfusion is the only thing that can save him, and they put me on a hospital bed and stick a needle in my arm… halfway through the procedure I can decide I really need to take a leak and unplug the needle and walk away. And no law in the country will stop me.
Because I am a man.
Now you might think it’s a terrible thing to do, but you’re not proposing any laws to stop me. Because men’s right to chose themselves is taken for granted. Everyone understands that the 14th amendment means that your body cannot be seized by the state for the use of another citizen, regardless of circumstances. This is why doctors can’t drag people off the street for blood donations. It’s why corpses can’t have their organs harvested unless they are carrying a signed card. There is no ambiguity or confusion about this issue…
until a woman is involved.
I’ll just leave you with one more question: if you really want to save children’s lives, why don’t you start with the leading cause of death for children 1-18? You know… gun violence. The same people that are telling us that an unborn fetus’ right to life trumps a woman’s 14th amendment rights are also telling us that a man’s 2nd amendment rights trump schoolchildren’s right to life.
Why do you suppose that is?
WW says: Your analogy (or whatever it is supposed to be) about an accident is one of the stupidest I have seen in a while. Setting aside the obvious absurdity that if you caused an accident because you were drunk they would be willing to transfuse your blood into a critically ill patient, setting aside that there are thousands of other people who can give even rare blood types, the most ridiculous part is that a woman would have exactly the same rights as a man in that situation.
And analogizing abortion to the 2nd Amendment is only slightly less ridiculous. There is a very direct one-to-one relationship where every abortion ends a life. You can make an argument that the 2nd Amendment does have impact on the number of deaths in the US but it is debatable point whereas abortion is not. Making that argument ignores the fact that many lives are saved each year in defensive uses of weapons and it is debatable whether which effect is predominant.
Finally, whether you like it or not, the Constitution recognizes a God-given right to self protection and that keeping weapons is an indispensable part of that. You do not have the God-given right to take the life of another individual.
Kim Hirsch says: Hi MCP–
I usually don’t respond to my readers, especially those with whom I’m not familiar. But in your case I’ll make an exception.
Your comment reminded of a line from a film:
“Mr. Madison, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.” — Billy Madison, 1995
And as for your swerve into “gun violence” — what a perfect example of a red herring fallacy. Thanks for sharing that!
GWB says: until a woman baby is involved
FIFY
If a man could get pregnant (and they can NOT) I would feel the same way.
a man’s 2nd amendment rights trump schoolchildren’s right to life
Bullscheitt. There are laws against murdering children because they have a right to life. As a matter of fact, I carry because of that right to life.
And “getting rid of guns” is an absolutely moronic pipe dream disconnected from reality – that’s why progs love it so.
Why do you suppose that is?
Because you’re either an ignorant, indoctrinated prog or a lying prog.
Vatertortuga says: “Because you’re either an ignorant, indoctrinated prog or a lying prog.” Embrace the power of and.
Scott says: Embrace the power of “AND” GWB
MCS (Minimal Common Sense) says: Your obsession with male bodily integrity amuses me. It is mere good fortune, I suppose, that you have never been conscripted or otherwise pressed to take up arms to defend your country. I imagine you are fortunate to have avoided this, just as some women by sheer good fortune have managed to avoid an unexpected and unplanned pregnancy. Additionally, your example is amusing in the sense that your choice not to save a child whose death would result in – at a minimum – a manslaughter charge against you and ultimately your imprisonment, is the example you chose as a declaration of your freedom. I thought I would explain that to you since you probably don’t understand Kim’s reply to your comment. Thanks for the laugh.
GWB says: abortion rights — for economic mobility, for autonomy, for mental health
Then she is not a conservative, but a progressive. Period.
committed to helping Republicans win elections
And these are the consultants who have put all those progressive Republicans into office.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter who wins if there’s no difference between them when they govern. She just sees them as one team against another, like the Browns and the Steelers in the NFL.
If you don’t truly think you know someone who has had an abortion, how can you empathize?”
If you don’t truly think you know someone who knows grammar, how are you going to write?
(She probably meant “If you truly think you don’t know someone who has had an abortion…”. And that still doesn’t really make sense with the second clause.)
If you are only a Republican and not a conservative, then you just need Republicans to win.
If you are a Constitutional conservative, then you need actual Constitutional conservatives to win so they can actually change things.
For decades the industry – pundits, consultants, politicians – has been oriented on electing Republicans. After all, without a party majority what can you do? What? Third party? They can’t accomplish anything because committees, seniority, blah, blah, blah.
TimW says: Being against abortions helps Republicans get elected. Republican and Christian women who get abortions and don’t regret it are awful. That’s just the truth.
But some of the reddest states in the country — states that struggle to even elect Democrats to public office — still see significant numbers of abortions, even with very few clinics operating in these states.
Why? Blue cities in red states – St. Louis comes to mind as a prime example.
Fortunately the state of Missouri has moved towards ending their utilitarian ways. And this conslutant should welcome that, nationwide, before she becomes vulnerable later in life and becomes “inconvenient” to family and/or society. They might act on the utilitarian precedent she is currently reinforcing.
WW says: “Conslutant”. Intentional or not, I like it,
grayswindir says: Keep emphasizing that life is dirt cheap in the US, keep passionately arguing for the right to kill off the life you were responsible for creating, just based on convenience.
But then, for God’ sake stop complaining about mass shooters.
Where do you think they got the idea that life is cheap?
NE says: Abortion is terrible for women. I know many who’ve are broken years later, yet they don’t admit it and still advocate for abortion. They can’t see it has affected them terribly and didn’t solve whatever the problem was at the time. Instead they were saddled with the guilt of what they’d done for the rest of their lives. Two couldn’t have children later in life. So very sad. They young women were brainwashed by the culture (TV, films, politicians) to believe, “it’s just a difficult, but honorable decision,” which has now morphed into the disgusting “shout your abortion.”
Kamas716 says: Sam Zalesky may be a Republican, but she’s no conservative. There have been Progressive Republicans for over a century, Theodore Roosevelt for example. And as individuals we all have our own ideas that may occasionally fall outside the party consensus. In any group larger than what you can count on one hand you’re almost guaranteed to have at least one with a view that isn’t in line with the group. In other words, of course there are Republican women, conservative women even, that have had a abortion. However, that doesn’t mean it was a good or moral decision. If you’re Christian you realize we’re all sinners, and do things we shouldn’t. Advocating for the normalization of bad and/or immoral behavior takes one completely out of the group you’re claiming membership in. She should find a different organization.
SCOTTtheBADGER says: Zalenski isn’t the one who died.
OlBlueEyes says: I bet, if Sam Zalesky (and Tomi Lahoren) we’re to be asked if she were a feminist, she would vehemently deny it.
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