Jan Schakowsky: Extreme on abortion
October 7, 2010 by ashley
Filed under In The News
Last week, there was a minor national outcry over Jan Schakowsky’s statement in an interview that federal taxpayers have an obligation to pay for abortions, simply because the courts have established a right to choose one:
“I would say that if, as the Supreme Court decided, that this is a right that women have, then we need to fulfill that obligation and make it accessible to all people [through federal funding],” she said.
That wasn’t, however, the most shocking thing that my opponent said about abortion that day.
Towards the end of the interview, Schakowsky was asked: “Could you think of any scenarios where abortion is a responsible decision to make?”
Her answer: “Absolutely… Many of the women who seek abortions are married, they have children, the stability of their lives and their existing children is put at risk. So I certainly think that it’s most often a responsible decision.”
Schakowsky would therefore encourage certain married women to have abortions if an additional child might pose a financial or emotional inconvenience. In her view, it’s the responsible thing to do–and the taxpayer ought to pay for it, or even encourage it.
Her comment reminds me of the racist and eugenicist thinking that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg alluded to last year when she told the New York Times:
“Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.”
I don’t believe the federal government ought to decide when life begins. That’s why I oppose a constitutional ban on abortion.
Yet I also believe that the federal government ought not fund or encourage abortions. The liberty to choose a legal abortion does not create an obligation upon taxpayers to fund it, any more than freedom of the press requires taxpayers to buy me a newspaper subscription.
Jan Schakowsky’s position on abortion is extreme. Our district and our nation have a diversity of deeply held beliefs on abortion, and it’s time we had a representative who understood that.
It’s another reason we need to vote for a fresh start on November 2!
