Don't Tell Me There are Pro-Choice Republicans!

For years I have heard that there are such folks as "pro-choice" Republicans. Planned Parenthood has tried to drum up their support in the last few years. I have heard one of my friend's mother--who is unquestionably a Republican and Bush supporter--tell me "if Roe was overturned, I would protest." Then, of course, there are lots of young male Republicans that I know, like my brother, who are pro-choice, but ignore that this administration is anti-choice, consoling themselves that "they will never be able to overturn Roe." Nevermind that South Dakota has already banned all abortions, Missouri and Louisiana are in close second, and Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia have introduced bills to ban almost all abortions. Many other states have trigger laws ready, in the case that Roe is overturned. So, where are these "pro-choice" Republicans?

I have read two things recently that has convinced me that there are no pro-choice Republicans. First, feministing reports that George W. Bush has finally broke his silence about contraception and says he supports it for people who are responsible. Secondly, in the comments thread to my last post, Hanno writes:

But you will discover that most people who work in the party are way left of center. They go to the center because that is where the votes are. Same is true of the Republicans. Most are way right of the center, but they go to the center, because that is where the votes are.

And, it hit me, like a ton of porky pundits: Republicans who claim to be pro-choice are only pro-choice when they are considering other well-off, rich people like themselves. In fact, that seems to go for their libertarianism in general. They think that people like them can make best make their own decisions, but when you start talking about the riff raff, well, then "values" talk starts to creep in. Trusting others to be capable of making good decisions extends only to the circle of friends that libertarians hang out with.

Given that Hanno's long experience in party politics has taught him that Republican leaders are actually right of center, I think its time we give up trying to appeal to the "pro-choice" Republican vote. In fact, this slow coming realization on my part has once and for all cleared up for me why my brother can so cavalierly vote away my rights: he figures that since I am the right sort of person, nothing bad will happen to me. Who cares what happens to those less sophisticated, uneducated, non-white, poor people. That is it, in a nutshell: Republicans simply do not care about poor people. Don't even try to convince me that you do.

Next time you meet a "pro-choice" Republican, just remember, they might care about their own choice, but they could give a rat's ass about yours.