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Nope, Not Gonna Let You Gaslight Us Again
We are in a classic (and cruel) scene. It involves a very small—but highly vocal, making them seem bigger than they actually are—group of people twisting reality, facts, science, and the law for one ending: creating yet another fake controversy with the goal of ending abortion and shaming women.
We have been in this scene so many times, it’s like Groundhog Day (which, ironically, is tomorrow).
The backdrop to the current faux controversy is that New York has passed proactive legislation that makes sure that at every point in pregnancy, a woman’s health drives important medical decisions. And a Virginia lawmaker has introduced similar legislation to update the laws in that state.
But anti-abortion folks have taken the bills and lawmakers’ statements, twisted them and spewed out lies to create a faux controversy around abortion access. The lies have spun so far out in such a short period that Trump is now reportedly adding anti-abortion points to his State of the Union remarks.
Unfortunately, the anti-abortion camp and Trump-Pence Administration always turn to this same old strategy when things are otherwise not so great for them. Anyone a little confused why this sudden controversy is popping up now or why the Trump Administration is jumping on the bandwagon? When things aren’t going their way in other areas (ahem, Trump losing his standoff over demands for a wall which forced the longest government shutdown ever), what do these folks do? Divert attention by focusing on abortion.
The irony of course is that support for abortion is at an all-time high. So they have to create fake horror stories, pushing an inflammatory misrepresentation of what the New York bill does.
And so, nope, not gonna let y’all gaslight us again.
While those who oppose abortion are entitled to their views, they shouldn’t be able to impose those views on the one in four who have an abortion in this country. Anti-abortion politicians are not medical experts and this is not an area where they should be interfering. And they aren’t entitled to their own facts.
So today #istandwithwoman because I trust women to make the decisions that are right for them and their own health.
#istandwithwomen because I won’t let anti-abortion folks twist reality in order to gaslight us.
Today, #istandwithwomen and I hope you will too.