COLUMBIA, S.C. — In South Carolina, what Republican men want, Republican men get: Primary voters this month ousted the state's only three Republican women from the Senate for crossing party lines and rejecting a near-total abortion ban.
Oh, if only men could get pregnant, as the inventor of the ridiculous phrase “pregnant people” suggests in his Orwellian wordplay. Let me digress for an important public announcement: changing words and phrases does not change Nature's intent, nor am I going to mangle the English language for the sake of nonsense and fashionable convenience.
This maxim may also be applied to the argument that human life begins at conception. This is undoubtedly true in a biological sense, but life is more complicated than mere biology. Sometimes, women become pregnant through rape or incest, but men do not.
Where do we find the courage to speak out against such violations?
Follow this author Kathleen Parker's opinion
Never mind the words that spilled out of President Biden's mouth as he tried to answer a question about abortion rights during Thursday night's debate: In a confused non-answer, he declared, “A lot of young women are being raped by their parents-in-law (!), their spouse's brothers and sisters… it's just… just… stupid.”
No one can doubt the courage of the five women known as the “Sister Senators” (three Republicans, one Democrat, and one independent), who worked together to block a near-total state abortion ban that would have made no exceptions for rape or incest. “Near-total” means no abortions after six weeks, by which time some women are said to be unaware they're pregnant. (Note to ladies: If you have unprotected sex and miss your period, you're probably pregnant.)
For their extraordinary efforts, the five women were honored last year in Boston with the JFK Act of Courage Award. But there is much to be said for a good deed. I am late in congratulating them, but I want to correct my mistake here. The Republican women senators are Sandy Senn of Charleston, Katrina Seely of Lexington and Penry Gustafson of Camden. State Sen. Mia McLeod is an independent from Columbia, and Democratic State Sen. Margie Bright Matthews is from Walterboro. Thank you for your efforts.
In other parts of the country, these women's efforts might not seem revolutionary, but in the conservative South, where churches outnumber Chick-fil-A (a big deal), “pride women” don't last long in the Republican Party. Five women in a room who aren't organizing flowers, funerals, or serving the boys booze is met with suspicion, if not scorn, from some of the men.
Republican men are a weird bunch. About 10 years ago, Republican staffers were sent to Washington for training on how to talk to and about women. No joke. The main purpose was to teach their superiors not to make inappropriate comments to female candidates during elections, but the gist was that Republican men in general don't “get” women. As if we didn't already know.
Incidentally, Joe Biden received similar guidance when he had to debate Sarah Palin as vice presidential candidate in 2008. If South Carolina had done so, Palin would have been vice president. After I wrote in September of that year that she should withdraw from the race, I was afraid to go home for about two years. I happened to be at a cocktail party early in the Obama administration, and a dozen or more men surrounded me, asking me what was so wrong with Palin. They were laughing, but they always were.
I admit that I had to brace myself to say what most others were thinking. And no doubt my Republican sisters had to muster the courage to risk their political careers to stand up for what they believed was best for women. Their critics said that these three women claimed to be pro-life but changed their minds after Roe v. Wade was overturned. This is not exactly true. You can be pro-life and still think that victims of rape and incest should not be forced to carry a pregnancy to term. You can be pro-life and still disagree with Dobbs. I have always maintained that the best way to make abortion rare is through education, not through legislative mandate.
Certainly, a baby conceived through violence is not her fault, as some argue. I have spoken to people whose mothers have been raped, and some (though not all) are opposed to aborting an innocent fetus. But I cannot imagine enduring a nine-month pregnancy and being forced to give birth under those circumstances. This is a deeply personal issue, and it is the least a pro-lifer can concede.
I have to say that the men who beat the sisters are not bad people. It's possible that they won for reasons other than abortion, but I don't think so. Carlyle Kennedy, who defeated Seely, said the election was a matter of trust. On abortion, he supports the state's “heartbeat” law, which would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected around the sixth week of pregnancy. The law, signed by Governor Henry McMaster in 2023, allows exceptions up to 12 weeks into pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, or to protect the mother's life.
This is the law that went into effect in South Carolina after a total ban that the women opposed narrowly failed in 2023. The women filibustered it, and after several failed filibuster votes, the Senate voted to “continue” the bill. In 2025, the staunch Republican women will be gone and a near-total ban could be reintroduced. All three new senators support the ban.
Whatever the outcome, it is Republican men who will make decisions for and about women. Women, now is the time to come together.
