Sticks and stones may break bones, but words, even Donald Trump’s, won’t do much.
And when the Trump circus reaches its finale, and he (hopefully) fails to secure the presidency come November, his run is done. All of his words, even the most absurd comments he has made this week about abortion rights, will amount to little at the end of the day.
The same, however, cannot be said for Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich. Both Republican candidates, if unelected in the fall, will resume their positions as elected government officials. Cruz will return to the Senate, while Kasich will carry on his governorship in Ohio. And unlike Trump, they have a lot more than words to use as weapons in restricting the rights of women.
Both politicians have the power to construct legislation that can achieve a variety of goals, including defunding Planned Parenthood and restricting access to abortions. And because both Kasich and Cruz have records of enacting precisely this type of legislation, one can assume they would not hesitate to do so again in the future.
So, in the wake of Trump’s offensive and honestly not all that surprising comments on abortion this past Wednesday – in which he initially stated on MSNBC that women seeking abortions should face “some form of punishment” and quickly reversed his stance later that very same day – the focus of both the media and voters should not be on Trump’s stance, but on the actions of his conservative counterparts.
Trump’s stance on abortion has little sway in government, and while he can use his money to donate to anti-abortion groups, he is not a politician and is unable to construct pro-life legislation. Conversely, Kasich and Cruz, as elected officials, have propagated their anti-abortion stances through the passage of legislation that both restricts and prohibits abortion, and legislation that works to limit access to various services offered through entities such as Planned Parenthood.
A perfect example of this is a recent bill Kasich signed in February, with Mother Jones reporting that the law essentially takes away $1.3 million from Planned Parenthood branches and programs in Ohio; this money would have gone to services such as HIV and STI testing, cancer screenings, rape prevention programs and sex education.
Both Cruz and Kasich will likely continue to promote similarly restrictive legislation if they both fail to get the keys to the White House in November.
In reality, their views are not all that far-flung from Trump’s stance, with both Kasich and Cruz being staunch anti-abortion advocates.
Just by glancing at Cruz’s campaign website, one can see a boastful laundry list of efforts Cruz has made to restrict abortions in both his state of Texas and across the country. Cruz even goes so far as to say he opposes abortion even in the case of rape and incest.
On the other hand, while Kasich has stated he believes there should be exceptions for women “in the case of rape, incest or risk to the life of the mother,” this in no way makes him a moderate on the issue. A Newsweek piece discussing Kasich’s stance on abortion notes that, “Since being elected governor in 2010, Kasich has signed every measure restricting abortion that has come across his desk.”
So, while rage over Trump’s most recent inflammatory comments is justified, current and future legislative action to restrict the rights of women is far more dangerous than mere words.
Donald Trump is like a car crash: He’s often creating chaos, making it hard for us as voters to look away from the mess. But we should think of Cruz and Kasich as even more sinister dangers on the road. The fight to advocate for women’s rights will continue long after the 2016 election comes to a finish, making it all the more critical to think about who will maintain political power after the election, regardless of whether or not they seize the title of president.
Cruz is a junkyard dog against women’s rights per se, with a virulence Trump lacks beyond his old-fashioned misogynistic disparagement. Kasich would be a holy terror against women’s rights, because he knows how to work with people to accomplish an agenda. Sanders doesn’t think women’s issues are “real concerns” compared to his crusade against the 1%.