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One Tweet Sums Up The GOP's Views On Abortion

by Lauren Holter

As the top 10 GOP candidates talked about abortion during the first primary debate, they forgot about a key demographic: women. It's certainly no surprise that the Republican presidential contenders are firmly pro-life, but their abortion discussions often leave out women. The GOP debate was no different. One tweet summed up how the GOP candidates viewed abortion and women's reproductive rights by quoting a tell-all mishearing by Marco Rubio.

When asked, "What about the mothers of these unborn children?" Rubio responded, "The what?" He obviously knows what women are (I hope), but his answer highlights how all the debaters ignored women's rights when talking about treating fetuses like people protected by the Constitution. Within the first few minutes, Mike Huckabee said America should give fetuses personhood, essentially saying he cares more about unborn babies than women and their health which is sometimes at risk during pregnancy.

Multiple candidates bragged about defunding Planned Parenthood in their states or trying to defund it in the Senate, despite the fact that millions of low- and middle-income women and men depend on the health clinics for vital reproductive health services. Scott Walker, who's signed multiple anti-abortion laws in Wisconsin, said he doesn't support abortion even if the mother's life is in immediate danger. Considering these are women's issues, why didn't any of these men talk about women?

The topic of abortion largely revolved around the controversial hidden-camera Planned Parenthood videos and protecting unborn babies, without any regard for women's rights, or even their needs. This tweet summarizes the candidates' views on abortion so perfectly because they seem to forget that women should be at the center of these discussions since the subject revolves around their bodies. Would they leave Iran out of debates on the Iran deal? I don't think so. Abortion isn't just about a fetus; there's a woman involved 100 percent of the time.