Rep. Walter Blackman Publicly Supported Consequences for Abortions
By admin
For as long as most of us have been alive, we have seen the continuous attacks that conservatives have hurled out to those fighting for reproductive rights. Reproductive rights embody a variety of services, many of which are life saving and allow individuals to add on to their family. However, the most demonized reproductive service is undeniably abortion.
Recently, LD-6 Arizona Rep. Walter Blackman went into detail on his views on abortion on a video posted on Facebook. Notably, Rep. Blackman is a conservative whose platform revolves heavily around being adamantly against abortion. Rep. Blackman doesn’t just talk about being against abortion every once in a while, it’s one of his main platform positions. However, in the recent video he posted, Rep. Blackman made it clear that he believes that abortion and murder are the exact same thing.
Not only does the science behind reproductive health prove him wrong, this idea is an extreme and radical far-right position. Those who choose to undergo an abortion procedure are by no means commiting murder as Rep. Blackman put it. A legislator equating the two and shaming Arizonans across the state who go through with this common health procedure are not the evil villains that Rep. Blackman is attempting to capitalize on as part of his re-election campaign.
The far-right dramatics don’t only end there. Rep. Blackman also suggested that Arizonans who undergo abortion procedures should face consequences for it. There should never be consequences for anyone who chooses to undergo an abortion, or any reproductive health procedure for a matter of fact.
Rep. Blackman is attempting to control the bodies of Arizonans without understanding basic science. Science that saves the lives of many people, and that allows for a safe and healthy procedure to occur. By taking such a radical far-right position, Rep. Blackman is making it clear that he has no interest in understanding this science or understanding why many Arizonans decide to have abortions.
Rep. Blackman makes his choice of ignorance so clear, he goes as far as stating, “and sending me mail won’t help.” We cannot continue to have someone like Rep. Blackman in the legislature. Under the current administration, far-right Republican radicals are looking for any opportunity to attempt to attack reproductive health. They view this as an issue they can be elected on and they’re using rhetoric around this issue above facts and science.
However, suggesting consequences for people who undergo abortions is far beyond the point of rhetoric. It is both dangerous to the livelihoods of Arizonans across the state, and a decision that would undoubtedly contribute to mass incarceration in this state.
This is not the answer even by average Republican standards, but it is clear that Rep. Blackman is taking a position where he’d rather arrest and punish instead of preventing the overall need for abortions. However, wanting one is a reason enough and there should be no need to have to justify the choice one takes with their body.
At the end of the day, Rep. Blackman’s rhetoric and language is hypocritical of itself and we here at Progress Arizona condemn it.
Rep. Blackman is not in the business of helping Arizonans and providing fact-based resources and educational materials. Rep. Blackman is in the business of punishing Arizonans for decisions made behind closed doors, and fulfilling a dangerous partisan agenda just to get re-elected.