Harrisburg – September 25, 2024 — The co-chairs of the Pennsylvania Women’s Health Caucus Sen. Amanda M. Cappelletti (D-Montgomery), Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Berks), Rep. Gina H. Curry (D-Delaware) and Rep. Mary Jo Daley (D-Montgomery) issued the following statement in response to the horrifying remarks made by a Republican state representative comparing safe, legal abortion to America’s bloody history of enslavement:
“On Monday, a Republican state representative utilized deeply offensive rhetoric comparing women making their own healthcare decisions to slave owners in her remarks at the PA March for Life. Not only are these remarks yet another attempt to attack and disparage Pennsylvanians who have chosen to have an abortion, they also peddle an all-too-familiar logical fallacy that falsely equates abortion and slavery.
Claiming that abortion is the modern-day equivalent of slavery is not just logically unsound. It also ignores the long, brutal history of reproductive coercion and rape that Black women were subjected to during enslavement. This comparison minimizes the historical trauma of Black people, particularly enslaved Black women who had no right to their own bodily autonomy and reproduction. It is reprehensible to use the dehumanization of enslaved people to justify taking away the bodily autonomy of women today. The Pennsylvania Women’s Health Caucus unequivocally condemns the representative’s statements and its implications.
America’s bloody history of slavery should never be used for a flippant talking point—especially when its discriminatory legacy is still felt across our country today. And it is high time we put an end to the villainization of women who utilize their legal right to a safe abortion here in Pennsylvania.”
The representative’s remarks can be found here.
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