Donald Trump’s plan to “protect” women in protest: Two dead, another arrested for miscarriage

Donald TrumpHis favorite word when talking about abortion bans is “beautiful.” When asked in June Fox News Supreme Court nominees’ Roe v. Regarding states imposing abortion bans after overturning the Wade case, Trump said, “it’s a nice thing to watch.” Claims to be ‘protector’ of women And recently I told women He said that if he is elected, they “will no longer think about abortion” because women’s “lives will be happy and beautiful.”

This week, we were reminded once again what Trump’s “protection” of women looks like in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case. Supreme Court The decision ended nearly half a century of abortion rights, a move that was only repealed by Trump’s 2016 Roe v. It was made possible by him keeping his promise to appoint judges who opposed the Wade case. on wednesday, ProPublica reports the deaths of two Texas women Hospital miscarriage care was denied because standard care for failed pregnancies was banned under Texas’ draconian abortion law. The Washington Post also reported on a Nevada woman this week She was charged with manslaughter after mourning her miscarriage on Facebook.

While one of the two women who died in Texas is not yet known, Josseli Barnica’s family spoke to ProPublica. The 28-year-old mother had a miscarriage when she was 17 weeks pregnant with her second child. Unable to remove the dying fetus due to Texas law, doctors waited helplessly as Barnica grew worse day by day due to the infection and eventually died. The case is similar to two cases from GeorgiaAmber Thurman, 28, and Candi Miller, 41, passed away because they were unable to receive post-abortion care due to the state’s ban. In Nevada, 26-year-old Patience Frazier was arrested after miscarrying a fetus she named “Abel.” Authorities claimed she deliberately terminated her pregnancy, but medical experts say her method — eating some cinnamon — could not have caused a miscarriage.

Want more from Amanda Marcotte in politics? Subscribe to newsletter Standing Room Only.

Even though Barnica is the person most responsible for the deaths of Miller and Thurman, Trump continues to call himself the “protector” of women. He told a crowd in Wisconsin on Wednesday that he would “protect” women “Whether women like it or not.” It’s confusing for normal people to use the tone and language of a violent threat while claiming to “protect” women. But in the case of Trump, this carries a sordid meaning that goes beyond even his history of serial sexual aggression. In MAGA parlance, “protect” is a whistle-blower that signals their true intentions toward women: domination.

The word reflects the tendency of Trump and his followers to view women not as human beings but as the property of men, especially powerful white men. As journalist Kelly Weill recently arguedIn the MAGA worldview, the family is seen as “a sexualized project of male domination.” In this view, women should be “protected” from strangers who would rape them, but only because this is a property crime against their male owners. However, a father or husband is free to dispose of women’s property as he wishes. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson I’ve said this many times Arguing that sexual abuse of minors is not really serious if the father marries them to the rapist first.

“I’m just telling you that arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 27-year-old girl is not the same as pulling a stranger off the street and raping her. This is bt,” Carlson said…. The charges, which Carlson calls “bt,” stemmed from the case of a 14-year-old girl whom (Warren) Jeffs forced to marry an adult cousin. The girl stated that her husband frequently raped her and had many miscarriages.

MAGA doesn’t care about women and girls dying because of abortion bans. Those who die due to illegal abortion are seen as people who reject patriarchal authority and deserve this death. But even in cases of miscarriage and deprivation of medical care, there is little cause for concern. This makes sense if you view women less as people and more as property. In this worldview, a woman who miscarries and needs medical care is like a malfunctioning device. It would be better to throw it away and buy one that doesn’t need as much maintenance.

In these four cases, women, because of their racial identity or class status, are also excluded from the narrow “protection” zone imagined by Trump. Miller and Thurman were Black, and Barnica was an immigrant from Honduras. As the Washington Post documented, Frazier was poor and frequently homeless. The deputy who arrested him knew him from all over the city and likened Frazier to “his own mother, who he said often left her five children to fend for themselves in a drug-ridden neighborhood.”

But even middle-class white women should know that they’re not safe. Plenty of such women like Amanda Zurawski And Texan Kate Cox — spoke of their own horrific experiences of being denied care due to failed pregnancies, which left Zurawski so severely injured that she would likely never be able to give birth. Better-off white women are certainly valued more in the MAGA worldview, but they are still objects judged by how well they serve the patriarchal system. When they don’t do “good” pregnancy, they are seen as defective and undeserving of care. By speaking out, they became rebellious women who were condemned for their courage. Anti-abortion leaders relentlessly demonize these women, calling them liars or worse.

Trump continues to deny that he wants a national abortion ban, but what is certain is that if he wins in November, there will be a national abortion ban. First of all, Trump constantly lies about everything, so his denials on this front are worthless. More importantly is his reluctance to commit It would take the Republican Congress to veto any abortion ban. But even if Republicans don’t control Congress, Project 2025 outlines a plan to ban abortion pills Through the back door by revoking FDA approval. Even if Trump wins, he will lose the majority of female voters by a large margin. He is a vindictive misogynist, and a nationwide ban on abortion would look like him taking “revenge” on women who reject his “protection.”