Words matter. The power of language should not be underestimated.
This could serve as valuable guidance for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, her campaign surrogates, and the media.
“Weird” has become the go-to term commonly used to label the views of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) regarding women’s issues and reproductive health policies.
In September 2021, Vance, who was in the midst of his senatorial campaign, sat down for an interview with Curtis Jackson of Spectrum News. During their conversation, they delved into a wide range of topics and issues.
Of course, one of the topics discussed was abortion.
Jackson asked Vance if he believed that there should be exceptions for abortions in the case of rape and incest. Vance supported Texas’s ban on abortion, which does not allow exceptions other than cases where the mother’s life is at risk.
Vance said, “It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society,” Vance said. “The question really, to me, is about the baby.”
It is alarming to note that specifically one-third of women in America who are of reproductive age live in a state where abortion is prohibited by law. Currently, out of 21 states, 14 have enacted total bans on abortion.
Let’s think about the case of a pregnant mother who is encountering complications that could potentially endanger both her life and her ability to conceive in the future. Some states have specific provisions that allow for the preservation of the mother’s life, yet do not encompass the preservation of her overall health.
Consider the heartbreaking case of Amanda Zurawski, a 35-year-old woman residing in Texas. During her planned pregnancy, at the 17-week mark, she was informed that her unborn child would not be able to survive. To make matters worse, if she did not undergo an abortion, Amanda faced the frightening possibility of developing sepsis, a potentially fatal infection that could also have long-term consequences for her fertility.
Due to the abortion law in Texas, doctors explained that there were limited options available to assist Zurawski as they could still detect cardiac activity. Zurawski, upon developing sepsis, opted for induced labor as a means to deliver the fetus. The reoccurrence of sepsis led to the development of extensive scar tissue caused by the infections, ultimately resulting in the permanent closure of one of her fallopian tubes.
A group of women, including Zurawski, who had planned pregnancies and faced life-threatening complications, came together to take legal action against the State of Texas. In a ruling, the State Supreme Court of Texas decided against them.
If a fetal heartbeat is detected, does it imply that a mother facing a life or fertility-threatening complication should bear the pain without any medically necessary interventions?
That isn’t weird. This is abhorrent.
Trump is known to express a strong sense of satisfaction and pride regarding his involvement in the Dobbs decision. His entire campaign was centered around his determination to overturn Roe v. Wade, and his careful selection of conservative justices for the Supreme Court played a crucial role in achieving this goal. Recognizing the controversial nature of the extreme reproductive health policies put forward in Project 2025, Trump is now making efforts to separate himself from them.
Simultaneously, Vance is attempting to moderate his rhetoric by expressing his belief in the right of young girls and women to have an abortion in cases of rape or incest, if they so desire.
The complete lack of understanding exhibited by Trump and Vance regarding women, their reproductive health, and the potential perils of pregnancy is what makes their stance so enraging.
What adds to the frustration is that the Democrats’ characterization of Trump and Vance’s ideas and rhetoric as weird serves to trivialize the severity of the attack on women’s reproductive health.
The electorate is comprised of both men and women, with women accounting for half of the voting population. Allowing women to have access to a range of reproductive health care options, such as birth control, the morning-after pill, Mifepristone or a dilation and curettage (D&C) is a crucial aspect that must be prioritized and not minimized by informal language or communication.
Women are currently facing a war against their rights and freedoms. In order to effectively support women’s rights, it is important for the Democrats to reassess their current strategy of categorizing Trump and Vance, as well as their rhetoric and policies, as ‘weird.’
It is important to label them according to their true nature.
Call them extreme. Call them predatory. Call them scary. Call them sexist. But stop calling them weird.