Mike Garcia's Disjointed Abortion Stance
“As a physician, I have been in the room where there’s some difficult conversations happening. I don’t want the federal government involved with that at all. I want women, doctors, local political leaders” - Dr. Oz
With 64% of Americans opposing the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse nearly 50 years of precedent was an electoral nightmare for the party that had pushed for it. Even in ruby-red Kansas, 59% of the electorate voted against a measure stating that there was no right to abortion in the state. For a politician like Mike Garcia who is seeking re-election in a state where a ballot proposition to guarantee abortion rights is enjoying the support of 69% of the voters, the Supreme Court decision was especially concerning.
For a solution to his problem, Garcia followed the lead of many other Republicans and framed the court’s decision not as an assault on women’s rights, but as a state’s rights issue. It has worked for the party’s defense of the civil war, so why not use it again?
The following is the complete statement released by Garcia in response to the reversal of Roe V. Wade:
“As are with many issues, each state in the Union has its own laws. Today, the Supreme Court of the United States decided in overturning the past rulings of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey that the legality of abortions should be handed down to the states. Now, the states will decide what is best for their citizens. This is an issue of federalism as is laid out in the tenth amendment of the Constitution that the powers not delegated to the federal government are thereby delegated to the state government, and on down. The only thing that the Supreme Court determined today is that the constitutional path to legislate on this issue is now at the state level.
“As Californians, even after this ruling, you will continue to live under the same laws and access to abortion. The events today will not change access to abortions as constituents in California. Your access is still granted legally up to the point of fetal viability.
“If you are concerned over your abortion rights, call your state assemblyman or senator as the law now falls under the guidance of Sacramento.”
Should you be interested in learning more about what rights each state has, click here to learn more about each state’s abortion rights.
This reaction belittles the stance of his constituents, many of whom have deep concerns for women who live in states where the governments will make it impossible for women to control their ability to decide when to start or expand their families. While California women may be safe, there are minors in other states who will be forced to have their rapists’ babies.
The other major issue with Garcia’s statement is that he is one of the 166 Republican co-sponsors of HR 1011, the Life at Conception Act. This bill would “implement equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.” The proposal would not only allow the federal government to outlaw all abortions, but it would also cover embryos from “the moment of fertilization”. This would eliminate the use of certain types of birth control including IUDs and Plan B. Fertilization clinics would also be adversely affected as they would be responsible for caring for fertilized embryos in perpetuity, even if there were no plans to use them.
Garcia should not fool anyone with his disjointed stance on abortion. His goal to outlaw abortion is clear, he just knows that this will likely cost him votes. That does not show a lot of courage.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.