Are GOP Women Pro-Voice?

The abortion debate has largely fallen off the front page these days, but even though the abortion rate in the United States is at a 40-year low, one in three American women will still terminate at least 1 pregnancy before menopause. Last Thursday was the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ensures a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body. Pro-life communities across the nation spoke out against abortion with rallies and op-eds and they encouraged their elected representatives in the new Congress to continue what Democrats are calling “the Republican war on women.” Abortion is back in the news.

In some ways, this isn’t a surprise. In the first three days of the current legislative session, Congress introduced five new abortion restrictions. Many expected this onslaught of bills curtailing access to abortion, especially since individual states with Republican-controlled legislatures have passed more restrictions since 2010 than they did in the last decade. On the national stage, the GOP’s new majority in Congress positioned the party to appease its vocal pro-life supporters.

What is surprising, however, was the upheaval and ultimate abandonment of H.R. 36, The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, by female lawmakers last week.

What is surprising, however, was the upheaval and ultimate abandonment of H.R. 36, The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, by female lawmakers last week. This development suggests tension between social conservatives and moderates, and signals—perhaps—a new chapter in how our leaders address the politics of abortion and reproductive choice. A group of GOP dissenters, led by Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC), worried that a narrow exception in H.R. 36 might penalize women who feel too distressed to report rape to law enforcement immediately. Strong concerns that the law would alienate women voters—a key demographic target—also prompted the GOP decision to table the bill (for now). In order to placate the 500,000 pro-life activists gathered in Washington for the annual March for Life on January 22^nd, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the House instead passed a bill that makes permanent the 1976 Hyde Amendment by disallowing taxpayer funding for abortions. This law disproportionately targets low-income women who are denied Medicaid-funded abortions.

The pro-life lobby always has a Plan B, and since last week, they have swung into action.  In response to pressure from pro-life groups, Congress has introduced three new anti-abortion bills since the failure of H.R. 36. The first of these measures requires women to have an ultrasound before they can give informed consent to a legal abortion. All 10 co-sponsors of this bill are Republican men. The second bill requires states to report any Medicaid payments to abortion providers. The third limits federal education funding for elementary and secondary schools with on-campus access to abortion providers.

While the pro-life camp doubles down on pushing for restrictions to access, it’s important to consider the potential for a new kind of abortion debate as a result of internal GOP dissent, especially from Republican women and moderates. The demographic groups the GOP must win in order to thrive—younger women and people of color—are overwhelmingly the ones impacted by restrictive legislation about reproductive health. A 2010 Guttmacher Institute report found that 58% of women obtaining abortions are in their 20s and that white women account for 36% of abortions, black women for 30%, and Hispanic women for 25%.

The GOP must tread lightly on women’s issues if it hopes to avoid waving goodbye to more than half of the country’s voters. In 2008 and 2012, women constituted 53% of the overall vote. In the last two presidential elections, Republicans lost the women’s vote by more than 10 points. If these trends continue, a presidential victory in 2016 seems unlikely for the GOP, especially because they may very well face the first female nominee in our nation's history.

The GOP women’s defection from H.R. 36 doesn’t just hint at the political upside for Republicans in restructuring the abortion debate. It also reflects a growing consensus among advocates and women that abortion is not a one-size-fits-all issue. Longtime pro-life Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) stated in a Tuesday op-ed that he’s changed his opinion on abortion rights after listening to the stories of women in complicated situations. Ryan now recognizes that federal and state laws cannot fairly address the various factors that influence decisions related to abortion.

Interest groups and politicians should follow Ryan’s lead and take note of the nuances of people’s individual lives outside the DC political community. Enter the “pro-voice” movement, whose proponents aim to honor personal experiences with abortion. Social change leader Aspen Baker coined the term in 2005 and has since spoken widely about the importance of “nurturing human connection and empathy despite increasing hostility and polarization.” Her book, Pro-Voice: How to Keep Listening When the World Wants a Fight, will be published later this year.

The pro-voice stance is rooted in respectful listening and ethical storytelling.

The pro-voice stance is rooted in respectful listening and ethical storytelling. In 2010, MTV released a well-received documentary, No Easy Decision, on the real, conflicted emotions women face while deciding whether to undergo an abortion. Baker’s Oakland-based nonprofit, Exhale, is leading the pro-voice movement by providing the first nationwide after-abortion talk line where women can share their stories in a supportive environment.

Another innovation by pro-voice advocates is the All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center, which opened last fall in Bloomington, Indiana and is managed by Backline, a full-spectrum non-profit founded in 2004. This center is a middle-ground response to the growth of Crisis Pregnancy Centers amidst the closing of abortion clinics across the country. Women who visit the center are provided unbiased counseling, free pregnancy tests, resources like diapers and contraceptives, and referrals to birthing support, abortion providers, adoption information, child care, and insurance coverage.

The poet Rumi said, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” The pro-voice movement may be onto something by making room for both sides. The question now is: can this movement offer a lesson to the GOP? At a basic level, the Republican women who voiced objections to H.R. 36 sought to provide space for the lived experiences of women. What would a restructured conversation, one that borrows from Rumi’s way of thinking, look like?

Imagine if the pro-voice model of respectful listening and ethical storytelling governed how our leaders wrote policy and engaged in debate about reproductive health.

Unfortunately, this model of collaboration might be the last block on an already precarious Jenga tower that threatens to tip over every time we segregate ourselves into strict pro-choice and pro-life camps. But Ellmers and her colleagues have opened up a small space for conversation, one that shouldn’t be wasted. There will always be time for more bills that will stoke the frenzy of partisanship on this issue. Right now, however, citizens and our political representatives should capitalize on the opportunity to talk with, and listen to, women.