Grassley & Ernst Vote with Extremists on Reproductive Freedom Issues
They vote to block bills that would stop "one size fits all" anti-reproductive freedom mandates by government
Iowans who think they elected conservatives to the US Senate when they chose Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), need to think again. It’s pretty hard to make the case that the votes they cast this past week in the Senate are “conservative.”
Ideologically extreme? Yes. Authoritarian and anti-women? Absolutely.
Conservative? Not even close.
It’s not just liberals and moderates who ought to pay attention to the right wing junk Grassley and Ernst are voting for these days, but actual, real conservative Republicans who know what it means to be a real conservative rather than a right wing ideologue. They should be paying close attention as well.
Maybe even especially that last group.
Conservatives have always told us that they stand for “freedom” and favor individuals making their own decisions rather than being subject to government mandates.
That doesn’t seem to be how it works anymore.
The MAGA crowd that Grassley and Ernst run with these days are far from conservative. They are re-defining conservatism to the point where it is no longer recognizable.
Two votes cast by Senators Grassley and Ernst this past week on reproductive freedom issues make clear what Iowa’s two senators and their party have become, and how irrelevant not so old notions of conservatism have become to today’s MAGA Republicans.
Their votes this week on reproductive freedom issues indicate that Iowa’s two senators and their party think government - not the individuals involved - ought to make reproductive health care decisions for women - even deciding whether access to contraception will be allowed.
What in the world is conservative about that? It sounds like a dream come true for a backer of an authoritarian, big, all powerful government the likes of which we’ve never seen in this country.
Yet, Grassley and Ernst - who still advertise themselves as conservatives - voted for it.
Here are the two issues Grassley and Ernst voted on this week that make clear their extremism on these issues:
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF): Tuesday, September 17 - Grassley and Ernst joined other ideological extremists in the Senate in voting to block legislation that would have made it a right to use reproductive technologies like IVF to conceive a child. It also would have required federal health plans, the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid to cover the procedure. Members of the military and veterans would have gained more access to fertility counseling and treatments.
There is nothing controversial about IVF itself. It is widely used by couples who are unable to conceive a child otherwise. For many, the availability of IVF is, literally, the answer to their prayers.
Abortion extremists, however, attack it, claiming that frozen embryos are people.
Grassley and Ernst sided with their fellow mostly Republican anti-abortion extremists, to allow government to mandate a ban on IVF treatments. Note the wishes of the prospective parents are not even acknowledged under this right wing scheme.
I hope you notice the irony of the “right to life” crowd blocking this measure that would help would-be parents bring children into their families.
Access to Contraception: Wednesday, September 18 - Grassley and Ernst joined other Republican extremists in the Senate to block legislation which would have established a federal right to access contraception.
Yes. Access to contraception.
One might think those who oppose abortion must logically support access to contraception. No pregnancy, no need for an abortion, no matter what the circumstances. Right?
No, because logic has nothing to do with this - it’s all about ideology, extremist ideology, on issues involving reproductive freedom.
The legislation Grassley & Ernst voted to block would have prevented governments from interfering with the right to access contraception.
Whether to use contraception or not seems to me to be a pretty personal decision. The individuals involved know best how to decide that one, not the government, and certainly not your senators. The use of contraception is a vital part of family planning. Health experts tell us there are also many important reasons that have nothing to do with reproduction that make a strong case for access to contraception as well.
Why would Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst want to put government in the middle of all that and allow government to interfere with such personal decision making?
The answer is - there is no good reason.
Just extremest ideology both Grassley and Ernst are unwilling to separate themselves from and are unwilling to oppose.
What does any of that have to do with conservatism? Limited government power? Maximum freedom for individuals?
Nothing. But it has everything to do with extremism on reproductive issues. Grassley and Ernst are both right in the middle of it all running with the MAGA extremists crowd.
Those who still fancy themselves to be conservatives need to re-examine what it means to be a conservative under the new Republican/MAGA regime. It’s changed, and not for the better.
Those who think Iowa’s two US Senators are guided by either common sense or old fashioned conservative values also need to think again. Both senators are routinely casting their lot with the extreme ideologues who now run their party. They are not who they used to be when you first got to know them.
Grassley has been carrying water for the extremists for years For example, he bears significant responsibility for the theft of the Supreme Court appointment which, under the Constitution, was President Obama’s to make. Once stolen, that theft helped pave the way to the right wing. majority on the court which obliterated Roe v Wade.
Grassley’s contribution to where we are today is as significant as it is shameful.
As the longest serving Republican in the Senate, Grassley should have been expected to serve as a guard rail against the excess of the extremists in his party, but he has became, instead, one of their most flagrant facilitators.
Ernst is running to move up the Republican Party leadership ladder in the Senate and is far too concerned with winning favor from the Republican Senate extremists who will choose the next slate of Republican leaders in that body next year in the new Congress. So don’t look for any leadership from her to rein in their excesses, either.
Any Iowa voter who is under the mistaken impression that what it means to be a conservative today is the same as what it meant to be one as recently as 10 years ago, needs to re-think that one, too.
There is little similarity between conservatism then and conservatism now.
The kind of conservatism that existed as recently as ten years ago may still exist somewhere in Washington, D.C. but if it does, it is probably on a dark and dusty shelf in some storage room at one of the Smithsonian museums - not far from the famous stuffed Dodo bird, perhaps - but it no longer exists anywhere else in Washington, D.C. Or in many statehouses, for that matter.
Ideological authoritarianism is on our doorstep today. Republican Party extremists have become its champions.
Republicans who should know better - like Grassley and Ernst - are saying and doing little to nothing to push back within their party against it.
All Iowans should let both Senators Grassley and Ernst know they expect - and deserve - better from them.
Thank you for writing this straight forward exposure of the devastating loss of our senators to the extremist right. The change in both senators, but especially Chuck Grassley is proof positive of the power and danger of this extremist right wing movement. We are on the precipice of losing our democracy, and need every citizen to step up, to volunteer, to vote. Your voice is loud and clear. Thank you for raising it.
Once you step into the MAGA maze, the entry disappears and you are sucked into an alternate universe. None of it makes any sense. And it takes amazing fortitude to escape. Unfortunately, some Republicans will follow like lemmings marching to the cliff because they can’t imagine a life without their political position.