As it appears the energy around the abortion debate appears to be fading, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is riding in to try to scare the living daylights out of voters.
With price increases stubbornly persistent, gas prices rising again, and concerns about a potential recession, Google searches for abortion have been surpassed by other issues for the first time since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
So with one of the Democrats’ top issues apparently fading from the public consciousness, Swalwell is releasing a dystopian advertisement that appears to suggest Republicans want to send cops to break up families at the dinner table because a woman got an abortion.
The California lawmaker tweeted on Monday night, “MAGA Republicans want women arrested for having an abortion. This is what that looks like.”
He shared an ad that opens with a happy family sitting at a dinner table, when police officers roll up with their lights on.
As the woman opens the door, the officers inform her they have a warrant for her arrest for getting an abortion. Despite arguing it was her “personal business,” the officer responds, “That’s for the courts to decide, ma’am.”
He then shares her medical records have been subpoenaed, and the doctor was arrested as well.
When the man steps in front of her, the officers step back, draw their guns, and point them at him.
“We’re just enforcing the law,” one officer says as he takes the handcuffed woman away. A text then appears on the screen that reads, “Elections have consequences. Vote Democrat on November 8th.”
Watch the video below:
MAGA Republicans want women arrested for having an abortion. This is what that looks like. #LockHerUp pic.twitter.com/YUD0swW8DE
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) October 18, 2022
This ad is simply a ridiculous scare tactic aimed at driving up fear ahead of the midterms and is not really based on reality.
Anyone who has spent time in the pro-life community knows it is not the mainstream belief women should be charged for receiving an abortion. However, there are pockets of people who are in favor of charging women.
In 2016, when then-candidate Donald Trump suggested women should be punished for receiving an abortion, pro-life commentators noted his comments ran contrary to the consensus view — and he later walked back those comments.
And as The Washington Post noted in May 2022, the “vast majority” of laws restricting abortion “aim punishments only and expressly at the provider, carrying sentences that range between two to 15 or even 20 years.” Though it noted some laws are unclear, and “some states have pursued laws that punish women seeking abortions.”
But overall, most pro-life people know locking up women for getting an abortion is not a way to win hearts and minds or show love to them. And most do not want to see cops with guns drawn ripping families apart.
In a sick twist, while Swalwell’s ad implies Republicans want to lock up women for getting abortions — despite a lack of such measures in laws restricting abortion — several pro-life advocates have been arrested for various offenses.
Earlier this month, seven pro-life advocates were charged with conspiracy against rights secured by the [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act], and committing FACE Act violations” for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic in 2021,” as The Daily Signal notes. If convicted, they face a maximum of 11 years in prison and a up to a $250,000 fine.
Four others were charged with FACE Act violations and could face a year in prison and fines of up to $10,000.
Apparently, Swalwell has no problem with protesters being arrested for allegedly violating the law. But watch out, according to him, Republicans are the ones who want to send police to homes to rip families apart.
What a pathetic and dishonest scare tactic.
