Pregnancy discrimination is wrong — full stop. But for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, the product of that pregnancy, a child, is only a human when it fits nicely into her talking point.
During Tuesday night’s debate in South Carolina, Warren accused fellow competitor Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, of telling a pregnant ex-employee of his to “kill it,” referring to her unborn child.
I could say Warren’s line of attack was reminiscent of then-Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina’s powerful polemic against abortion in 2015, but then again, the Massachusetts senator’s words Tuesday night had very little moral conviction behind them.
Fiorina made herself abundantly clear: abortion is murder.
Warren, on the other hand, seems only concerned about the killing of an unborn child when she can use it as a line of attack against one of her opponents.
As an alleged victim of pregnancy discrimination herself, Warren said she can sympathize with the reported sex-based discrimination women have faced while working for the New York billionaire.
“I was 21 years old; I didn’t have a union to protect me,” said Warren, describing an incident she said she experienced as a young, pregnant teacher. “I didn’t have any federal law on my side. So I packed up my stuff, and I went home. But at least I didn’t have a boss who said to me, ‘Kill it.’ That’s what Bloomberg said to one of his female employees.”
Bloomberg, for his part, has categorically denied the allegation. Let’s make it clear, though: if this did happen, Bloomberg is wrong and should not have the support of any voter — Democrat, Republican, or otherwise.
But Warren — or anyone on that stage Tuesday night, quite frankly — is hardly the person to make the case against Bloomberg’s alleged discrimination. She and every other Democrat running for president support unfettered access to abortion at virtually any stage of pregnancy, and that’s killing a human life, whether they want to own up to it or not.
The argument Warren was making, of course, is that of a power differential: a man in authority was allegedly pressuring a woman in his employ to have an abortion. Her reflexive disgust to the alleged phrase “kill it” is telling, though.
Warren seems only concerned about the life of an unborn child — a fetus — when she can use it as a talking point against a political rival.
If you’re willing to rightly admit Bloomberg’s alleged words are wrong, own up to the whole reason they are wrong. Or at least be willing to plainly concede to the heartbreaking truth: you know abortion is killing a human life, and you support it anyway. Because voters deserve a clear choice in November.