After facing backlash for supporting a ruling which could make it more difficult for women using in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to get pregnant, Haley said: “This is one where we need to be incredibly respectful and sensitive about it."
This has been Haley's tactic on the campaign trail, obscuring her record of limiting women's reproductive freedoms as Governor of South Carolina. She pays lip service to being concerned for women's rights, yet pushes hard for far-right pro-life policy in practice.
Today, abortion is at risk in over 25 states. Alabama is one of the most hardline places, where the Supreme Court has now instituted laws describing embryos as babies.
While there is a philosophical discussion to be had about this subject in an educational context – is something a 'baby' if it can't survive outside the womb? Perhaps for certain species this might be the case; traditionally, for humans, it isn't so.
But Republicans may argue that with modern science, as our capabilities grow, a being which survives only in a frozen tank could theoretically be a "baby". Nikki Haley seems to support this idea.
But this is a dangerous simplification. An embryo, properly, is an embryo. That is why we have a separate word for it, to distinguish it from an actual baby.
We have a pluralist country which accommodates many different religious perspectives. In some instances, it makes sense to include forms of religious morals in our laws – where they apply in a rational way.
We must also accommodate modernity. Haley is entirely right when she says that "we need to be incredibly respectful and sensitive" about these issues. That means not taking an authoritarian approach. That means not enacting laws first, and worrying about "sensitive" issues later.
Our reproductive freedoms are just as fundamental as any other right. It's sad to see female politicians supporting measures which will disproportionately disempower their own gender – although predictable, when it comes to right-wing politicians.
Haley stands with the party who hopes to bring women back to the 1950s – a party where people like Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump are leaders, despite creeping on underage girls. These are the people she wants to build a coalition with.
Republicans are trying to end our right to a whole field of healthcare. It’s not enough that many in the United States cannot afford healthcare, but now there is an entire field of medicine and care that is blocked.
Help us fight back and ask our representatives to fight for our healthcare and rights. Your donation helps us reach out to politicians and voters, and fight against right-wing extremists like Nikki Haley who want to take restrict our right to safe abortion access:
