Horrible People

 The horrifying story that came out of Ohio/Indiana about a 10 year old girl who was raped and had to travel from Ohio to Indiana to terminate the pregnancy is the tip of a very ugly iceberg.

First, obviously, is the fact that a 10 year old girl was raped, allegedly by a 27 year old man. This should be the singular horror around which everything starts and end. However, conservative figures, including the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page, immediately cast doubt on the story, some calling it an outright fabrication. For them it was "too convenient" that immediately after Dobbs triggered Ohio's antiabortion law, the "perfect" example of keeping abortion legal - a child raped and impregnated - should happen to pop up.

Think about the cynicism. Think about the callous disregard for the victim - and doubtless the other victims that will come. For these cynical political operators and media figures, the "truth" is whatever you can get away with. "The election was stolen." "Tax cuts trickle down." "Dobbs won't really impact women." If that is your mindset then any story that contradicts your position is just another "whatever the Left can try and get away with." Every accusation is a confession, and what this story exemplifies is the cynical way that conservative figures make shit up to advance their goals.

What's more, conservatives have been trying to cast the Democratic Party as the party of pedophiles and "groomers" because Democrats tend to favor the right of gay people to exist as gay people. Yet her is a horrific example of actual child rape, but because it led to a very necessary abortion, they attacked the credibility of the story.

Incredibly there have been voices that have wondered if maybe she consented, as if a 10 year old could consent. By definition, her pregnancy was created by rape. The problem is that Republicans have crafted laws that require children to carry their rapist's child to term at great risk to their health. It's barbarism that even the Taliban would blanche at. So much of the handwaving that "respectable" members of the GOP have tried to advance about abortion access post-Dobbs is that events like this were outliers and weren't worth carving exceptions out from the extreme "pro-life" position.

It's only a matter of time before they shift their focus to the immigration status of the rapist. Some reptile at Fox or OANN will find out the child's name and create smears to suggest that she was somehow sexualized and adult. You can count on that, because these are horrible, horrible people.

As I've written several times here, one of the curses of being a bog standard liberal is that you carry the curse of Cassandra. Cassandra was cursed to be able to see the future, but no one would believe her. For decades, Democrats and liberals have warned and warned. "Invading Iraq is a terrible idea." "Climate change will create more extreme weather events." "The Supreme Court is on the ballot in 2016." 

"Women will be killed by Dobbs."

The screaming disregard for this outcome is going to come to our attention again and again. Women are going to die in states with terrible, regressive bans stripping women and their doctors of the autonomy to make medical decisions. 

When those stories start to come out - and they will start any tragic day now - you can expect conservative politicians and the Right Wing Media Wurlitzer to deflect and cast aspersions on every story, every victim.

These are horrible people.