Potential new Tory party leader and arch-reactionary, Jacob Rees-Mogg is opposed to abortion under all circumstances and with no exceptions. But the right to have an abortion is a basic democratic right that must be defended. Figures like Rees-Mogg epitomise the hypocrisy of the ruling class, who simultaneously declare the “sanctity of life” whilst happily supporting imperialist wars.
Tory politician, potential new Tory party leader, and arch-reactionary, Jacob Rees-Mogg is opposed to abortion under all circumstances and with no exceptions.
It’s mind-blowing that – almost 100 years after the Soviet Union became the first country in the world to fully legalise abortion – this is still a topic at the forefront of political debate.
And it’s not just here in Britain that barbarous relics like Rees-Mogg exist. In January, a picture of Trump’s administration re-imposing the global “gag rule” went viral. This rule means that any overseas organisation will have all US funding removed if they so much as mention the word abortion. In doing so, Trump has again removed the right of a doctor to talk honestly to a patient in need.
Abortion should be free and legal in any nation, for any reason, for anyone. It is a basic democratic right. Forcing someone to go through nine months of pregnancy against their will is sadistic and cruel, something the capitalist system is neither uncomfortable nor unfamiliar with.
In any case, limiting or banning abortion simply doesn’t work. In countries where abortion is illegal, more actual abortions take place, often in unsafe conditions. Free and non-judgmental access to advice and proper support with real alternatives being presented is more likely to reduce abortions than simply banning them. We should be funding more healthcare and education, not less.
Why are abortion rights still a topic of debate? Because some of the most backward, reactionary, disgusting members of the ruling class still see an opportunity to divide the working class amongst itself using the hypocrisy of “traditional” or religious values.
Rees-Mogg is the epitome of such hypocrisy. He said recently that “life is sacrosanct and begins at conception…and abortion is morally indefensible”. So how does our arch-defender of all human life, from fetus to old age, feel about war? Presumably, he absolutely hates it.
Strange, then, that he has consistently voted in Parliament for the use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas. The Tory MP voted to support the continued deployment of UK armed forces in Afghanistan. He has also voted consistently to replace Trident with a new nuclear weaponry system and against an investigation into the Iraq War in 2016.
Next time you come across an anti-abortion campaigner, ask if they extend their ‘pro-life’ stance to Iraqis, Afghans, or anyone else on the wrong side of imperialist weaponry.
Furthermore, it was recently revealed that the hypocrisy extends even further for the man being touted as a candidate to replace Theresa May. Despite his strident and well-known anti-abortion views, the North East Somerset MP profits from sale of pills widely used in illegal abortions in Indonesia and India, through an investment fund called Somerset Capital Management that he founded.
We mustn’t let these reactionary hypocrites divide us by pretending to represent a challenge to the establishment. From Trump to Rees-Mogg, their agendas are all the same: to defend the capitalist system of exploitation and oppression.
If we unite as the working class, then we can beat the rich and powerful with a genuinely anti-establishment alternative. We can stop them exploiting and oppressing us. And we can finally take control of our own bodies, our own lives, and our own destinies.
