For everyone who’s voting Tory purely because you believe the party know what a woman is. Firstly, every living human, deep down, knows what a woman is. Its just a matter of politics whether they will admit that or not. Secondly, you can’t assume that all Tory MPs will truthfully acknowledge what a woman is while they are doing their job of representing us. This is a common problem to all political parties at the moment. It’s awful. Thirdly, you can’t assume that someone acknowledging biological fact will be pro-woman.
Yesterday the Commons voted on Baroness Liz Sugg’s amendment to retain telemedical abortion in England, rather than stop it. This option is known to permit women to have earlier access to abortion which is always going to be safer for them. The RCOG and all the medical organisations and NICE all supported it. However everyone should note that our Boris ‘knows what a woman is’ Johnson Tory government wanted to remove this option. They know very well what a woman is. They just don’t want to make life in any way easier or less distressing for women and girls already in a shit situation. That can only be an idealogical position of this Conservative government, because it went against the evidence and the medical and nursing professions’ views. That was why luckily, Baroness Sugg made this amendment to oppose the government position.
So the result was divided strongly on party lines. The yes vote won by a small majority- as it rightly should have, being the pro-choice, trusting women platform with every medical organisation and NICE backing it. Of those who voted in support of telemedical abortion in the Commons, 55% were Lab and then 33% were Con.
Of MPs who voted against the Sugg amendment 93.5% of them were Conservative. Let that sink in. Doesn’t it show something in Conservativism that is opposed to women having better options on their healthcare. Abortion is already stigmatised and difficult enough for women to navigate without MPs putting in extra barriers?
This conscience vote is illustrative of both individual MPs’ political personalities and of a Tory party political steer. And as usual those MPs without a strong personal or religious conviction in either direction will follow their government line for an easy life. Fuck that.
It means trying to find someone to vote for who is actually pro-woman at next GE is going much more complicated than simply a voting Conservative (because of assuming wrongly that the Tories will support women because they ‘know what a woman is’.) That’s a logic fail, let’s not fall for it.
We will all need to consider each individual candidate’s position very carefully, and not make any assumptions about them being pro-woman or not based on party lines.