Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois has previously quoted Hitler.
In what her campaign described as a “mishap,” GOP Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois called the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a “historic victory for white life” when she spoke alongside former President Trump at a rally on Saturday night.
“President Trump, on behalf of all the MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday,” she said, clapping as the crowd in Mendon, Ill., broke out in applause.
“She very clearly meant to say ‘victory for Right to Life’ during her remarks,” Isaiah Wartman, a campaign spokesperson, told NPR in an email afterward.
A disproportionate impact
Miller’s remark sounds incredibly sinister considering that overturning Roe v Wade will have a disproportionate effect on people of color, as well as immigrants, the LBTQ+ community, the disabled, and the young. As has so often been pointed out, banning abortions entirely is impossible — only safe abortions can be prevented. Post-Roe, people of color will be at an even greater risk of undergoing potentially deadly illegal procedures, continuing unsafe pregnancies, and having their future opportunities seriously restricted — or completely dashed — by unplanned births.
According to Leah Rutman, the ACLU of Washington’s Health Care and Liberty Counsel: “There are so many factors that mean people who already face systemic racism, discrimination, and economic hardship are hit the hardest by these laws.”
A grim history
The anti-abortion movement has long had links to white supremacy. In the mid-1800s through the 1900s, Catholic immigration prompted fears that the white protestant birthrate would be overtaken, with the use of abortions potentially threatening the Anglo-Saxon race.
By the mid-1980s, the Ku Klux Klan had started to create “wanted” posters detailing the personal information of abortion providers. In the 1990s, the leaders of anti-abortion groups Rescue America and Operation Rescue followed suit. Dr. David Gunn, the first physician to be targeted by an Operation Rescue poster, was murdered in 1993 in Pensacola, Florida. His successor, Dr. John Britton, was killed the following year. As the decision on Roe drew nearer, the organized far-right re-emphasized its focus on conscripting white women into giving birth.
Though Rep. Miller claims to have been mistaken in her comment over the weekend, she has form for remarks with disturbing resonance. In 2021, she was forced to apologize for paraphrasing Hitler in a speech, writing on Facebook: “I sincerely apologize for any harm my words caused and regret using a reference to one of the most evil dictators in history to illustrate the dangers that outside influences can have on our youth.”
Speaking at the Capitol, she’d said: “Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.’ Our children are being propagandized.”
Not to be outdone
Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the unbelievable vow in a recent speech that she’d “make sure” that a “kid” in the room is as safe as those in the classroom. Her words came the same day as a gunman shot 19 children and two teachers dead in Uvalde.
Huckabee was aware of the massacre, and incredibly, even used it to support her point, calling it a “stark and humbling reminder of just how precious life is.”
The notion that children’s safety at school is aspirational is a spectacular insult — particularly coming from a pro-gun candidate like Huckabee.
There have been 292 mass shootings in the U.S. this year so far, more than 25 of which took place in schools. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in America. At least 173 kids aged 0-11 have been killed by firearms in 2022 so far, as well as 640 aged between 12 and 17. Thousands more have been injured.
