‘I wish, as a man, I didn’t have to make this decision. I wish women could make this decision’: Pro-life Republican admits abortion ban ‘stinks’ for women in response that stuns his Democratic opponent
- A pro-life Utah Republican lawmaker up for re-election stunned his Democratic opponent during a Thursday night debate when commenting on abortion bans
- ‘I get it, if you’re a woman, it stinks,’ said GOP Rep. John Curtis. ‘That most of these legislatures are men, most of these decisions are made by men’
- Curtis was talking about how the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, pushed decisions about the legalization of abortions to the states
- ‘I wish it where other than that,’ Curtis continued. ‘I wish as a man I didn’t have to make this decision. I wish women could make this decision’
- His opponent, Democrat Glenn Wright, noticeably raised his eyebrows and shook his head as Curtis made the comments
A pro-life Utah Republican lawmaker up for re-election stunned his Democratic opponent during a Thursday night debate when he discussed abortion bans across the country most being decided by men.
‘I get it, if you’re a woman, it stinks,’ said GOP Rep. John Curtis. ‘That most of these legislatures are men, most of these decisions are made by men.’
Curtis, onstage alongside Democratic opponent Glenn Wright, was talking about how the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, pushed decisions about the legalization of abortions to the states.
‘I wish it where other than that,’ Curtis continued. ‘I wish as a man I didn’t have to make this decision. I wish women could make this decision.’
The 74-year-old Wright noticeably raised his eyebrows and shook his head as Curtis, a three-term congressman representing Utah’s 3rd district, said he wished women could make their own reproductive decisions – the point of Democrats often labeling their abortion position ‘pro-choice.’
‘I was thinking that he was making my point for me. Thank you, Representative Curtis for making my point,’ Wright told DailyMail.com Friday. ‘I didn’t even know the camera was on me … that was completely serendipitous,’ he added when asked if he expected the exchange – including his colorful reaction – to go viral.
Democrats hope that abortion remains a potent issue in the lead-up to the midterms as both of their Congressional majorities are in jeopardy.
GOP Rep. John Curtis stunned his Democratic rival during a Thursday night debate when he admitted abortion decisions made by mostly-male legislatures are unfair to women. ‘I wish women could make this decision,’ Curtis said
GOP Rep. John Curtis’ (left) rival, Democrat Glenn Wright (right) visibly raised his eyebrows and shook his head when the Republican lawmaker expressed that he wished women could make their own reproductive decisions
Wright, like other Democratic candidates across the nation, has pledged to vote to codify Roe v. Wade if he makes it to Washington, D.C.
He highlighted the exchange on his Twitter account Friday, sharing a tweet from the Utah Democrats Communications Director Ben Anderson who called out Curtis for a ‘shocking lack of self awareness.’
Curtis’ comments come after South Carolina state Rep. Neal Collins, also a Republican, expressed remorse in August for voting in favor of a strict ‘fetal heartbeat’ law, which bans pregnancy termination for some women as early as six weeks.
Collins said he was called by a doctor who said he had a 19-year-old patient experiencing a miscarriage and was unable to give her care thanks to the law – putting her at risk for sepsis and death.
Abortion is restricted or outright banned in 16 red states, largely concentrated in the southern United States
‘The doctor told me she’s going to pass this fetus in the toilet. She’s going to have to deal with that on her own,’ Collins said, as the bill banned doctors from operating on the woman to remove the dying fetus since a ‘heartbeat’ was still detected.
‘There’s a greater than 50 percent chance that she’s going to lose her uterus. There’s a 10 percent chance that she will develop sepsis and herself die,’ the South Carolina state lawmaker said, holding back tears. ‘What we do matters,’ he told his fellow state lawmakers.
A number of pregnancy horror stories have come out since the conservative majority of the Supreme Court overturned Roe in June.
For instance, a 10-year-old rape victim was forced to travel from her home state of Ohio to Indiana to get the procedure done.
As Utah is a deep red state, none of the House races look particularly competitive.
The 3rd Congressional district is also the most conservative of the four.
The last time Curtis was on the ballot against a Democrat, Devin Thorpe, he walloped him by 42 points.
Wright said he believed he could improve upon that performance.
‘I definitely think I can,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘I think that the Dobbs decision has made a lot of races including mine potentially competitive.’
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