Despite media attempts to suggest otherwise, Republicans don’t hate women. I should know, I am one.

The heated congressional debates about the defunding of Planned Parenthood last Wednesday have once again put Republicans in a bad light. While the Republican Party believes they are defending their dedication to the unborn, pro-choice supporters have been continuously framing GOP members as women-loathing, disgraceful people. But this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.

There has been an increase in elected GOP female leaders, and studies predict this trend will continue. Even though Republicans are traditionally known as being pro-life, that does not mean that they don’t value the lives of women, despite extreme rhetoric from the political left and biased media outlets.

In order to avoid the overshadowing of what the right-winged argument for life is all about, Republicans need to come together as a unified front and prove to the public, the Democrats and themselves, that their stance isn’t anti-women; it’s pro-life. The GOP’s strong position on the defunding of Planned Parenthood isn’t aiming to strip women of their rights, but to get the government out of the equation.

There are many culprits to blame for twisting the Republican argument. For starters, there are the Democrats. Longtime member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) was leading the charge on the House floor last week in defense of Planned Parenthood. In short, she said Republicans not supporting the appropriation of federal funds to the organization is discriminatory toward women, specifically those of low-income status.

It is possible that opponents of the pro-life argument could manipulate the dialogue into saying that this is an attack on low-income women, but it’s not. Although the demonized political right is fighting to cut federal funds for Planned Parenthood, they’re not attempting to outlaw abortion or the organization in its entirety. The establishment will continue to operate, just not at the expense of the government.

What Rep. DeLauro failed to mention, which Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) later addressed, was that while yes, Republican lawmakers are advocating for the defunding of the nonprofit, they are also urging that additional money be allocated to community health organizations. This would ensure that women would still receive proper healthcare, despite the argument made by lawmakers like Rep. DeLauro.

Despite the public’s desire to move away from our Christian-rooted founding principles and toward a more secular standard of governance, abortion remains a morally gray issue. This means that the justification for funding organizations that provide such services to women also remains controversial.

While it has been made clear that taxpayer money does not go directly toward the procedures, the principle of the money going to an organization that performs them makes many pro-life advocates uneasy.

The GOP should not have to change its views to improve its negative public image. Rather, they need to make their good intentions clear: being pro-life does not mean that the lives of women don’t matter. They need to capitalize and expand on this point in order to break through the shadow of liberal bias.

Vanessa Salman is a junior political science major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at vksalman@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @VanessaSalman.

Published on October 7, 2015 at 12:44 am