Journalist Julia Ioffe has been thinking a lot about the Texas heartbeat law lately, and let her share her thoughts with you, if you don’t mind:
Thinking about the Texas abortion law brought me back to something I learned while researching my book. In 1918, within months of coming to power, the Bolsheviks passed a new Family Code, which, among other things, made it easier for women to get child support. 1/
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
A woman could compel a man to pay child support even if she was not married to him. Moreover, the man had to start paying child support months *before* the baby was born. 2/
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
Though the Soviet government ultimately changed this law, there was an understanding, created in part by early Bolshevik feminist writers, that child bearing was a public good, rather than a private one. As such, the public has to share the burdens it placed on women. 3/
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
If you don’t know me and where I stand on the Soviet Union, let me repeat: I am no fan and my family fled the place as refugees. I happen to be working on a book about the Bolshevik feminist experiment, which is why this tidbit came to mind when thinking about Texas. 4/
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
The Soviet Union, btw, was the first country in the world to legalize abortion. They did so in 1920. One of the founding mothers of the USSR, Inessa Armand, wrote that women cannot be forced to carry a child against their will. 5/
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
Anyway. My point is this: a lot of women in America have abortions because they cannot afford to raise a child in the most expensive country in the world to raise a child. Others are worried about economic opportunity it would cost them. 6/
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
If you are anti-choice and you want to make sure women carry every pregnancy to term, why not make the person who created the pregnancy contribute? Why not have men pay child support to the women they impregnate? Surely, it is not the woman’s responsibility alone? /end
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
P.S. I recognize that there will be limitations and exceptions to this, including whether a woman wants to have this man—perhaps her rapist—in her life forever. But I just wanted to share this idea of burden sharing, at least economically.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
Wow. Brilliant idea, Julia. Let’s make it happen!
Who disagrees with this?
— Andrew Holly (@andrewholly2016) October 7, 2021
literally no one
— Jessica O’Donnell (@heckyessica) October 7, 2021
Okay.
/end https://t.co/ICkJT8y1fX— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) October 7, 2021
💯 agree
— Foster (@foster_type) October 7, 2021
Okay.
Wait, that's it? Wow, that was easy.
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) October 7, 2021
I love that idea #ProLife #lovethemboth
— Ryan (@alwaysonoffense) October 7, 2021
The vast majority of pro-life people will enthusiastically agree to this.
— Timothy H.J. Nerozzi 庭夢 (@TimothyNerozzi) October 7, 2021
I've never met a single prolife person that would object to that.
— Travis (@GreatBelin) October 7, 2021
— Colin Duffy (@TheRightDuff) October 7, 2021
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) October 7, 2021
your terms are acceptable. https://t.co/FyrJot3GLq
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) October 7, 2021
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) October 7, 2021
Have we mentioned that Julia is brilliant?
I'm not trying to troll here, I really think you need to talk to more of your opponents because you seem to be expecting them to disagree when they really don't
— Pat Tehan (@patricktehan) October 7, 2021
have these people really never spoken to a single pro-life person?
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) October 7, 2021
also, is ioffe laboring under the delusion that child support is not already a thing in the United States?
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) October 7, 2021
ah, i see the source of my confusion. i think she’s talking specifically about pre-natal child support: https://t.co/hnjIloNrON
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) October 7, 2021
so, circling back to original tweet: yes, your terms are acceptable.
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) October 7, 2021
So, where do we sign?
"if you are against violently killing children, why not also have systems to encourage fathers to care for their sexual partner and children they procreate" is … exactly what people who love humanity want. https://t.co/INHrPnA7w4
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 7, 2021
Okay, so every time you pass an anti-abortion law, pass a law that makes the father of the fetus liable for child support starting from conception. If all anti-abortion activists agree with this point, why don’t these laws exist? https://t.co/yGx97cWKjT
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
Side note: it’s funny to see right-wingers try to drag me even if they agree with my point. It’s almost like the point isn’t the point.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
Is it possible, Julia, that pro-lifers are dragging you because you’re the one who agrees with their point? The point that they’ve been making for decades but that you seem to believe you’ve just come up with on your own because you’re such a genius?
The overwhelming majority of pro-lifers are already strongly in favor of this. I'll go further: it's also the father's responsibility to stay and help raise the child. https://t.co/NZsYSYRNqS
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 7, 2021
We already have child support laws. We *should* uniformly apply them to supporting the child before birth. Of course, that would mean the law recognizing the unborn child as a child. Which is why Planned Parenthood opposes the GOP proposal to do that: https://t.co/jsJNXxLvuv https://t.co/n5wo96T2XA
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 7, 2021
https://t.co/QcvbRmasd8 Utah passed this exact law and pro-choicers opposed it.
— John Gerardi (@fresnojohnny) October 7, 2021
What say you now, Julia?
You down for free, government-provided childcare and government allowances for children, too? Because that was Soviet policy, too.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
Um, what?
"the father should be as involved and responsible for the child as the mother”
“OK SO YOU WANT ‘FREE,’ GOVERNMENT-PROVIDED CHILDCARE”
…what? https://t.co/McfuKz9EC5
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) October 7, 2021
You OK, Julia? We’re starting to worry a little …
If the government is the father.
There are ongoing debates on the Right about more pro-natalist policies https://t.co/58TLSlviDa
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 7, 2021
You know who else had pro-natalist policies, right?
(The USSR, the world’s first Marxist, socialist state. Oops.)
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
You may need to read up more on Soviet policy.https://t.co/87kAvs57YGhttps://t.co/OQKSiIw4m8https://t.co/SvS2nbukRY
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 7, 2021
Lol thanks I’ve read everything.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) October 7, 2021
Whatever you say, dear.
"Lol thanks I’ve read everything" is an absolute banger of a response. Just top flight work in an already incredible exchange. pic.twitter.com/YzSu3vxuTt
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) October 7, 2021
"I've read everything."
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 7, 2021
All the things!
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 7, 2021
Gee, maybe Julia’s not so brilliant after all.
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