Swalwell releases ad showing women arrested at gunpoint for having abortions
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., released an ad that featured a woman arrested at gunpoint for having an abortion and claimed on "The ReidOut" that this could be a "new reality."
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., debuted a new political ad on MSNBC’s "The ReidOut" Monday that accused Republicans of wanting to arrest women at gunpoint for having abortions.
The ad featured two police officers arriving at a family home to arrest a woman for having an abortion. After the woman’s husband steps in to defend her, an officer pulls a gun on the man while handcuffing the woman. As the couple’s baby cries, the officer insists, "We’re just enforcing the law."
This scene, Swalwell claimed while appearing on the show, would become the "new reality" should Republicans take back Congress in November.
"I wish this was an exaggeration, but this is going to be the new reality in MAGA America if we do not win the midterms in both the house and Senate," Swallwell said to host Joy Reid, who called the ad "chilling" and said it made her heart race.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., listens as Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., speaks during a news conference on the introduction of their Protection from Abusive Passengers Act at the U.S. Capitol Building on April 6, 2022 in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The California representative continued to defend the ad as a realistic depiction of a country with abortion restrictions.
"As a former prosecutor, when I looked at the Republicans’ abortion laws, criminalizing abortion, mandating pregnancy, I thought through what is this going to look like as it plays out across America. And it’s that scene right there," Swalwell said.
He added, "I wanted it to be clear that no police officer wants to be in this position. And for the officer to say, ma’am, we’re just doing our job, that’s the horrible position we’re going to put law enforcement in."
Swalwell also blamed gun owners for providing an "unfair" and unsafe scenario for police officers and women who were put in this situation by Republican lawmakers.
Abortion has been considered a midterm election issue after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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"We are a country that has chosen unwisely to arm most Americans to the teeth. So imagine the combustible environment we have with police officers going door to door to take women who make this decision and knowing that we have so many firearms in America. This is not safe for police officers. It’s certainly unfair for women who made this decision, and it, in a MAGA controlled House and Senate, could be the new reality. Not just in Arizona and Texas and Florida, but every state in the union," Swalwell said.
No current state pro-life laws criminalize a woman for having an abortion, they all target the person performing the abortion. Sen. Lindsey Graham's, R-S.C., proposed federal abortion bill also is not aimed at women who have abortions.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) delivers remarks during the House Judiciary Committee markup of H.R. 7120, the "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020," on Capitol Hill on June 17, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
Swalwell has frequently attacked Republicans as seeking to ban abortions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. He was also one of many Democratic lawmakers and activists who suggested that Republicans are also seeking to ban interracial marriage as a follow-up, despite Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas himself being in an interracial marriage.
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He is also running for re-election in November.
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