Thousands of families are being separated at the United States border thanks to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s unfathomably cruel “zero tolerance” policy. As a result, thousands of children are being kept in prison-like facilities; employees and volunteers are prohibited from touching them for any reason.
On Monday, PBS Newshour correspondent Lisa Desjardins tweeted a statement from the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion organization that has enthusiastically aligned itself with Donald Trump, calling him “the most pro-life president our nation has ever seen.” This wasn’t an issue that concerned them.
“[We are] completely dedicated to protecting the first right w/out which no other rights matter: the right to life... Therefore we refrain frm public comment on immigration + many other topics, incl. other policies that impact families.”
That an organization purportedly concerned with the sanctity of life would not feel a moral imperative to weigh in on the imprisonment of thousands of children should be shocking, but is not. The cynicism and myopia that runs through the “pro-life” movement is pretty well-established, and the SBA List routinely endorses candidates with platforms that undercut pro-family policy, whether it’s fighting healthcare expansion, cutting funds for food assistance, or dismantling public education.
Plus, the organization has commented on issues outside of abortion multiple times. In 2010, the SBA List released a Spanish-language ad attacking Sen. Barbara Boxer, bizarrely, for her stance on immigration. The ad says she “voted against immigration reform to permit our people to come here legally to work.” The organization has also commented on physician-assisted suicide, and in response to a judge barring the government from blocking undocumented teens’s access to abortions, once encouraged the Department of Health and Human Services to “stand strong and protect the innocents, born and unborn, in their care.” SBA List also partners with with Life Issues Institute, which cites sex trafficking, rape, and incest as concerns.
Jezebel has reached out to a representative from SBA List for clarification and will update the post should we hear back.