“I am glad to see that [Psaki] took the time to share that President Biden does indeed believe that we should have the right to abortion, but it’s getting a little comical that she is utterly unable to say the word or what the administration plans to do about expanding access,” Bracey Sherman tweeted Monday.
Psaki notably avoided the word in January, when discussing the administration’s stance on the Hyde Amendment as well as the global gag rule, and when commemorating the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, relying again on the phrase “reproductive health.”
And, to be clear, abortion is reproductive health. Abortion is also abortion, and there’s power in saying as much. Dodging the word only increases the stigma around the procedure itself, and that stigma is what helps power the anti-abortion movement. When people are afraid to speak plainly about their support for abortion they contribute to the idea that abortion is immoral or taboo—something not to be discussed or even heavily alluded to in polite company.”
