That really is weird when you consider that most of those states have below-national-median household incomes; as it is now, their families are struggling to feed they're m their children.
I’m not convinced they (at least the lawmakers…Voters might be different) do think societal problems are caused by liberalism. They simply don’t care about the poor
I think both can be true. They believe that liberalism is bad for society and for economic prosperity, and also their belief system holds that poor people deserve to be poor.
Ironically, every state on the right is economically prosperous. The only states in the left that are prosperous are Utah, Georgia, and Texas. Conservative ideology makes no sense unless you factor in religious conviction and/or hatred for the poor.
I honestly don't believe they care about economic prosperity. If they did, they'd be liberals.
Conservatism places far greater value on a specific social hierarchy than it does with the well-being of anyone trapped within it.
Scapegoating is an especially common tactic for far right politicians. Whenever there's a systemic or nuanced problem, they blame a scapegoat. Stagnant wage growth? Blame immigrants. High homelessness? Blame the homeless. High gas prices? Blame the shutdown of the keystone pipeline. Etc.
They also have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the most children without health insurance, fewest children vaccinated or given routine well child health treatment, and on and on.
Wikipedia says it was made legal again in September, though of course that hasn't stopped people from shutting down many of the women's health clinics statewide
A new confederacy is certainly being created of the old with their deep red new cousins in flyover country. We now have two completely different countries depending on the state.
“171,000 Traveled for Abortions Last Year:
14,000 Texas patients crossed into New Mexico for an abortion last year.
16,000 left Southern states bound for Illinois.
12,000 traveled north from South Carolina and Georgia to North Carolina.”
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
And red-states are making divorce harder. No-fault divorce is a GOP target, as is contraception, & 4 red-states already deny pregnant women the right to finalize a divorce (Texas, Alabama, Arkansas. & Missouri).
The not weird is their view of sin as commencing with birth. On being born, one should (per this view) be compelled, on fear of starvation, to make the right decisions — a moral economy of sin. Horrible stuff
Maine does not have paid family leave. I had three children and had to buy special insurance for this. The insurance ended up costing way more than what we got back
Republicans aren't pro-life, they're pro-birth. They do everything in their power to ensure kids born into poverty remain poor. They oppose: head start, adequate public education funding, medicaid, food stamps, and the expanded child tax credit, which cut the child poverty rate in half overnight.
