Something has been bothering me about the reaction I feel when confronted with quotes and quips from representatives of the GOP about their stance on abortion and rape. On the surface, I thought it was the relatively simple matter of their being anti-choice and me being pro-choice. But I knew it wasn’t that, and I knew that that was no simple matter. As someone over forty, I’ve had decades now to move beyond the simple framing of abortion and choice as the simple matter that it is not, coming to realize that abortion is a deeply complex, emotional matter in which no one opinion “wins” if they get their legal way, because when it comes to abortion, no one ever wins, even the women who I believe deserve to have that right.

But no, it’s not that the GOP stands on the opposite side of the idealogical abortion fence from me. I have conservative friends who also stand on that side of the fence, and we’ve talked about the issue. Sometimes deeply, but always respectfully. But there is one thing I’ve noticed they do that representatives who speak about abortion and rape do not do: think of women as human beings. I’ve come to realize that the thing that deeply bothers me about the way our government representatives discuss these issues is that they completely dehumanize the women involved.

Take the latest quote from Virginia State Senator Steve Martin, posted to his Facebook page in response to a question about abortion care, in which he refers to pregnant women as “hosts” to a fetus, deliberately not calling them mothers.

Or take some of the more famous quotes by Todd Akins and others, in which they refer to a body being able to shut processes down and prevent pregnancies that happen via rape. There’s no talk of the woman herself, just discussion about the body as a thing, a collection of processes.

Texas law turned a woman into a mere “host”, as Representative Martin would say, in the sad and unfortunate recent case of Marise Muñoz, whose body was kept alive against the wishes of her and her family because she was fourteen weeks pregnant, despite all evidence pointing to an undoubtedly gruesome outcome for the resulting baby.

And this is why I get angrier every time I see a representative spout off about abortion, rape, and sexual issues relating to women. I can have a respectful discussion with someone about the moral marshland that is abortion…but not when that person sees you only as a body. Only as a collection of biological processes. Only as a biological host.