If Californians would like to see an end to the extreme drought the state is facing, they should consider passing more restrictions on abortion. That, at least, was the suggestion of a California assemblywomen in remarks to anti-abortion activists last week.
“Texas was in a long period of drought until Governor Perry signed the fetal pain bill,” state Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) said, as reported by RH Reality Check. “It rained that night. Now God has His hold on California.”
The legislation Grove was probably referring to was part of omnibus bill of abortion restrictions passed by Texas lawmakers in 2013, some of which are currently being challenged in courts. A federal version of the so-called “fetal pain” provision — a ban on abortions after 20 weeks into the pregnancy — passed the U.S. House of Representatives last month and was introduced in the Senate on Thursday, where it stands little chance of overcoming an expected Democratic filibuster.
Grove was speaking at a banquet of anti-abortion activists that included Catholic Bishops for Life, Pray California, Californians for Life, and the California Republican Assembly.
Grove did not respond to RH Reality Check’s request for comment, but in a Facebook comment Thursday, she went on to suggest liberal politicians could also be to blame for the drought:
I believe –and most Americans believe –that God’s hand is in the affairs of man, and certainly was in the formation of this country. The Founders put God in the center of this nation by recognizing Him as a giver of our rights. Is this drought caused by God? Nobody knows. But biblical history shows a consequence to man’s actions; we do know for sure that California’s water shortage crisis has been compounded by liberal politicians’ poor decisions – not properly managing our water resources and refusing to build water storage for decades
Brian Johnston, the chairman of the California ProLife Council, attempted to distance his group from Grove’s linking of abortion and the drought, telling RH Reality Check, “That was never said by me or the California ProLife Council.” Likewise, Marylee Shrider, executive director of Right to Life of Kern County, did the same, telling The Bakersfield Californian, “[W]e have not made a connection between the drought and abortion here in California.”
Meanwhile, pro-abortion rights groups have pounced on Grove’s comments. Pro-Choice Kern Count posted a mock T-shirt design on its Facebook page that said, “I made a desert with my abortion and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.”
