Jacky Eubanks, a Michigan Republican running for State House, said in a recent interview that, given the option, she would vote to ban all birth control because it violates her Catholic faith.
The Trump-endorsed conspiracy theorist made the comments during an interview conducted last week with Michael Voris of the aptly named site Church Militant.
After insisting society could not function “outside of the Christian moral order,” Eubanks said she opposed abortion and marriage equality. That isn’t necessarily a shock coming from a right-wing candidate. But then she was pressed about how she’d vote on other issues that are politically unpopular but still part of Catholic dogma. Her response effectively said she’d legislate based on the Church’s teachings.
… You cannot have a successful society outside of the Christian moral order. And things like abortion, and things like gay marriage, are outside of the Christian moral order. And they lead to chaos and destruction and a culture of death…
…
[VORIS: How do you answer the local press person, who might be your age and just sees you as some loony who… that she wants to take away your birth control… in the state of Michigan?]
Sure, so, I guess we have to ask ourselves: Would that ever come to a vote in the Michigan state legislature? And if it should, I would have to side with: It should not be legal. And I think that people that birth control is… better… because, “Oh, then you won’t get pregnant and you won’t need to have an abortion.” But I think it gives people the false sense of security that they can have consequence-free sex. And that’s not true! And it’s not correct!
…
… Sex ought to be between one man and one woman in the confines of marriage… and open to life. Absolutely.
Republicans are coming for your birth control. Jacky Eubanks wants to micromanage everything that’s between your legs because she believes that’s what her God wants.
When women’s rights advocates have said Republican lawmakers won’t stop at abortion, they’ve often been labeled “alarmists.” But those advocates are absolutely right. Here’s a potential Michigan state lawmaker openly declaring she would ban access to condoms, IUDs, birth control pills, any anything else she can get her Catholic hands on because she quite literally wants to control everyone’s sex lives.
What would the punishment be for a married couple that uses birth control? Or for unmarried college students who use condoms? Does she want them fined? Jailed? Executed? Who knows. The correct answer is: “It’s none of my business.” But when you elect religious extremists to office, everything in your life becomes their business. (Voris didn’t ask those questions because he’s a propagandist, not a journalist.)
While we’re at it, does anyone think Eubanks could even explain how an IUD works? Does she understand that some women take birth control for reasons that don’t involve sex or preventing pregnancy? How would she enforce her hypothetical ban? Would a rape victim be punished for taking a morning after pill? She should let people know how far she’ll go… but her media strategy so far seems to be avoiding legitimate journalists and only going to interviewers who won’t ask her challenging questions.
It’s not enough that the Catholic Church is wrong on those positions and has ruined countless lives because of it; Eubanks wants to foist her broken Church’s broken dogma on the people of Michigan.
Eubanks is running in District 63. Before redistricting, that seat was won by a Republican in 2020 with 60% of the votes. The new version of the district still appears to be deeply red and Eubanks is competing in the August 2 primary against two other Republicans who only share some of her religious and political extremist views. (One of them celebrated the leaked Supreme Court draft to overturn Roe. The other hasn’t said anything about Eubanks’ insanity… or much else, really, but he did suggest, without evidence, that there were “some wrong votes” in the last election.)
Whether the Republican voters there will side with the “moderate” extremists or the batshit crazy anti-sex Catholic extremist remains to be seen.