Mark Ronchetti, Republican candidate for Governor of New Mexico, exemplifies the conservative Republican who accuses others of being or believing what he himself is or believes. In the process, he exhibits other unworthy political tendencies which constitute a threat to government of, by, and for the people. Call it democracy, if you wish.
Even in a political campaign, words matter. Whether a candidate’s words articulate truth, falsehood, bullshit, or a shifting concoction to suit the occasion, they reveal character and propensities. When it comes to abortion, Mark Ronchetti is a case study of irresponsible ignorance, calculated cruelty, and implicit prejudice.
His campaign website states that “Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has taken an extreme position that abortions should be legal up to the moment of birth.” It promises that he will “end the barbaric practice of late-term abortions.” I do not know whether she advocates this position; I shall take his word that she does.
If so, good for the Governor. She has humane and health considerations supporting her position on abortion. It encompasses positions of people of different religions—Christianity, Judaism, Islam, among others—with diverse, though sometimes overlapping, definitions of when life begins and, significantly, under what conditions abortions are permissible or not. She implicitly recognizes freedom of religion for all.
Not so good for Ronchetti. He either does not know—at this late date, he would be irresponsible not to know—or does not care that Jews believe that life begins at breach. During pregnancy, Jewish law on abortion becomes increasingly restrictive to protect the unborn. Although late-term abortions are rare, they reflect medical emergencies. Even for less than 1% of abortions, Judaism never rules them out. The reason: Judaism gives priority to women’s health and life. Ronchetti does not. Judaism knows that no woman wants complications, much less serious ones, in her pregnancy. Ronchetti does not.
Ronchetti’s statements of position imply that, because of their religious beliefs and practices, Jews are extremists and barbarians, respectively. But these statements are his hypocrisies in waiting. If a family member—sister, niece, wife, or daughter—had a life-threatening pregnancy, he would not say, “tough luck; suffer and die.” As covertly as possible, he would get her to a state which permitted a late-term abortion. But he, extreme and barbaric, would leave other, mostly impoverished, women, in New Mexico, to suffer and die—such is Republican Ronchetti’s compassion for pregnant women and the risks which they run in any pregnancy.
Ronchetti’s private opinion seems not to be his public, politically necessary opinion devised to win votes or not lose them. In private, he reportedly assured Pastor Steve Smothermon of the Legacy Church that, “if elected, he would push for a full ban on abortions in New Mexico” (SourceNM, 18 July). In public, he offers a vague, kumbaya piety that “we can all come together on a[n abortion] policy that reflects our shared values” (Santa Fe New Mexican, 3 Aug). This is twaddle for tweeters and the trusting . He could not answer, and would dodge even trying to answer, two obvious questions:
One: what precisely are those “shared values” which Ronchetti knows that Jews would accept even if they overrode their religious convictions? To answer, he would have to specify them and defend them—mission impossible for him (or anyone else).
Two: how does Ronchetti reconcile “shared values” restricting Jewish religious beliefs and practices on abortions with the First Amendment’s guarantees of religious freedom? If he cannot or will not explain himself on this fundamental question of Constitutional rights, he implies positions both antisemitic and anti-Constitutional.
I have invited Ronchetti to send me his answers; if he replies, I shall publish them. But I do not expect him to give answers, much less direct ones, to these questions.
What kind of governor would Ronchetti make if he enacted and enforced a narrowly restrictive position on abortion conforming to Catholic doctrine and compatible with Republican autocracy? On this issue, to many, he would simply be the state governor, but, to 24,000 or so Jews and maybe others, he might be the kamp kommandant.
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