The Republican Party has been actively working to limit bodily autonomy, with North Carolina being a recent example of this effort. The state has passed a 12-week abortion ban alongside other rules that limit access to reproductive care. Republicans across the country are similarly pushing for restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming healthcare. The Republican Party’s actions give insight into their priorities and desired society in the absence of a national leader with a coherent agenda.
The Republican Party is also pushing for the loosening of child labor laws in states like Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio. The aim is to make it easier for children as young as 14 to work longer hours without a permit and under dangerous conditions. This would benefit the midsize-capitalist class that supports Republican politics while undermining organized labor and public education.
Republican-led legislatures are also enacting harsh limits on what teachers can say in the classroom about American history and the existence of LGBTQ+ people. For instance, in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that bans discussion of systemic racism, sexism, and other divisive ideas in public schools and universities.
Republicans have also introduced so-called constitutional carry laws in 25 states since 2003, allowing residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit. They are expanding stand your ground laws, which erode the duty to retreat and allow deadly force in the face of perceived danger. Some Republicans are also looking to protect gun manufacturers and dealers from liability.
In contrast to Franklin Roosevelt’s four essential human freedoms — freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear — Republicans are advancing four different freedoms: the freedom to control, the freedom to exploit, the freedom to censor, and the freedom to menace. These freedoms are building blocks of a hierarchical society that prioritizes domination over equality.
