Rep. Madison Cawthorn calls women 'earthen vessels' in weird anti-choice rant

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Wow. This guy. Seriously. I know that the potentially seismic Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Supreme Court case could vaporize Roe v. Wade and its precedents once and for all, so this is the anti-choice crowd’s Empire Strikes Back moment, but sheesh. Is this really the way to reach out to women who may be feeling just a bit marginalized as the 66% Catholic Club (aka SCOTUS) signals it will likely, at the very least, sand Roe down to a nub?

All y’all with female partners: What do you think would happen if you called her an “earthen vessel,” even in jest? I have an inkling that said “vessel” would be shut down for repairs pretty much indefinitely. Personally, I prefer “Play-Doh Fetus Factory,” but what the eff do I know?

Then again, I’m not nearly as savvy as North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn.

Watch:

Truly one of the most disturbing things I’ve witnessed in a long time. A Congressman, in a bid to overturn Roe V Wade and deny American women reproductive rights. Publicly referred to them as “Earthen vessels, sanctified by Almighty God.” Give me strength. pic.twitter.com/LvYM46GRVN

— Dr. Jennifer Cassidy (@OxfordDiplomat) December 3, 2021

Transcript!

CAWTHORN: “Madam Speaker, imagine you’ve just walked out of this chamber and outside is a gorgeous sunset. You have a Polaroid camera and you snap a beautiful picture, and a great photo prints out the front. You hold it and shake it, waiting for the picture to appear, but suddenly someone walks by and snatches your photo, ripping it to shreds. You’re stunned. You cry, ‘Why did you destroy my picture?’ The person replies, ‘Oh, it wasn’t a picture. It wasn’t fully developed yet.’ All of us in this room realize how asinine that reasoning is. That photo was transforming into a beautiful image. This illustration by Seth Gruber is simple, but it’s what our nation has done to the most precious image of all—the image of God. Madam Speaker, a silent genocide has slipped beneath the conscience of America. Precious works of our creator, formed and set apart, meet death before they breathe life. Eternal souls woven into earthen vessels sanctified by almighty God and endowed with the miracle of life are denied their birth by a nation that was born in freedom. God’s breath of life blown away by the breath of man. This cruel and fallen world may seem too filthy for their very presence, but these precious temples are crafted in the image of God himself. One day, perhaps when science darkens the soul of the left, our nation will repent. But until then the carnage of this unconscionable deed will stain the fabric of our nation. I hope that the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. I hope that we stop the genocide of abortion in this country. With that, I yield back.”

Oh, did I fail to mention that he also compared fetuses to undeveloped Polaroid pictures? Yeah, that too. Of course, the analogy would only hold up if people spontaneously induced abortions in strangers they passed on the street. Or if roughly 50% of all Polaroids failed to develop at all, even when they’re not being torn up. Or if … if …

Damn, did he really say “earthen vessels?” I really want to put that in a Match.com ad and see what happens.

So while Cawthorn is very solicitous when it comes to nonsentient fetuses and Polaroids that just want to live, he’s never been all that magnanimous with earthen vessels (aka “women”).

Here’s how Caitlin Coulter, a former classmate of Cawthorn’s at Virginia's Patrick Henry College, described his past behavior:

"His MO was to take vulnerable women out on these rides with him in the car, and to make advances," Caitlin Coulter, one of Cawthorn's former classmates, told CNN in an interview.
Coulter said she was taken on something Cawthorn called a "fun drive," where he asked about her purity ring and her sexual experiences. She says she felt something was off and shut down the conversation.
"He got really upset. And he whipped the car around and started going back to campus at 70-80 miles an hour on these one-lane roads," she said. "And it was -- it was really scary."

Charming. I guess it’s pretty clear why young Madison would prefer to relate to women as inanimate objects.

Oh, and this bit from The Washington Post sounds almost, dare we say, Trumpian?

Cawthorn’s election also came despite an extraordinary effort by former classmates and other alumni of Patrick Henry College urging that the voters of North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District reject him on grounds of alleged sexual misconduct. Three women told The Post in on-the-record interviews that they objected to Cawthorn’s behavior, with one saying he tried forcibly to kiss her after she rejected his advance.

What might Jesus say about these allegations, Madison? I’m guessing he’d be less than impressed by your performative mewling. Then again, the Jesus you believe in still lives, so you can just ask him the next time you’re at Mar-a-Lago.

Until then, maybe think about sharpening your rhetoric. Or at the very least making it a wee bit less vomit-inducing.


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