Today is the 43rd Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which causes an annual frenzy of anti-choice activities around the country. Yesterday, GOP presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina got a jump on the action by participating in an Iowa Right To Life event at a botanical garden in Des Moines. Photos from the event show Fiorina standing in front of one of those “floating fetus” images that pro-lifers like so much, with a group of apple-cheeked toddlers sitting at her feet.
The only problem is that the toddlers weren’t part of the event –– and their parents hadn’t given permission for them to be there.
According to parents, the children were on a field trip to the botanical garden when they met Fiorina at the Koi pond. The former HP CEO then gave them campaign stickers and led them off to another room, where she arranged them as pro-life set dressing.
Parents were appalled that their four year old children had become unwitting political props without so much as a “By your leave” from campaign staff. The Fiorina campaign attempted to deflect criticism by saying they were so happy the kids and their caregivers had joined them.
I guess it should come as no surprise that a person who supports forcing people to remain pregnant against their will is cavalier about things like getting consent from parents of small children. The only consent she’d be interested in is the kind parents have to give if a teenager wants an abortion. As for giving people the choice to not participate in her events, well, I think we all know how Carly would feel about that.
