Education Secretary Betsy DeVos likened ending abortion to ending slavery and drew a scathing response from Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who challenged DeVos to repeat the claim to her in person.
“As a Black woman & the Chair of the abortion access task force, I invite you to come by the Hill and say this to my face,” Pressley tweeted Thursday.
“Would welcome the opportunity to educate you,” added Pressley, who last week garnered widespread praise for revealing she has alopecia.
In a second tweet, Pressley said “the rhetoric & policies of anti choice zealots like DeVos put the lives & bodily autonomy of far too many people at risk.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) ― a fellow member of the House’s so-called “Squad” of four freshman Democratic congresswomen of color ― appeared to approve of Pressley’s response:
DeVos likened President Abraham Lincoln’s fight to end slavery to conservative Christians’ fight to restrict abortion during a Colorado Christian University dinner on Wednesday, the Colorado Times Recorder reported.
“Lincoln was right about the slavery choice then, and he would be right about the life choice today,” DeVos claimed. “Because as it’s been said: Freedom is not about doing what we want. Freedom is about having the right to do what we ought.”