This October, a second woman has come forward alleging that political candidate Herschel Walker pressured her into having an abortion. According to Jane Doe, she and the, at that point, married Walker had an affair which led to pregnancy. At which point, the candidate asked her to get an abortion. After not wanting to go through with the procedure when she went to the clinic alone, she says Walker drove her a second time and waited in the parking lot during the procedure. This paints a troubling picture for a number of reasons, including that it’s direct clash with Walker’s platform and support of the 15 week abortion ban. Jane Doe has said that despite her voting for former President Trump and her independent voting status, she feels that Walker’s platform is a danger to the people of Georgia. As a public figure, there should be a reasonable expectation of privacy when it comes to things like one’s family, but that doesn’t apply to illegal actions, actions which impact other people or actions which paint one as a hypocrite.
In this specific instance, this is primarily Jane Doe’s story. If she has decided to make her private life public, that is her right. Walker’s alleged actions, which was essentially an unwanted and forced abortion, are traumatizing and irreparable. Candidates asking for citizens’ votes do not have the right to hide their misdoings from the public, especially when they are in direct opposition to how they want to shape the country.
Walker, as someone who will never understand the difficulties of making decisions regarding reproductive healthcare, shouldn’t get to ban abortions and make women feel more unsafe in the first place. It’s even more despicable when his position seems to be nothing more than an insincere political maneuver to get widespread Republican support. Walker doesn’t appear to be interested in living by the standards he’s setting, and he’s not entirely in the wrong because he won’t have to live by them. He, like every other male lawmaker who will never get pregnant and supports abortion bans, shouldn’t be a part of such legislation because he has no real stake in the outcome. Additionally, abortions remain accessible only to the independently wealthy who can pay to travel to sanctuary states like Walker.
There does have to be a line between what is public and private. There are things that candidates should not be required to expose about themselves and that the people do not have a right to know. If a piece of information is not pertinent to a person’s platform or position, the public does not have a right to know. Being a public figure shouldn’t mean one’s life becomes a side show. However, the expectations for those running for public office is greater than a general public figure or a regular person, so when hypocritical choices are made public, there’s no longer an expectation of privacy in regard to that decision. In other words, when people run for higher office, they should be prepared to be held to a higher standard.
