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The Riley Gaines Show
Rep. Kat Cammack on the Fight to Protect “Mother” and “Father” | The Riley Gaines Show
00:35:36
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- [00:00]
A
You're not going to call breastfeeding moms chest feeders. You're not going to call women who give birth gestating individuals. I mean, that's just candidly, it's bull and no one has time for that.
- [00:16]
B
Well, Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining the Riley Gaines Show. I am just super excited and very grateful for your time. You have been someone who has just been a really fierce defender of common sense of women's rights, which we are reclaiming as the Republican Party, the other side. They claim to be the party of and for women. I have come to learn that really couldn't be further from the truth. I think the first thing I want to talk to you about really proves that the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, has a bill sitting on her desk right now that replaces words, words like mother and father and parent itself. Words that we have never, ever struggled to understand in the 250 years that America has been established and certainly much longer than that. Replacing those words with more gender neutral terms such as gestating parent when referring to mothers and non gestating parent when referring to fathers. I really can't think of words or phrases or terminology that is more dehumanizing than gestating parent. Walk us through this. My understanding is that the Republicans Women Caucus sent a letter to the governor. Walk us through this and your thoughts.
- [01:34]
A
Here we get word that the the state of New York is actually, through legislative efforts, looking to pass legislation to erase moms and dads like crazy town type stuff. And as chair of the Republican Women's Caucus, I'm like, all right, let's just monitor this. Surely there are moms and dads serving in the legislature that will find this deeply offensive. Regardless of whether you're Republican or Democrat, right? Overwhelmingly, this bill passes both chambers of the New York State House and Senate and makes its way to the governor's desk. And so Governor Kathy Hochul has this sitting on her desk ready to sign and and effectively would erase from any government entity the term mother and father and replace with gestating and non gestating parent. And you and I are both new moms. Our babies are about a month apart. And as first time moms, you really start to understand how very special motherhood is and how it really fundamentally changes your whole worldview, your life, everything about you. And it's the most precious experience in my viewpoint. And here we see a government entity seeking to remove that unique relationship by stripping the titles. And this is so 1984 where they want to Change the language to fit the agenda. And you know, I think when it, what it comes down to is this is coming from the same party, right, the ultra radical left that says they don't know what a woman is. And then they say, well, now we have to be in an effort to be inclusive, we have to put men in women's locker rooms. And nobody knows that issue better than you, Riley. I mean, you've been the lead of championing women's sports and spaces and protecting girls and women and. And then they're saying, oh no, no, it's just not the war on women that we're going after now. We're going after motherhood, right? They call us chest feeders, which is just the most insulting thing in the world. And now they are just outright trying to get rid of mother and father. And it took me a minute to really try to understand where this is deriving from. And I really have come to the conclusion that. And we see this in the elections, right in New York where you have these democratic social getting elected, but then the leadership of that movement saying the quiet part out loud of the goal has never been socialism, it's always communism. When you look at communist regimes, there is always an effort culturally to erode the individuality of a person and the independence of a family unit because they want families and people to be dependent on government. And what better way to do that than to strip the most meaningful titles that we have within our family of mother and father. And so right now we think that this could be the test case for other radical states like New York to employ, to start really pushing the dependency and control agenda. I know that sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory, but it's really not. I mean, we're watching this in real time.
- [05:00]
B
No, it's not at all. I was actually just chatting with one of your colleagues, Congressman McGuire, about the welfare programs that exist and are funded by taxpayer dollars. And I think 16 or 17 welfare programs. So think SNAPs, EBTs, those types of things, they basically penalize you if you are married. They're encouraging single parent homes. So it does, it maybe sounds like, you know, tinfoil hat, crazy conspiracies, but it's, it's really not at all. That's absolutely the direction that we're going. And it is totally, if you can approach it with a, an unbiased view and understanding history. At the same time, you do recognize it as an attack on the nuclear family. And you're right, I mean, menstruator and chest feeder and bleeder and Birthing person and, and gestating parent. Actually saw where the governor of Wisconsin, Governor Evers, attempted to in their state statute, change the word mother to insist inseminated persons. Inseminated person. That's like, I don't even refer to like my, my cattle, the animals that we have in the yard who are inseminated who are, you know, with, with carrying calves and foals. I don't even refer to them as inseminated beings because that is absolutely absurd thing to say. When I read that, I immediately thought of maybe families who don't conceive the natural way or maybe they don't have children by the natural way. I thought of adoptive families or step, step moms even. Are they harmed in this verbiage in an attempt to be inclusive? Are they excluded here?
- [06:37]
A
Absolutely. Because, I mean, can you imagine? And in our letter we talk about, you know, families that adopt. And I immediately thought about, I immediately thought about this sign that I gave to my mom when I was a little kid for Mother's Day and it was paraphrasing here, but basically something along the lines of, you know, it takes someone very special to be a mom. Right? The term mom and of course the, the, the beauty of, you know, carrying your own child and, and whatnot. It is, it is a, like I said, a life changing experience. But there are a lot of people who are wonderful people who are in fact mothers that adopt beautiful children. And in my mind that doesn't make them any less of a mother. They are caring for this individual, they're caring for this child. And when you, when you take away, like I said, you start eroding the family unit. You're really starting to pull people away and make them dependent and force them onto something else. I think that we are watching in real time an effort to co opt our, our traditional culture and our traditional norms in an attempt to, to really make a political move here. And to me that's really scary because so many people are like, oh no, that's crazy. Well, a lot of crazy things have happened and people get busy with their lives and I get it. But if we don't stand up and say, no, that's not okay. You're not taking away, you know, you're not going to take away women's sports, you're not going to put men in our locker rooms, you're not going to call, you know, breastfeeding moms, chest feeders, you're not going to call, call women who give birth gestating individuals. I mean, that's Just candidly, it's bull and no one has time for that.
- [08:29]
B
No. Yeah, I think adoption and, and, you know, if, if you can foster children, I think it's one of the most beautiful and selfless ministries that you could possibly engage in. So I'm right there with you. Speaking of communism and kind of this rise of socialism that we've seen in the US Specifically among those who are attempting to be elected officials, what do you make of it? We've seen like, the Democratic Socialists of America and kind of the influence they've had. I think I've been watching it in the state of Colorado. What do you make of that? Is that a pretty grave concern? And do you think it will spread across the U.S. yes.
- [09:09]
A
Short answer? Yes. I mean, many people know I'm a Colorado native, and when I was growing up, you know, Colorado was very much a western state. I rodeoed my whole life and we, we subscribed to what is known as the Code of the West. Right. And it was just this ideal. It was a, it was really about American ideals of helping, helping your neighbor, helping yourself, independence, treating people fairly and. Right. And now I look at where Colorado has gone. It's a complete 180, and I don't recognize, I don't recognize my home state anymore where you have people who are openly espousing communist ideals. And I think that there's this bit of a romanticism that people have of what it is and what it isn't. And you talk to anyone who has fled socialist or communist country like Russia, like Venezuela, like Cuba, you, you, you ask them, and they will tell you with tears in their eyes how it destroyed not only their country, their community and their family, but the horrors that they have seen and witnessed as an experience of this attempt. Right. To, to force this type of system that is beautiful. They think, they say it's beautiful on paper. I don't see anything beautiful about it. Where you are taking and redistributing and then forcing people to do things that they don't want to do. And when you see what's happening in Colorado with these candidates, they talk a great game. But when it comes down to it, ultimately what they want to do is take from people who are producers. And they don't redistribute. Right. To help people. We know that from the experiment with the Biden administration. Under the Biden administration they wanted to tax. I mean, when Bernie Sanders himself is saying that the Inflation Reduction act actually doesn't reduce inflation, that ought to tell you everything. You need to know about this agenda. It is all about growing the size and scope of government so that we, the people are dependent on government for everything. And then those that are in power, they stay in control. Because once people are dependent on you for something, they're not going to vote against their own self interest. Right. Which is why we're at this moment in time, this precipice of having to really define what the next 250 years of America is going to look like and make sure that our generation is in the fight. You talked a little bit about how trying to engage women has been a really, really tough thing for our party. It is, it is. And that's in large part why I'm doing what I'm doing. And what you're doing is so important.
- [12:08]
B
Heck, yeah. Yeah. In talking about specifically the Biden administration and the communist tendencies that we saw there, I don't even think we have to go back that far. Look at what mom Donnie tweeted last week and saying, you know, people, make sure you turn your thermostat to 78 degrees so we can keep the grid, you know, under control. Excuse me, no one is telling me what temperature to keep my house at so long as I pay my electricity bill. And certainly I'm not putting it to nearly 80 degrees in the middle of July. That's why people from states like New York and California and the usual bad actors are fleeing to states like yours and mine. Do you feel like in your home state of Florida there has been an exodus of people from those states now fleeing to the free state of Florida?
- [13:00]
A
Oh, my gosh, yes. And I thought it was so crazy when he tweeted that, you know, like, oh, keep your temperature, your thermostat at 78. Okay, commie, you can come take my AC from my nice and my nice and chill. 68 degrees.
- [13:18]
B
Yeah, I turned my thermostat one degree colder when I saw that tweet. And I thought to myself, again, you. He mentioned the grid, and that's the reason why they're doing this. But also, there's this big movement to get everyone on electric cars. I'm like, come on, at least. At least attempt to make sense.
- [13:34]
A
You know, they can. And they. Anytime that you call them out on their contradictions or their hypocrisy, of course they turn around and they call you names. Right? You're either you're some sort of an island, you're a racist. Right. Or a sexist, or you're some ist.
- [13:50]
B
And.
- [13:50]
A
And it's again, they just, the facts are never on their side, the truth will never be on their side. And all they have to resort to is just the name calling. Right? And, and the bullying. It's so crazy. But to your question about do we see the mass exodus? Oh my God. Yeah.
- [14:06]
B
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- [16:43]
A
Yeah, no. So a couple of years ago I experienced a life threatening ectopic pregnancy, which is a non viable pregnancy. It's where the baby just doesn't quite make it over through the tubes. And mine was an interstitial, which is right, right at the corner, which is a very vascular area of the body where what happens is the baby typically grows because you're producing these HCG hormones and it eventually ruptures and it causes internal bleeding and it's, it's life threatening for the mom. The baby never survives. And one of the things that happened was I woke up one morning, I was hemorrhaging and you know, found out I was pregnant, immediately thought I was miscarrying. And it took the doctors about 10 days to figure out, oh, you have your, your experience in an ectopic? My, my doctors could not find a heartbeat and they were very, very concerned that I was very close to bleeding out, just internal bleeding. And so this was about 30 days, give or take, from when the Florida heartbeat law had taken effect and gone into effect, which is a six week, a six week heartbeat ban on abortion. And of course like every state in the union, there is exceptions for life of the mother, incest and rape. And there was also clarifying language that said that miscarriages and, and ectopics do not qualify as abortions. But the abortion lobby, the pro abortion lobby and those activists, they have basically banked their entire agenda on misleading women and scaring women and doctors and healthcare professionals into believing that treatment, dncs and treatment for ectopics, the methotrexate, that that is an abortion. Like even Planned Parenthood has acknowledged, like, no, it's not an abortion. And so I was in the er. Doctors, they hesitated to treat me because they were like, well, we're getting these advertisements. Literally. A nurse showed me on her phone an advertisement from a pro abortion lobby lobbying group that said that doctors and nurses could lose their licenses and face prosecution if they helped women who were experiencing miscarriages or ectopics. And it was that fear that they had from these advertisements that we found out much later. They were from these abortion groups. They had been geofencing these ads around hospitals and doctors offices to scare, to scare them because they wanted, they wanted to try to keep the, the issue of miscarriages and ectopics in the same conversation as elective abortions, you know, terminating healthy babies for no medical reason. And I remember sitting there and just stunned. Like I was sitting there in the room reading the law off of my phone to the doctors. And so I tell this story because I kept telling my husband and my husband throughout this whole experience, we kept going back and forth saying, like, what happens to the women who don't have a doctor to call? Or you know, maybe they're alone, like, and scared to death what happens to a woman who doesn't have the means to get to a hospital to, you know, like there were all these questions around really broadly women's health care and access. And the thing that has always been so frustrating to me is that politics have always tend to boil down women's issues to one issue, and that's abortion. They treat us like morons, like we're single issue voters and we're not. And as someone who's pro life, I find that deeply offensive. That one, they treat abortion as though it's healthcare. It is not. I don't care if you're talking to the American Medical association or the association for Obgyns or hell, even take Planned Parenthood. None of these organizations, them or the law have ever classified treatment for miscarriages and ectopics as abortions.
- [21:21]
B
Ever.
- [21:22]
A
And, and so I come out and I tell this story because I wanted women to feel one not alone. Because I felt like there was a lot of women who were going through similar situations, but scared to speak out for fear of the retaliation they would get. And I got that retaliation in spades. I mean, death threats galore. You can't even imagine the death threats. And recently I was on a podcast and the reporter kind of threw me a curveball, asked me to share the story. I wasn't prepared to really talk about it, but I'm kind of a brutally honest, heart on my sleeve type person. And I was like, you know, sure, I'll talk about it. And I did. And I was brutally honest about it. And she didn't like, she didn't like my answers. She didn't like, I think she didn't like the fact that I was calling out the pro abortion lobby and how they have hurt women. And I think that story needs to be told because even just today I heard from a woman who said she had a, the same type of ectopic pregnancy. She's pro life, and she feels like she can't talk about it for fear of retaliation. And it's because we've lost the narrative on this. We've lost our voice on this. And I think it's time that we take it back.
- [22:43]
B
100. So how do we do that? Is there, like, legislation that can, can be passed? Maybe that's too kind of in the weeds. Do we do that culturally? Like, what are some of the actionable ways that, that we can reclaim the narrative? Because I'm, I mean, I'm right there with you. Like, it's so frustrating for women's health care, which there, there could be strides to be made and innovation and all of these incredible things that have been done in recent years and still need to be done for women's health care. It's so frustrating that, that women's health care is reduced down to abortion, which, as you so eloquently put, is really not health care at all, actually. That's like, like death care. I don't know. Like, it's not health care. So what needs to be done to reclaim that narrative, to make actual strides for actual women's health care?
- [23:38]
A
There's so, there's so much in this, I mean, on, on this issue in particular, we actually put out a resolution talk and named it Truth. Truth in Women's and Healthcare. Because the fact remains that there is a narrative out there that we've just been, we have not been successful. We, I would say people in the pro life community, we've really tried to push back against it. And when you take away. And just, I would say just from a very objective standpoint, take away the pro life, pro abortion sides. And if, if we were to look at this and say, okay, women who are experiencing miscarriages or women who experience ectopic pregnancies, they have to seek care, right? And in a miscarriage, the baby has tragically passed an ectopic. The baby never survives. In my case, my baby had passed. No woman is choosing that. No woman is actively choosing that, right? When you have someone who makes the choice to terminate a perfectly healthy baby and is ending an active someone's life, an active heartbeat. Try selling that versus selling. We're, we're protecting women. And, and, and they can't, they can't sell murder. So what they have to sell is this is health care. And what they're really saying is they're just trying to wrap it all up. Because if we actually reclaim the, the truth on this, and it is a fact, it is an absolute fact that those two miscarriages and ectopics, they are not abortions. Once people start recognizing that, they're gonna be like, wait a minute, this is barbaric over here. This is unconscionable. This is what they can't. They cannot stand on that agenda. So that's why they are so fiercely trying to keep the idea that, that women are getting abortions or seeking abortion health care when they're going in for a dnc. And it couldn't be further from the truth. I mean, from the scientific community, from the medical community, from the legal standpoint, could not be further from the truth. And there is not one person who has been able to come to me and say, oh, in this state, life of the mother, right, is not covered. It's. They're just full of it. And so I think they've got a multimillion dollar agenda at risk. If we win in this, in this battle and if it means us saving babies by taking arrows and standing up and saying, you know, and telling our stories all day, every day, all day, every day, I would take, I would take those arrows because it's worth it. It is so worth it.
- [26:36]
B
That's amazing. And, yeah, they're not attempting to protect women, certainly not the baby. Really, what they're doing is they're preying on women. They're preying on women who are oftentimes. Those who are seeking out abortions are oftentimes vulnerable and insecure. Oftentimes they come with, with trauma. They're broken and battered and bruised and, and they come from, from, again, speaking statistically, pretty, pretty horrific backgrounds. And they're praying on that. They're not protecting those women. Last thing for you. I want to get your. I just thought of this and talking about this, this conversation centered around women and what we can do as, as, you know, principled conservatives to help bring those young women along. And of course, I think of President Trump, who has repeatedly been labeled as a misogynist by the Democrats. You, of course, you know President Trump. You know him well. You work very closely with him. Does that characterization match the person that you know?
- [27:33]
A
Oh, my gosh, no.
- [27:34]
B
No.
- [27:35]
A
Um, I, I, that's why whenever I. And that is actually something I get asked a lot from people, particularly skeptical people, maybe, you know, like, independence. They're like, what is he really like? Like, he's hilarious.
- [27:49]
B
He is exactly what you see, right?
- [27:52]
A
He is exactly what you see. He does not. He's not one person on TV and then a different person behind closed doors, he's the same person no matter where he is, no matter who he's with, he is exactly the same. And I think that's exceptionally rare, particularly in politics is people will present as a front, you know, one, one Persona and then behind closed doors, they're totally different. The President is 100% genuine and authentic no matter where he is, no matter who he's with. And I appreciate that. And I can tell you one of the smartest people I know, um, whether we're having a six hour dinner or he's giving a speech or, you know, it doesn't matter the setting. He's, he's just so sharp and witty and, and the thing that always surprise, surprises people, as I say, he's wickedly funny. Like, he's, he's very, very funny. And unfortunately people today, they, they seem to have lost their sense of humor. Humor. But I think that that's a big, a big reason why you have so many people who have, who've come out of the woodwork to support the America first movement, right, is because they actually appreciated somebody who didn't take themselves too seriously and somebody who was real and
- [29:13]
B
genuine and who cares deeply about America. I was watching the, the fireworks live from Washington D.C. on the 4th, watching them just from my home in Tennessee on, on F. And it was amazing to me because it was around 10:30 my time, which was 11:30 in Washington D.C. and you have the President who, I mean objectively is old, right? Not meant to be hurtful or mean or disrespectful. Like, I mean, 80 years old is pretty old, right. He's standing up there like the stamina of, of a workhorse. Like, just doesn't appear tired at all. Everyone who's close with him says he never sleeps. He just goes and goes. And he loves America and he loves Americans, the people, people who live here. And it's really cool to see and to live in a country that is led by, by that type of person. So, and, and people like you who fight for that, that very agenda that President Trump campaigned on, that he has done every, everything in his power to, to implement you guys who are working to right alongside the President. And so thank you, Congresswoman, for everything and for, for sharing your story too. Not just to me, but as I've seen online, because it's helpful, it's helpful in combating some of the narratives because oftentimes, if I'm being honest, I don't really know the best way to. To lead on, on the messaging front or to bring young women along. But when I see women like you and your bravery, it helps. It gives me cover. So thank you.
- [30:46]
A
That means a lot. And I really do think we have something special, particularly with, you know, our generation. And there's just. There's things of. Of the way that we came up and we grew up and, you know, cultural things that we experienced. Like, I was. I was joking with someone actually, at the gas station the other day. This lady, literally just met her, and we were probably around the same age. And I started laughing. I said, yeah, I can't get rid of these. And it's because, you know, every time juvenile comes on and y' all know the song, you know the song, you hear the intro to it and you. That stank face just comes on. Right? You can't help it. And we started laughing, and it was almost like we'd known each other for years. But it's like there's just things that bind us together, and that's what's so special. That's what we have to protect. And, you know, I want my daughter and your daughter to have that really cool cultural experience of being an American and. And knowing that they can do whatever they want in their life because they have a country that has afforded them equal opportunity rather than equal outcomes. And so at the end of the day, everything we do, it's for. For them, for those little girls and little boys and, and. And I'm just really grateful for everything that you've done and standing up and taking the arrows as well, because I know you get a lot of crap. And you know what? You got broad shoulders, girl.
- [32:03]
B
Bring it on. Bring it on. And when you share the arrows, it makes it easier, right? So that's the clarion call for everyone is be bold and be courageous and share. Share the arrows because it makes them hurt a little less when you got people doing it with you. So thank you, Congresswoman.
- [32:20]
A
Absolutely. Thank you.
- [32:23]
B
Thank you guys for watching the Riley Gaines Show. You can subscribe right here. We have new episodes every single Tuesday and Friday at 10:00am Eastern Time. And we are covering everything from pop culture to politics to deep dives to motherhood, sports, all of that and more. We want to hear from you, though. What is it that you want to hear? Comment down below. We can't wait to see you next time. It.