They're weaponizing pregnancy- keeping us under constant threat of forced, unsafe, financially burdensome pregnancy is a great way to roll back lots of women's (and anyone who can get pregnant) ability to be independent and not be trapped in unhealthy relationships for the sake of survival.
I want to be clear- I don't think that every single boots-on-the-ground prolifer is a raging misogynist. I *know* that a lot of them are well meaning, but uninformed people who have not been exposed to or educated on this issue in a nuanced and fact based way.
But the politicians and preachers who stand up on their podiums and push for their laws?
They *resent* women's lib and feminism. They resent the way that divorce laws and birth control and Title IX and increased education and career opportunities for women have led to a culture where it is possible and common for a woman to live a comfortable life without being married, where marriage is a choice among equals rather than an obligation and survival necessity. Where a woman can leave a relationship if she wants to with relative ease. Where being a mother is an option, not a duty. It takes away so much social power that men used to wield as a weapon. It used to be that a man just needed to be a better choice than homelessness and they could get a built in cook and maid and nurse, rather than having to be an actual viable partner. And abortion access is a big part of that.
(And you better believe that they absolutely see forced pregnancy as a way to prove that anyone who CAN get pregnant is obviously a woman and should be treated, poorly, as such. Their transphobia, misogyny, and bioessentialism are deeply entwined.)
I say this often, but the ability to get pregnant makes us a uniquely vulnerable class of people. It opens us up to a lot of potential abuse and risk, physically, financially, in our careers, in our relationships. And the tools we have to control our reproduction, if it happens, when it happens, ways to make it safer when we want it- birth control and abortion and prenatal care and safe c sections, paid parental leave, protections against work discrimination over pregnancy- help us manage and mitigate that.
So of course states with the states with the most horrific anti-abortion laws also have the least support for pregnant people. The *goal* is for people who CAN become pregnant to be increasingly reliant on their husbands (and oh, you better have one of those) by making a potential pregnancy something that is nearly impossible to get through alone with your quality of life in tact.
The cruelty is a feature, not a bug.