Grim

The "Pro-life" party sure seems to want you to die

Yes, Joni Ernst is abominable, but she was so much fun to draw.

This cartoon was originally published on Pepperspectives. Click here to subscribe to Pepperspectives, where you’ll learn about the continuing threats to our democracy and the actions you can take to help safeguard it.

Republicans always tout themselves as the “Pro-life” party. Listen to them talk about women’s healthcare and rights, and you’ll come away with the impression that Democrats and progressives are tossing actual infants into flaming sacrificial pits. But ask MAGA to provide basic healthcare for living children and adults, and they’ll tell you to drop dead. Literally.

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst did just that last week during a town hall when her constituents confronted her about the Medicaid cuts in TACO Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Her response: “We’re all going to die.”

Unsurprisingly, that response didn’t land well with people. And when called out over her grim remarks about cutting healthcare, Ernst went full MAGA, ridiculing her worried constituents by doubling down on telling people they were going to die, and suggesting that instead of being able to have access to doctors and medicine, they should just get right with Jesus.

I initially sketched Ernst as the Grim Reaper, but I realized that’d be insulting to the Grim Reaper …

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