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The Resurgence of Enforced Motherhood
A disturbing echo of history is reverberating through modern politics: the chilling resurgence of enforced motherhood. While declining birth rates present legitimate societal challenges, some political figures are dusting off the playbook of Benito Mussolini’s fascist Italy, promoting a pro-natalist agenda that threatens women’s autonomy and harkens back to a dark era of state control.
In the aftermath of World War I, Mussolini’s fascist regime initially presented a facade of progressivism, advocating for women’s suffrage and equal pay. This veneer quickly crumbled as the fascists embraced a nationalistic fervor focused on population growth. Motherhood was no longer a choice but a “national mission,” a duty to the state. Single individuals were penalized, large families rewarded, and abortion and contraception strictly forbidden. Women’s bodies became instruments of the fascist project, their reproductive rights sacrificed on the altar of national expansion.
A century later, this dangerous ideology is finding new adherents. In the United States, prominent figures like J.D. Vance have launched a rhetorical assault on childless and professional women, labeling them as selfish, pathetic, and even detrimental to society. These pronouncements, coupled with the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the escalating anti-contraception movement within the Republican…
