Who gets to be born? Dr. Oz just revealed Trump’s strategy.

“We lowered the prices of infertility drugs to make lots of Trump babies by the midterms.” HE strange words Recently, director Dr. It was made by Mehmet Öz. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Four years into the first Trump administration and nearly a year into the second, many of us have become desensitized to such comments — but that’s not the case for Black women. We know that the quiet part is said loudly when we hear it.

Dr. Oz’s words may be considered a joke, but there’s nothing funny about what his words actually mean. This administration will do everything it can to ensure white political dominance in this country.

Oz’s words were not a blunder, but a strategy revelation

By eliminating federal social safety nets, medical helprising barriers to maternal health care and much more, this administration is creating the perfect storm to control who can have children and who can’t.

“Trump babies” born ahead of midterm elections in 2026 won’t vote until 2044, but after hearing statements like “for decades”prosperity queens“We know a dog whistling when we hear it. To understand this moment, it is useful to look across generations.

More than 60 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed Voting Rights Act And Immigration and Nationality Act. The impact of that generation’s monumental moment on what is happening today cannot be underestimated.

This seminal pair of laws from 1965 “democratized the idea of ​​who could be an American” and who can voteAs The New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb recently reported.

Idea: Americans are moving away from wanting children. I worry about my own generation.

Twenty years from now, the white population in America fall below 50%. non-white births already exceeded Those of White Americans and Non-White children. under 15 years old They already outnumber White children.

By 2050, the white population will be just a subgroup in an increasingly diverse country. Demographic change towards a non-white majority is inevitable.

This reality should pave the way for a more inclusive democracy. Instead, white supremacists see it as an existential threat.

People cling to power as their numbers dwindle

The MAGA movement aims to maintain power at all costs. His four-part plan to stem this demographic tsunami includes voter suppression, undermining reproductive justice, drastically reducing the number of non-White children who grow up to become voters through targeted deportation, and encouraging U.S. birth among “traditional families.”

The first is the strategic disenfranchisement of Black and Latino voters. He’s gutting the Voting Rights Act.is culling us voter lists And gerrymandering Elimination of congressional seats representing Black and Brown constituencies.

The second is to price out low-income parents having the economic and reproductive autonomy to choose their family size. Estimate the cost of raising a US child born in 2015 until age 18 $320,000and facing families of color disproportionate levels Cutting safety net programs along with rising poverty will only make it harder for people in our communities to have children.

actually recently state vote from With Our Own Voice It found that financial insecurity was a top concern among black adults as to why they were unable to raise their families. This situation will worsen as federal budget cuts and inflation make basic needs like child care, housing and nutrition increasingly out of reach.

At the same time, the poor quality of care in our healthcare system is underlined by recent experiences. two black womenKarrie Jones of Texas and Mercedes Wells of Indiana, both laid off during active labor, show how dangerous and unequal the path to parenthood has become.

Cutting Medicaid to millions would cripple critical care For more than a quarter of Black and Latina women, more than half proportion of Black girls and two-thirds of Black births, a shift too significant to ignore.

Third, we witness our government’s brutal abduction and deportation of Black and Brown people. immigrants those of reproductive age and their children. along with attacking citizenship by birthinternational delimiter student visas and I just accept White Afrikaners As refugees, these nativist policies set the stage for the narrowing of pathways for America’s non-White population.

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Fourth, White families need to have more babies. “Management’s initial ideas – $1,000.”baby bonus” And medals for mothers of six – innocuous as they may sound, they point to America’s alarming rise pronatalism movement.

With unmistakable echoes of eugenics, white, religious, conservative advocates push for more births between married, heterosexual couples and for children to be designed for high intelligence and other supposedly desirable traits.

In this context, the push for a new generation of “Trump babies” fits neatly into a broader strategy of determining who is born, who stays, and who ultimately joins American democracy.

Idea: Liberals don’t make kids, conservatives do. This is important.

Long-term strategy requires the right response

It is long past time for the opposition to stop reacting to executive orders, shutdowns, and political theater and start listening to Black women. “Trump babies” rhetoric and ideology herald a weakened and deeply unequal democracy.

So let’s call it this: The generational battle of those clinging to power to “Make America Great Again” by maintaining White dominance in American political, economic, and cultural life; Significantly reducing births and voting rights for Blacks and Latinos and neutralizing a demographic turning point that would permanently end the White majority in the United States.

Because this is an intergenerational strategy, it requires an intergenerational response rooted in truth, organized power, and an unwavering commitment to the dignity, representation, and futures of Black, Brown, and immigrant communities.

Regina Davis Moss, a public health expert and author specializing in black maternal health In Our Own Voices: The National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda.

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This article first appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Trump babies’ reveal GOP’s long game: Voter suppression | Idea