The forced-birth laws that recently passed in Georgia and Alabama and Missouri and a handful of other states have made it clear that the right-wing governments in those states are not “conservative” in any definition of the word.
conservative
adjective
1. disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
2. cautiously moderate or purposefully low: a conservative estimate.
3. traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness: conservative suit.
4. ( often initial capital letter ) of or relating to the Conservative party.
(From Dictionary.com)
Conservative Senator Barry Goldwater, leading light of the conservative movement (nicknamed “Mr. Conservative”) was opposed to legal bans on abortion, stating in a letter prior to the the 1992 Republican Convention, “abortion is not something the Republican Party should call for the abolition of, by legal means or by any other means.”
Goldwater’s wife was even a founding member of Planned Parenthood of Arizona. Goldwater viewed protection of abortion rights as the conservative position, stating,
A lot of so-called conservatives today don’t know what the word means. They think I’ve turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the religious right. It’s not a conservative issue at all.
He also had no time for the religious right:
I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.'
The current right-wing SCOTUS majority also seems to eschew the principles of conservatism and judicial restraint, acting as judicial activists to invalidate facially reasonable and Constitutional laws in a number of high profile cases, such as Citizens United v. FEC, which answered a question that wasn’t asked in deciding to give the green light to unlimited corporate campaign spending. Or overruling longstanding norms and precedents in District of Columbia v. Heller and Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt, which recent decision proves the scam of originalism.
No, far from being conservatives, these right-wing ideologues are extremists or reactionaries. We need to start calling them such.