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Republicans Are Prepared to Lose Votes to Kill Abortion Rights [1]

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Date: 2023-04-16  

The struggle for abortion rights continues. Despite a shellacking in the last midterms, Republicans continue their offensive on a fundamental women’s right. Last week Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), signed a bill banning abortions in the state for six weeks. Those Democrats who believed that the results of the midterms would discipline Republicans and force them to accept abortion rights, must accept that Republicans are highly motivated, and deeply ideological, and are willing to sacrifice votes for their radical, far-right beliefs.

DeSantis is not alone in this race to the most repressive abortion policy imaginable. Last Friday, Sen Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who has formed a presidential exploratory committee, was not to be outdone, and told NBC News that , “If I were president of the United States, I would literally sign the most conservative, pro-life legislation that they can get through Congress.” There are clear indications that Republicans feel they can roll the dice and fight 2024 on a campaign of rescinding abortion rights across America. This is not a drill, the struggle for abortion rights is here, and will not end until they are enshrined in the Constitution. Mike Pence, who has weighed a run for the presidency, also joined in celebrating DeSantis’ decision.

Legally, Republicans are ready to exploit a generational opportunity to reshape the legal and political landscape. With a conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court, and the Federal Society at its most powerful in history, with members in judicial positions across the land, Republicans know that they can take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court, and feel confident of getting what they want. We have already seen that, post-Roe, judge Matthew Kacsmaryk revoked the Food and Drug Administration's 23-year old approval for mifepristone, by far the most important abortion pill in the country. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has since issued a partial stay of the judge’s ruling and the Biden Administration successfully got the Supreme Court to block the ruling limiting access to the abortion pill. However, this is not a permanent victory. The battle is yet to come. What this does is buy time, and allow women to access the abortion pill in the meantime.

This issue does not just affect Republican states, it affects all states. Post-Roe, virtual abortions shot up, with virtual abortion services providers supplying women with abortion pills by mail. What we are learning is that Republicans want to prevent virtual abortions, closing an important loop for women in need. Access to abortion is steadily declining, and is likely to decline even further, as North Carolina, Ohio, and Florida weigh permanent bans.

In many ways, this issue is not even a Republican v Democratic issue. Polling consistently shows that a clear majority of Americans support access to abortion in all or most cases, although support varies by party. In 2022, 87% of Democrats supported access to abortion, while just 37% of Republicans did.

Source: PRRI 2010-2022 Surveys

When you look at who supports making abortion illegal, the degree of lack of support for what Republicans are doing, becomes even clearer. Just 14% of Republicans, and 7% of Democrats, support making abortion illegal.

Source: PRRI 2010-2022 Surveys

Ordinary Republican voters need to stand up against the party machine and vote for what they clearly know is right. Whether that will happen is questionable. In the meantime, Democrats need to organize in this momentous battle for women’s right.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/16/2164286/-Republicans-Are-Prepared-to-Lose-Votes-to-Kill-Abortion-Rights

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