The precedent of Roe v. Wade has often offered a shield to politicians in both parties when it comes to discussing abortion, allowing them to take up their preferred label — “pro-choice” or “pro-life” — without wading into the details.But the leak this week of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the landmark ruling has cracked that shield, forcing many lawmakers and candidates to explain how they approach abortion morally and politically.The court has warned that the ruling is not final, but with a post-Roe world seemingly on the horizon, Republicans face new pressure to define exactly where they stand on issues like full abortion bans, exceptions for rape or incest, and criminal penalties for abortion.Democrats, for their part, have few immediate judicial or legislative options and must figure out a long-term political answer, which means confronting head-on an issue many in the party have long treaded carefully around.We took a look at the different camps in each party that are emerging ahead of the midterm elections:ImageRepresentative Matt Gaetz of Florida used Twitter to rile up the G.O.P. base on abortion this week. Credit...Maddie McGarvey for The New York TimesThe Republican absolutists
For the Republicans most devoted to the decades-long effort to ban abortion, the news that Roe could soon fall opened the floodgates of more restrictive legislation.In Louisiana, state lawmakers advanced a proposal that would classify abortion as homicide. In South Carolina on Tuesday, Gov. Henry McMaster, when asked by local reporters if the state should push for a more aggressive measure than its current 20-week ban, said, “The more we can protect life in South Carolina, the better it will be for everybody involved.” Asked if there should be exceptions to an abortion ban, McMaster said, “I believe not.”Other anti-abortion Republicans tried to rile up the party’s base. Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida wrote on Twitter, referring to protesters outside the Supreme Court, “How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches?”Such comments didn’t quite align with the approach recommended by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. According to a memo obtained by Axios, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm advised its members to “be the compassionate, consensus builder on abortion policy.”Roger Severino, vice president of domestic policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said, “All discussions of abortion should focus on compassion for the child and the mother.”From Opinion: A Challenge to Roe v. Wade
Commentary by Times Opinion writers and columnists on the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Alison Block Offering compassionate care is a core aspect of reproductive health. It might mean overcoming one’s own hesitation to provide procedures ike second-trimester abortions. Jamelle Bouie: The leak proves that the Supreme Court is a political body, where horse-trading and influence campaigns are as much a part of the process as legal reasoning.Emily Bazelon: By suggesting in the draft that the progress women have made is a reason to throw out Roe, Justice Samuel Alito has turned feminism against itself.Bret Stephens: Roe v. Wade was an ill-judged decision when it was handed down. But overturning it would do more to replicate its damage than to reverse it.Sway: In the latest episode of her podcast, Kara Swisher talks to an abortion rights advocate about the draft opinion and the future of abortion rights in America.Severino, who served as director of the civil rights office of the Department of Health and Human Services during the Trump administration, said the country had a “long way to go to make abortion unthinkable.”“The hard work is to get from where we are to where we want to go, and what intermediate steps it may take,” Severino said.Republicans who support exceptions, or some abortion rights
McMaster’s model isn’t the only way to be anti-abortion in South Carolina.Senator Lindsey Graham, another Republican from the state, has long been a champion of the federal Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks with exceptions, including for rape, incest and saving the life of the mother. He reiterated his support for that legislation this week.To Graham’s left are his Republican colleagues Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who have long described themselves as supporters of abortion rights. “It rocks my confidence in the court right now,” Murkowski said of the draft opinion.She told myBy: Leah Askarinam
Title: Roe’s Potential End Forces Politicians Into a Deeper Abortion Debate
Sourced From: www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/us/politics/abortion-democrats-republicans.html
Published Date: Fri, 06 May 2022 23:17:11 +0000
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