Abortion Politics – Republicans are currently afraid on a national basis. After a district judge in Texas invalidated the FDA’s clearance of the abortion medication mifepristone, you can hear it in their quiet on the subject of abortion. This week’s struggle is playing out all over the country, but nowhere more so than in Florida, where Florida’s Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, signed into law one of the nation’s strictest abortion (abortion politics) restrictions late Thursday. After six weeks of pregnancy, when most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant, it may soon be unlawful for Florida women to get an abortion, if the courts ultimately permit the new law to go into force.
Republican-controlled states have felt emboldened to pursue their own restrictions on the procedure after the US Supreme Court allowed a restrictive abortion law in Texas to remain in effect, ruling that abortion providers could still challenge the law in federal court, and took up a case on another in Mississippi – which is a direct challenge to the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. (Image courtesy of edition.cnn.com)
DeSantis’ campaign was anxious to emphasize his determination to fight for and enact tough abortion politics restrictions even before he signed the bill. They contend that the Florida governor’s stance contrasts sharply with that of some Republican presidential contenders, most notably former President Donald Trump, who are downplaying their support for anti-abortion measures out of concern that they might ultimately alienate women or other key voters in the general election of 2024.
Republicans are frequently only looking to minimize the Democratic political advantage on the matter and draw the debate to a close. Even though this is unsettling and uncomfortable, it is still preferable to the pre-Dobbs situation, when politics were simpler but it was difficult to enact any significant limits. (Image via politico.com)
DeSantis’ most recent political triumph in the third-most populated state in the country provides a fresh look at the Republican Party’s ongoing political struggles with the hot-button social issue.
Abortion Politics – Voter dissatisfaction indicated by recent election results
Republicans in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Washington have recently found it difficult to respond to persistent inquiries over their opposition to the contentious medical procedure as GOP-controlled state legislatures hurry to adopt a wave of new abortion politics restrictions. In recent weeks and months, Republicans have suffered severe defeats in races that focused, at least in part, on abortion in Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, and even deeply red Kansas.
In a state that President Joe Biden carried by less than one point last week, Wisconsin’s anti-abortion nominee for the state Supreme Court was thrashed by 11 points. Republican presidential campaign strategists acknowledge that the GOP is currently on the wrong side of the issue, at least in private. Public polling repeatedly reveals that the larger group of voters who decide general elections believe abortion should be permitted in all or most situations, despite being popular among Republican primary voters.
Given that GOP leaders have been promising for decades to outlaw abortion rights if given the chance, anti-abortion activists have been particularly vociferous in warning Republican presidential hopefuls that the party’s base will not tolerate any weakness on abortion.
Read Also: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Strictly Signs Bill For Abortion Law Banning After 6 Weeks
Abortion Politics Is Terrifying Republicans
The FDA’s 23-year-old approval of the abortion drug mifepristone was revoked last week by judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, and only a small number of congressional Republicans immediately commented on the ruling. A brief urging an appeals court to sustain the decision was signed by a small minority of Republicans on Capitol Hill. Only one of the Republican Party’s national field of presidential hopefuls, former vice president Mike Pence, openly praised the choice.
Republicans used abortion politics as a rallying point for its staunchly pro-life supporters, pledging to overturn Roe v. Wade and criminalize the practice if given the chance. However, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, abortion has become a powerful issue for Democrats, energizing voters enraged about the proliferation of state bans and restrictions that the rule has ushered in.
Republicans have had trouble responding because they lack a consistent abortion politics strategy in the roughly ten months that have passed since the momentous ruling.
