almost a year later supreme court With abortion turning into a major issue in the 2022 midterm elections, the battle for abortion rights will take center stage in the 2024 presidential election season, igniting Democrats, dividing Republicans, and threatening health. It accelerated a sensitive debate over care.
From North Carolina to Nevada, Democrats all levels of government Support for abortion rights is a cornerstone of the campaign, and it vows to portray opponents as extremists on the issue.
And as race intensifies, Republicans are caught between the demands of a socially conservative base and those of the wider American public. generally supported Abortion rights exposes one of the party’s greatest political responsibilities in trying to reclaim the White House, take back the Senate, and expand the narrow House majority.
Democrats have cast the Supreme Court order as perilous, warning that many Republicans want as many restrictions on abortion as possible, including a nationwide ban. The Republican candidate’s team has generally not responded to requests for comment on the ruling, but the Republican presidential candidate is working hard to gain ground on the issue.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed the ban on abortion After six weeks of pregnancy, when many women were unaware they were pregnant, a conservative insisted on a standing ovation that could hurt him in a general election with moderate voters. Other Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, had a hard time To clarify firm positionand former President Donald J. Trump, whose choice Because the Supreme Court recently helped overturn the Roe v. Wade decision. Furious anti-abortion leaders By emphasizing state power over this issue rather than state bans.
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire said: “I’m afraid Democrats are going to use this issue to define us because we’re not getting our message across. ‘ said. signed the measure Prohibition of abortion after 24 weeks some exceptionsSununu, who calls himself a “pro-choice,” is a rare Republican presidential candidate and called Friday’s court ruling “a good decision by the Supreme Court.”
Rep. Susan Delvene, a Washington Democrat who heads the House Democratic campaign, said Republicans were moving in an increasingly “extreme” direction on abortion. she, for example, Idaho law Criminalize those who help minors get abortions out of state without parental permission and more broadly threaten abortion drugs.
“It’s dangerous and people are angry,” she said. “We will see that in the 2024 national elections.”
As President Biden moves toward announcing re-election candidates Tuesdayone of his advisers predicted that the issue of abortion rights will be more important in 2024 than it was last year. American experience Far-reaching results that overturned Roe.
Democrats are watching closely and broadcasting hard, but they’re also hard at airing the position on abortion that the Republicans took early in the primary season. And they are pushing their own simple message.
“We support women making decisions about their own health care,” said Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat who heads the Democratic Senate campaign branch. I’m not even an official.”
Republicans are far more divided on what their pitch should be, and party officials admit this is a major challenge.
There will always be a conflict between primary voter demands and general election voter preferences. But Law’s overthrow dramatically complicated this calculation for the Republican nominee. They now face detailed questions about whether they support a nationwide ban. How early should the abortion ban be applied?What exceptions, if any, to allow; and how they see it dosage used in cases of abortion, abortion.
“We know that we need to wrap ourselves around our axles and generally redefine ourselves in an attempt to subtly articulate our position as candidates and parties through the primaries,” Sununu said. “It’s dishonest, convoluted, and ultimately really drives voters away.”
The party fault line has been lit up again this past week.After Trump spokesperson directed to The Washington Post, where the former president believed abortions should be decided at the state level, and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an anti-abortion group, issued harsh condemnation.
“We refuse to accept the national standard of at least 15 weeks to stop painful late-term abortions and allow states to enact additional protections,” the organization’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said in a statement. I oppose the presidential candidate,” he said.
and separately statedwhile Trump’s campaign declared him “the most pro-life president in American history,” he said “the greatest progress to protect unborn babies can happen in the state.” I believe there is,” he said.
There is no shortage of opportunities for Republican candidates to highlight their anti-abortion credentials and avoid repercussions from Supreme Court decisions. at a gathering Union of Faith and Freedom of Iowa. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will also give a speech on abortion on Tuesday.
Bob Vander Platz, a socially conservative leader in Iowa whose organization is expected to host a rally with presidential candidates this summer, said: I assure you that the Texas judgment will be debated. ”
The abortion issue “will be the cornerstone of the Iowa caucus. It will be the cornerstone of the Republican primary.”
On Thursday, Ronna McDaniel, chairman of the Republican National Committee, tried to help her candidate navigate the issue, saying that opposing abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy is politically powerful. He suggested that it was a position and somewhat reflected public opinion polls. she has shown a member of her party.
“In 2022, many Republican candidates took bad advice from DC consultants and ignored this issue,” she said in her speech. Noting the onslaught of Democratic advertising on the issue, she said, “Most Republicans have had no response.”
She urged Republicans to view Democrats as “extreme” on the issue. Some working on the House and Senate campaigns echoed the message that Democrats should be pressured for the restrictions they uphold.
Nicole McCresky, a Republican pollster who was instrumental in the success of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ re-election campaign last year, named Reynolds, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. There were strict abortion restrictions, but they weren’t defined by that issue alone. All three states have had comfortable wins in the often right-leaning states, but they are not the most conservative states in the country.
“In the last election, some candidates were unclear or changed positions, lacked conviction and weren’t ready to talk about this issue,” she said. Having these things, if you have the conviction, if you have empathy, if you are ready, if you know how to define yourself and your opposites, then we can do this. You can get over your problems.
But some candidates show little interest in managing rhetorical balancing acts.
The issue is likely to come to the fore in North Carolina, home to the most important gubernatorial election of 2024, with Democratic Governor Roy Cooper elected for a limited term.
The state’s often inflammatory Lieutenant Governor and Republican Mark Robinson to be announced I will run for governor on Saturday.
Robinson says he and his current wife had an abortion decades ago, but has since make clear He wants North Carolina to drastically limit abortion rights and questions the need for exceptions in cases of rape and incest. 20 weeks pregnant in a state owned by the Republican Party Supermajority in parliament.
Josh Stein, the Democratic Attorney General for states running for governor, said in an interview that he “has no doubt” that he believes abortion rights are directly on the ballot. The message worked for Democrats who ran for governor in several key states last year.
“The only reason North Carolina isn’t currently banning abortion is because it has a Democratic governor,” Stein said.
A spokeswoman for Robinson declined to comment for this article.
For Democrats elsewhere, it can be more difficult to argue that their race determines the fate of abortion rights in their states, especially where abortion protection is codified. And it’s too early to know the mix of issues that will ultimately determine the 2024 campaign.
Still, Democrats point out that had the Supreme Court upheld the Texas ruling, it would have had a significant impact nationwide, and, depending on the composition of the White House and Congress, ruled out a possible nationwide abortion ban. Many people emphasize
“Even if you have current protection For this reason, if a nationwide abortion ban is imposed in Nevada, Nevadans will suffer and women will die,” Democratic Senator Jackie Rosen, recently up for re-election, said in an interview.
of statement, Rosen called the Supreme Court’s order a “temporary relief.” However, in an interview, she emphasized how the Texas ruling can threaten the power of a major government agency with one conservative judge.
“It’s pretty scary,” she said.
