On the lawn of the US Capitol, within sight of the Supreme Court, a coalition of Democratic women declared that Roe versus Wade was no longer the law of the country.
Almost half a century after the court established the constitutional right to abortion, it passed an almost complete ban in Texas, the most populous state. Though the 5: 4 ruling didn’t address the content of the Texan law, the Democrats warn that it was just a taste of the court – and the Republicans who helped expand its Conservative majority.
“When this court passed this shameful Texas law, it brought shame to the United States Supreme Court,” House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said Friday at a press conference ahead of a vote on laws that effectively codify abortion law into federal law. “What did you think, or did you think, or did you just approve what you were sent to court for?”
Following her remarks, Pelosi returned to the Chamber to take the chair when the Democrats narrowly approved the bill. The vote was largely symbolic – the Republican opposition in the Senate is almost making sure that the measure does not become law. However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he plans to bring it up anyway.
The urgent push, while unsuccessful, reflected how powerful the Democrats believe the issue could be in the upcoming election.
“We are in completely uncharted territory,” said Cecile Richards, a former president of Planned Parenthood who is now co-chair of a Democratic Political Action Committee, American Bridge 21st Century. “This is a day that people certainly hoped would never come. But here we are now and there is no way to stand on the sidelines. “
In Washington and beyond, Democrats are taking up the battle over abortion, presenting themselves as the last line of defense against further erosion – or complete abolition – of a constitutional right that many believed was enshrined long ago.
Joe Biden stepped in and promised a “whole government” response. The Justice Department is suing Texas for its law that bans abortion about six weeks before most women even know they are pregnant.
This week, the Supreme Court announced that a case involving Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks would be heard on December 1, in a direct challenge from Roe. A verdict is expected next year, before the November elections.
“Moments of Crisis”
Democrats’ focus on reproductive rights also reflects changing political dynamics.
Unity on abortion is a relatively new development for the party. After successive defeats in rural America and emigration of white working class voters, the Democrats won majorities in Congress with a coalition of urban and suburban voters who tended to be more socially liberal.
While Americans’ views are notoriously difficult to survey, surveys have found attitudes about abortion have remained relatively constant. A solid majority say the process should remain legal with some caveats.
A recent Monmouth University survey found that a majority of Americans want an abortion legally under all or under certain circumstances. More than six in ten said they didn’t want the court to see Roe again. Support for keeping abortion largely legal was even higher among Americans with college degrees.
Public opinion has not been a barrier to anti-abortion activists, who have allied with the Republican Party to pass laws severely restricting access to abortion in states across the country. They also made the Supreme Court a political priority, culminating in a Conservative majority of 6-3 cemented by three judges nominated by Donald Trump.
“Reproductive justice organizers were effectively organized in state legislatures, especially after the tea party wave in 2010, and there hasn’t been a really effective response since,” said Mary Ziegler, Florida State University legal historian and author of Abortion and the Law in America: Roe versus Wade to the Present. But, she said, that could change as more Americans come to terms with the reality that abortion is now effectively banned in a state like Texas.
Mobilizing support for the right to abortion becomes “ironically easier in a crisis like this because everyone agrees that criminalizing abortion would be really bad if you are on the side of choice,” said Ziegler.
Democrats say fear of losing Roe motivates voters beyond their liberal base.
“People have always believed that at the end of the day, no matter what politicians do, the judiciary is somehow there to support women,” said Richards. “That’s just not true anymore. Now we really have to face the consequences if abortion becomes illegal. “
Anti-abortion advocates say the issue is enlivening their grassroots as well.
“This moment marks the culmination of years of pro-life strategy and the stakes have never been so high,” said Mallory Quigley, vice president of the Susan B. Anthony List. She said her group is already knocking on doors in battlefield states like Arizona and Georgia to mobilize “pro-life grassroots voters” as well as those “who can be made to vote for the pro-life candidate.”
Nationally, the Republicans were more cautious.
Republicans “have long been able to speak aggressively about abortion knowing that the most aggressive policies would either fail in the legislature or be crushed by the courts,” said Joshua Wilson, a political scientist at the University of Denver and author from The New States of Abortion Policy.
That certainty is gone now.
“If Roe is knocked over or otherwise severely eroded,” said Wilson, “the GOP will own that change.”
“When this court passed this shameful Texas law, it brought shame to the United States Supreme Court,” said House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi. Photo: Allison Bailey / NurPhoto / REX / Shutterstock
While Republicans promise copycat laws in states like Florida, Arkansas, and South Dakota, polls show that most Americans believe Texan law goes too far. Particularly objectionable, surveys have shown, is the lack of rape or incest exemptions and a provision that effectively empowers ordinary citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone “encouraging” illegal abortion – with the potential to make $ 10,000.
“There is so much at stake”
The Democrats face a difficult electoral landscape in 2022 as they attempt to defend fragile majorities in the House and Senate and defy a historical pattern in which the president’s party loses seats mid-term. Strategists warn that whether abortion remains at the center of the national debate will depend on factors such as the state of the pandemic and economic recovery.
Before that, Virginia will offer a first test of how the abortion law is received by the voters.
Democrats running for nationwide office in November have taken Texas law as a harbinger of what will come in Virginia if Republicans are elected.
Terry McAuliffe, a former governor looking to retake office, portrays himself as a “brick wall” against efforts to restrict access to abortion. His opponent Glenn Youngkin hit back McAuliffe in a digital ad, calling the former governor’s stance on abortion “too extreme” for Virginia.
Olivia Gans Turner, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life, said voters who oppose abortion have been mobilizing since 2020 when Democratic governor Ralph Northam signed a law that lifted long-standing restrictions.
“We in Virginia, who deal with the pro-life issue, were already very vigilant and knew what was at stake,” said Gans Turner. McAuliffe’s “obsession with the issue,” she said, helped bring the issue to the fore in a way that she believed it would further motivate anti-abortionists and potentially alienate moderates.
Abortion rights activists say fears that Roe is at risk resonates with voters across Virginia, including those who may not have previously considered abortion a priority.
“So much is at stake now as the Texas ban on abortion has opened the floodgates to similar bans across the country,” said Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, which campaigns for the Democratic election. “A Texas-style ban could easily come to Virginia if Glenn Youngkin is elected governor and Republicans take control of the House of Delegates.”
Lockhart said she saw a surge in enthusiasm among voters and volunteers, some of whom referred to Texan law.
“From what we see on the ground – the increased enthusiasm we see from our volunteers and supporters,” she said, “there is absolutely the potential for Virginian support for abortion rights to make all the difference” in this election. “