Republicans face 2024 dilemma after abortion rights issue powers
Democrats
Send a link to a friend
[November 09, 2023]
By Gabriella Borter and Tim Reid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Victories by abortion rights campaigners and
Democrats in this week's U.S. elections pose a dilemma for Republicans:
How to campaign on an issue that has long fired up their conservative
base without alienating the moderates they need to win competitive
districts.
The passage of an abortion rights constitutional amendment in Ohio, and
Virginia Democrats' capture of both legislative chambers after
abortion-focused campaigns, showed that Republicans' long campaign to
end abortion rights has become a liability ahead of the 2024 elections,
strategists from both parties said.
The Republican Party attained a long-sought win last year when the
Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority, secured via the nominations
of justices by former President Donald Trump, overturned the nationwide
right to abortion. Republican officials moved quickly to impose stricter
bans that now stand in nearly half of the 50 states, a development
celebrated by conservatives but that has turned off some party
moderates, particularly women.
That leaves Republicans grappling with how to turn out their culturally
conservative base in what is expected to be a close contest with
Democratic President Joe Biden - without putting off the independents
and suburban women who opinion polls show oppose sweeping abortion
restrictions.
"It's a wake up call for Republicans to figure out what the right
messaging and the right policy is on abortion because whatever they have
now is not popular with voters," said John Feehery, a Republican
strategist.
"Republicans have to stop pushing policies that make people believe they
are trying to ban abortion. They need to try and find a middle ground
right now," Feehery added.
In the 2022 congressional elections, Republicans largely avoided
discussing the issue on the campaign trail and were nevertheless held
back by it, winning a narrow House of Representatives majority.
SEEKING A MIDDLE PATH
This year, Virginia Republicans, led by Governor Glenn Youngkin, leaned
hard into plans for a 15-week abortion ban should they win control of
the legislature. They were attempting to appeal to moderate voters with
a more lenient policy than those in the rest of the U.S. South, but a
much stricter one than the current 26-week limit. Republicans lost
control of Virginia's House and failed to gain a majority in the Senate
on Tuesday.
An adviser directly involved in Youngkin's 2023 campaign said
Republicans would have lost by more had they not rallied around the
plan, and that they came up short because of the Democrats' financial
advantage and messaging that Republicans would go further than a 15-week
ban if handed control.
"You have to push the attack aside and you have to go on offense
aggressively. We did that. And it's what kept these races close," the
adviser said.
[to top of second column]
|
Nickolas Lentz, a volunteer with Reproductive Freedom for All,
canvasses a neighborhood in support of Proposal 3, a ballot measure
that would codify the right to an abortion, one day before the
midterm election in Dewitt, Michigan, U.S., November 7, 2022.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
MAJORITY OF AMERICANS AGAINST ABORTION BANS
Opinion polls show the majority of Americans support legal abortion
in all or most cases. However, specific policies remain divisive,
with Reuters/Ipsos polls showing over 40% support a ban after 15
weeks of gestation.
Virginia may force Republican candidates for federal office back to
the drawing board to refine their messaging in 2024.
The Republican Party remains bitterly divided on abortion, with some
pushing for a 15-week national abortion ban, while others, such as
newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, have supported a proposed
federal ban on abortion as early as six weeks.
Top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination have
differed on their messaging.
Frontrunner Trump has tried to have it both ways, taking credit for
delivering the Supreme Court majority that overturned Roe but also
criticizing some Republican-led states' six-week abortion bans as "a
terrible mistake" in a NBC interview in September.
Of his rivals, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a six-week ban
into law in that state, and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has
called for a national consensus on abortion, without specifying a
gestational limit.
Meanwhile, Democrats aim to maintain momentum by campaigning on
abortion rights in 2024, when the White House, all seats in the
House, 34 Senate seats and several state legislatures will be up for
grabs.
"Last night's elections made it loud and clear that people feel very
strongly about this issue. The level of intensity is still very
high," said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist.
Abortion rights could also appear directly on 2024 ballots in states
including Arizona and Florida, as they did in Ohio on Tuesday.
"The true lesson from last night’s loss is that Democrats are going
to make abortion front and center throughout 2024 campaigns,"
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of anti-abortion group SBA List,
said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The GOP consultant class needs to wake up. Candidates must put
money and messaging toward countering the Democrats’ attacks or they
will lose every time," she added.
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Washington and Tim Reid in Los
Angeles; Editing by Scott Malone and Grant McCool)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |