This week marked two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and Republicans still avoid talking about abortion legislation.
When Roe was overturned, the court clarified that there is no federal, constitutional right to abortion and that the states must determine the matter for themselves. Today, 14 states have implemented protective legislation regarding abortion.
But pro-choice activists have changed the language to frame these protections as “restrictions” and now argue that any attempt to regulate abortion is an attack on women’s rights generally.The leftist media have also pushed this narrative, manipulating stories to further politicize this debate.
Unfortunately, this strategy has worked — in large part because the other side of the aisle, Republicans, are unwilling to openly engage with either side of the argument. It is time they speak up.
The problem for Republicans is that a moderate stance on abortion legislation is not readily accepted by traditional conservative voters. But it’s time that it is. In order for Republicans to win elections, the abortion debate must be addressed, and compromise is the only way to do this.
In my home state of North Carolina, for example, pro-choice activists are trying to fearmonger the public into believing that pro-life protections will eventually lead to a ban on contraception as well. North Carolina’s current laws allow for legalized abortion up until 12 weeks — pro-choice activists want to remove those restrictions entirely.
The state Democratic Party Chairwoman, Anderson Clayton, said, “Abortion is going to be the No. 1 issue that we run on for people in North Carolina to make sure that folks know we’ve got to protect not only abortion but also contraception.”
Republicans must make clear that this is a lie. Medicinal and surgical abortions can and should be regulated, but contraception is off the table.
Some conservatives might reject this strategy and argue that Republicans should be as aggressive as possible in their efforts to protect life. But they need to face reality: stringent abortion legislation — especially an outright ban at either the state or federal level — is impossible in the country’s current political environment. And it is made even more so by leftist efforts to tie pro-life legislation to contraception access. The more “extreme” voters believe pro-life Republicans will be, the less likely they will be to support any pro-life initiative at all.
To be sure, a moderate abortion policy will not appease pro-choice activists, who ultimately want unlimited abortion access at any time throughout a pregnancy. But by offering one, Republicans could help rebuild a political atmosphere in which fearmongering holds less sway — one that actually produces tangible policy.
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While it is disheartening that the practice of medicinal and surgical abortion has become so standard in culture, there is a benefit to playing moderately in politics. For starters, it would help those who do support life actually win their elections.
This doesn’t mean that pro-life Republicans should give up their goal of an abortion-free United States. Morally, abortion ought to be banned. But our political reality requires a more prudent approach, one that can successfully push back on leftist ideology in pursuit of productive policymaking.