Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has laid out a roadmap for Republicans to drive the abortion narrative away from Democrats, boost the GOP at the ballot box and — most importantly — save the lives of the unborn.
A key element of his strategy is to force Democrats on defense about the left’s extreme, no-limits abortion-on-demand agenda.
Mr. Rubio debuted his plan in memo titled a “Winning Pro-Life Strategy,” circulating it just before the annual March for Life rally in Washington on Friday and the anniversary Monday of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which President Biden and Democrats will use to launch their pro-choice election-year offensive.
Mr. Rubio said that to correct the Republicans’ post-Roe electoral struggles on the abortion issue, they first need to reset the debate for the 2024 campaigns.
“First, we need to develop and fight for a compassionate, pro-family agenda that counters caricatures of our beliefs and makes life easier for mothers and their children,” he said in the memo. “Second, we need to put Democrats on the defensive about their extreme support for abortion.
“Third, we need to tell the truth about what abortion is — the taking of innocent life — and advocate limits to the practice,” he said.
Mr. Rubio is advocating for a more holistic policy approach that combines the GOP‘s longstanding support of laws curbing the procedure with a greater focus on supporting pregnant women.
Republicans should rally behind paid parental leave, stronger child-support enforcement, an enhanced Child Tax Credit and more support to college students who get pregnant,” he said.
“Republicans will not be trusted unless our legislative agenda welcomes and supports life, while also opposing the injustice of abortion,” Mr. Rubio said in his four-page memo. “This is the long-standing view of many pro-life and faith leaders, but it needs to become the dominant view of our party.’”
Democrats have notched a series of electoral wins since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe decision that legalized abortion nationwide, kicking the issue back to the states.
Some in the party — most notably former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the party’s 2024 presidential race — blamed recent losses at the ballot box on pro-lifers running too hard on the issue. They are pushing the party to stake out a more nuanced position with a broader appeal for a general election audience.
The Democrats’ latest victory came in the red state of Ohio where voters in November overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion access in the state.
Gallup tracking polls show 51% of Americans say abortion should only be legal in certain situations, while 34% say it should be legal in all circumstances and 13% say it should be illegal in all circumstances.
Mr. Rubio attributes the growing public support for abortion rights to Democrats “painting apocalyptic visions of what a supposedly pro-life future would look like” and “peddling disinformation that pro-life laws criminalize treatments for miscarriage, stillbirth, and ectopic pregnancy.”
“The Democrats’ message of fear and control has resonated with voters,” he said.
Emily Erin Davis, spokesperson for SBA Pro-Life America, said Rubio “gets it.” She described him as a pro-life champion and a model for how to “expose Democrats’ pro-abortion extremism and win.”
“The abortion lobby is already committed to spending at least $140 million to distort and fearmonger about Republicans’ consensus pro-life policies to voters in battleground states.”
“Once again they will falsely claim Republicans want a total national ‘ban’ on abortion with zero exceptions and don’t care if women die,” she said. “Successful candidates go on offense and refute the lies, not take the ‘ostrich strategy’ and try to hide, and back their message with advertising dollars.”
Democrats hope the issue will help strengthen Mr. Biden’s reelection hand and help them capture the House majority and defend their slim majority in the Senate.
The Biden reelection campaign announced Thursday it will commemorate the anniversary of the Roe v Wade ruling with a blitz of ad buys, campaign rallies and events across the nation.
The television and digital ads will shine a spotlight on GOP-led abortion restrictions in swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
“Donald Trump is the reason that more than 1 in 3 American women of reproductive age don’t have the freedom to make their own health care decisions. Now, he and MAGA Republicans are running to go even further if they retake the White House,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
Mr. Biden needs all the help he can get. Polls show voters are concerned about his age, and he is struggling to energize crucial segments of the coalition that buoyed his run in 2020.
Mr. Biden appears to be headed for a rematch with Mr. Trump, who has staked out a position on abortion that frustrates pro-life activists but has yet to pay a political price.
Mr. Trump criticized candidates who lost winnable 2022 midterm races for running too hard on the issue. He described the 6-week abortion ban Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in Florida as a “terrible mistake.” He has advocated for exceptions and for the GOP to make sure their pro-life stance does not get in the way of winning elections.
Heading into the Iowa caucuses, Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, said Mr. Trump “has been able to in a kind of highly nuanced and sometimes amorphous way address this issue with an eye toward the general [election] and at least so far hasn’t really paid a penalty for it.”
Mr. Reed said pro-life voters are likely cutting Mr. Trump some slack because of his record as president which included defunding Planned Parenthood, addressing the March for Life, and nominating the three Supreme Court justices who helped end Roe “which has been the penultimate goal of the pro-life movement for half a century.”
Iowa caucus entrance polls showed abortion was the chief concern of 11% of voters, ranking it behind the economy, 38%, immigration, 34%, and foreign policy 12%. Meanwhile, 59% of GOP caucusgoers said they supported a federal abortion ban, and 36% said they did not.
Almost half of the voters who cited abortion as their top issue voted for Mr. DeSantis.
The remaining caucusgoers were split between Mr. Trump and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley. Ms. Haley also has tried to massage the issue by telling voters it is unlikely Republicans will have the numbers in Congress to pass a 15-week federal abortion ban, so they should look at addressing the issue in other ways.
Mr. Trump still emerged with a 12-point edge when voters were asked which candidate shared their values.
• Jeff Mordock contributed to this report.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.