The seismic revelation that the conservative majority on the Supreme Court appears ready to overturn nearly a half century-long constitutional right to an abortion sent a shock through a yet-to-be defined midterm election campaign.
Such a decision — if a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito published by Politico on Monday holds through a final vote on the court — would initiate stunning legal and societal changes in the United States. It could give Democrats, who could be headed for heavy losses in November, an issue with which to galvanize activist voters and potentially counter some Republicans targeting high inflation and cultural issues in the suburbs.
Of course, the implications of this story stretch far beyond Washington, partisan politics and dueling interpretations of the law, the nature of precedent and the Constitution.
Losing access to abortion would mean millions of women would be deprived of the right to make decisions about their own bodies — even if their health or very lives are at risk. The burden for this huge erosion of women’s rights is likely to fall heavily on poorer, minority women who already have worse health outcomes and access.
Conversely, the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision would also be the story of generations of conservative activists, who mounted a sincere moral mission to end what they see as an inhumane procedure that they think is antithetical to America’s founding values.
Yet for all its human dimensions, the issue of abortion is an inherently political question. After all, if the court overturns Roe v. Wade, it would be the culmination of successive Republican political campaigns that produced a conservative majority on the court. And it would further widen the growing cultural, legal and political gulf between Republican-led states, where abortion would likely be banned, and Democratic-run bastions where legislators will likely keep it legal.
The Democratic challenge
The challenge now for Democrats — in the run-up to the midterm elections in November and potentially for years to come — is whether they can build a similarly effective campaign on abortion as Republicans have.
For decades, Republicans up and down the ballot have emphasized calls to abolish abortion and the need to create majorities in Washington to build a Supreme Court hostile to abortion rights.
While Democrats have used the issue to activate their base and raise money — see the influence of EMILY’s List, which backs pro-abortion rights female candidates, for example — that same single-minded concentration on this core issue was never as pronounced at Democratic presidential, congressional and local events.
That difference may reflect the revolutionary zeal of conservatives mobilizing to overturn a status quo and the complacency of liberals who had lived with it for most of their lives.
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/supreme-court-s-draft-opinion-on-abortion-rights-sends-electric-shock-through-midterm-campaigns/ar-AAWTcW4
”ALL IT DID WAS OPEN A PANDORA’S BOX FOR THE DEMOCRATS. THEY EXPOSED THEMSELVES BUT RIGHT NOW WHATS IMPORTANT IS THE LEAK AND HOW STATES ARE GOING TO RESPOND TO THIS.
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