At one point during the Republicans’ presidential primary debate, Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested that he and his party have a political advantage on abortion rights that the GOP should take advantage of.
“We’re better than what the Democrats are selling,” the Florida governor said. “We are not going to allow abortion all the way up till birth, and we will hold them accountable for their extremism.”
A Washington Post fact-check report helped set the record straight.
This is a common Republican talking point — that Democrats support nationwide abortion-on-demand up until the moment of birth. The implication is that late-term abortions are common — and that they are routinely accepted by Democrats. The reality, according to federal and state data, is that abortions past the point of viability are extremely rare. When they do happen, they often involve painful, emotional and even moral decisions.
Clearly, DeSantis’ talking point was misleading. Equally clear was that the far-right governor didn’t much care whether his rhetoric was fair or not.
What’s more, he wasn’t the only one playing fast and loose with key details about the politics and policy of reproductive health. Former Vice President Mike Pence, for example, insisted that 70% of Americans support a 15-week abortion ban, though there’s ample evidence to the contrary. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson described the Democrats’ Women’s Health Protection Act as “a Democrat [sic] proposal which is in essence abortion on demand through the term,” which just isn’t true.
But as important as the misleading rhetoric was, let’s not miss the forest for the trees: These GOP presidential contenders not only staked out positions against reproductive rights, they made it sound as if this should be, and could be, a political winner for the party.
Voters keep telling Republicans otherwise.
A year ago this month, Kansas voters easily rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would’ve led to abortion restrictions. The GOP received a similar message a few weeks later, when the party assumed it would win a congressional special election in a competitive New York district, right before a Democrat running on an abortion-rights platform scored an upset.
Soon after, Republicans struggled mightily in the 2022 midterm elections, and exit polling suggests the party’s opposition to reproductive rights had a lot to do with the results.
Four months ago, Republicans suffered a larger-than-expected defeat in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race that focused heavily on reproductive rights. Earlier this month, Republicans in Ohio suffered another closely watched setback with a statewide vote on Issue 1, which was directly related to abortion. An NBC News report summarized soon after, “Anti-abortion advocates scored a big win on June 24, 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But since then, their luck seems to have run out. Abortion has been on the ballot in seven states since that landmark court decision one year ago and in each instance, in red states and blue states, anti-abortion advocates have lost.” With this in mind, I was eager to see whether, and to what extent, Republican presidential candidates were prepared to change their positions or their messaging on abortion rights. The answer quickly came into focus. As a New York Times report on last night’s event explained, “On abortion, the main debate was over whether it should be banned federally or at the state level.” The message from voters couldn’t be much clearer. The GOP’s White House candidates are choosing not to listen. Update: Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel told Politico that she was “very pleased” to see the debate participants talk about abortion. Oddly enough, Democrats felt the same way.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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