Abortion is presenting quite an issue to pro-choice and anti-choice politicians like. Now that South Dakota has banned abortion, pro-choicers are understandably panicking, and anti-choicers have a wrench thrown in their strategy of slowly chipping away at abortion rights.
In many state races, it remains uncertain who will benefit from the sudden focus on abortion bans — candidates who oppose abortion rights or those who favor them. Sometimes the political calculation gets complicated. While support for bans has grown, especially in some Southern states, even those who oppose abortion rights do not agree that direct challenges to Roe v. Wade are the best approach. Some argue that gradual efforts to limit abortion are more likely to win support.
“I think that, in the short term, this issue can be less helpful to pro-life candidates,” said Daniel McConchie, vice president of Americans United for Life, a group that opposes abortion rights. “The questions that are being asked are hypothetical, things governors mostly won’t control. My concern is that the average person on the ground will misinterpret the questions to be something more real than they really are right now.”
Anti-choicers know that the majority of Americans don’t want to see abortion illegalized. Their strategy up until now has been to shave off right after right, making abortions more and more difficult (and in some places impossible) to get. That way, most Americans operate under the impression that abortion is accessible, when the reality is that for a lot of people, it isn’t. But a ban makes people think twice — do we really want to take this right completely away?
As for most governors not having any control over abortion rights, that’s patently false. Considering that a handful of state legislatures have already passed or are considering abortion bans and governors have veto power, I’d say that their role is fairly crucial.
The article focuses on Iowa, with nearly every one of the candidates saying something to the effect of, “I’m gettnig asked about it a lot, but I don’t think it’s that important.” Which is… great.