On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court showed how difficult it would be to achieve that. The court resurrected an 1864 law that banned almost all abortions except to save the mother’s life. The law also imposes penalties on abortion providers.
Trump said to let the states handle the problem. The Arizona court showed the full implications of that state’s rights strategy.
Arizona’s decision came in a state that will be particularly crucial in deciding the outcome of the presidential election, a state that President Biden won by fewer than 11,000 votes and that Trump’s campaign team considers to be one of the best recovery opportunities. A referendum to protect abortion rights is likely to be placed on Arizona’s ballot in November. The court’s decision only increases the importance of the issue for the rest of the election year.
But the court’s decision had repercussions far beyond Arizona’s borders. The Biden-Harris campaign and other Democrats pounced on the move to try to bolster their argument that Trump and Republicans pose a threat to freedoms.
All abortion policies are national, not local. Developments in abortion — new laws, new restrictions, new stories of women caught in heartbreaking and sometimes deadly decisions — are no longer limited to the geography where they occur. They instantly become part of the larger debate.
This has been true since the Supreme Court, in its 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ended the constitutional right to abortion, which had existed for half a century. This decision, which overturned the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wadeprovided a long-sought victory for abortion opponents, and they have since helped enact highly restrictive laws in states where Republicans control legislatures and governor’s offices.
But politically, the Republicans have paid a heavy price. Time and again, in red states and blue states alike, in votes to include the right to abortion in state constitutions and In political campaigns fought around the issue of freedom of choice, Democrats have always won, often by significant margins.
The energy of this movement was first observed in Kansas, shortly after the Dobbs decision, while voters in this Republican stronghold supported maintaining the right to abortion in the state constitution. This continued through the 2022 midterm elections and beyond. Abortion rights supporters are working to hold referendums on several state ballots beyond Arizona in November. An issue that was once more motivating for abortion opponents has become one of the most thought-provoking issues on the left.
Over the years, Trump has tried to go all out on this issue. In a 1999 interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said, “I’m very pro-choice. I hate the concept of abortion. …I just believe in choice. In 2011, when he was considering a run for president and had his eyes set on the Republican Party, he told the Conservative Political Action Conference: “I’m pro-life.”
When he first ran for president in 2016, then-MSNBC Chris Matthews asked him whether abortion should be punished. “There has to be some form of punishment,” he said. “For the woman?” asked Matthews. Trump responded: “Yes, there has to be some form. »
During this campaign, he pledged to appoint judges to the High Court who would vote to get rid of Roe deer. He kept that promise and helped install three new members — Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — to give conservatives a 6-3 majority. THE Dobbs the case was brought to court, Roe deer became a story. Few decisions in recent years have had such an instant political impact.
Trump has repeatedly said he is proud of what he has done to ensure that Roe deer would be overturned. No one did more to get rid of it Roe deer than him, he said. He repeated this Monday in the video statement he released in which he laid out his thoughts on a national ban on abortion.
But Trump can also see the political damage that could occur if he had come out in favor of a national ban, even allowing abortion up to the 15th week of pregnancy, as many Republicans want. For Trump to win the election – win her election – that’s all and he calculated that a campaign debate over a national abortion law would hurt his chances in November. On this, he is not wrong.
His announcement on Monday divided the right. Many Republicans lined up behind him, as they always do. But not everyone. Her former vice president, Mike Pence, one of the nation’s most vocal opponents of abortion, called it a “slap in the face” to those who have long fought to restrict abortion and support legislation. national.
So did Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who said Trump made a mistake by suggesting that abortion restrictions should be determined by the states. Trump responded to Graham as a mistake, arguing that by opposing Trump’s position he was putting Republican candidates in danger.
“Many good Republicans have lost elections because of this issue, and people like Lindsey Graham, who are relentless, are entrusting Democrats with their dream of the House, the Senate and maybe even the presidency,” he said. -he writes on Truth Social.
It is now clear that Trump used the abortion issue to advance his own political ambitions. By declaring his strong opposition to abortion and defending conservative Supreme Court nominees, he helped consolidate support among evangelical Christians. They are now among his strongest supporters.
His statement Monday was the latest attempt to turn the issue to his personal advantage. On a political level, he is right about the dangers that the continuation of the intense debate on the right to abortion represents for the Republicans. But as Pence said, he abandoned those whose interests he once swore to serve.
There is currently no safe harbor for Trump and the Republicans. The issue of abortion is no less complex or difficult for many Americans than it was when Roe deer was in force. But on the political level, the tide has turned, and in a spectacular way.
Trump can make his own statements about state or national restrictions, but the debate started by the Supreme Court nearly two years ago is not abating, as Tuesday’s historic Arizona ruling showed. It was Trump who started this situation, but it is now largely beyond his control.
washingtonpost
