Abortion Ruling Blows Back Against U.S. Conservatives

When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling allowing state governments to ban Americans from having access to abortion procedures, U.S. Republicans cheered.

The Republican Party issued a statement on Twitter: “Today, life won.” Republican governors across the country celebrated. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said, “We have prayed for this day.”

However, most Americans lamented the day. The latest surveys show over 60% of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Meanwhile, 56% support the Roe v. Wade decision and don’t think it should have been overturned. Perhaps most shockingly, 58% of Americans have no confidence in the Supreme Court.

Republicans may also come to regret the day. Voters are angry and motivated to vote against the Republican Party’s candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. The August 24-26 poll by Big Village shows 48% of voters favor Democratic control of Congress versus 41% who support Republican control. That is a significant turnaround from before the Supreme Court issued its abortion ban, when a majority favored the Republican Party.

What has happened since then? The American people have seen their rights stripped away before their eyes. They see Republicans implementing harsh laws beyond just banning abortion, such as restricting women’s travel. For example, Missouri Republicans banned abortion in the state. They then proposed a plan to launch civil lawsuits against anyone who exercises their legal rights to have an abortion outside the state. Republicans in Congress voted against a bill that would have protected people’s rights to cross state lines.

Many women are already choosing to seek abortions in neighboring states when they need them. A 10-year-old girl from Indiana who was raped had to go next door to Ohio after Indiana Republicans tried to force her to give birth to the rapist’s child.

We’ve come to know abortion as a fundamental right protected by constitutional jurisprudence for 50 years. It gives Americans the right and power to determine when they want to start a family and under what circumstances. It represents the autonomy everyone should have over their own body and decision-making.

Having one’s rights taken away like that is infuriating. It is infantilizing to women. It treats women as if they cannot make the right decisions about their own lives and denies them rights compared to the rights granted to men.

So women have been registering to vote in large numbers. According to a report from Pennsylvania, women are registering to vote at a rate 12 points higher than men, and 80% of those women are registering as Democrats.

Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state with Senate and gubernatorial elections. The state’s Republican senator, Pat Toomey, is retiring, and Donald Trump threw his support behind Mehmet Oz, a doctor who has a TV show. Oz, who lives outside the state but owns multiple homes, has been criticized as being out of touch with ordinary voters. He was losing by 13 points in a recent poll.

According to the analyst Nate Silver, Democrats are expected to win control of the Senate with 67% odds, while Republicans are expected to win the House of Representatives with 77% odds.

The Republican advantage in the House reflects voters’ dissatisfaction with Democratic control of Congress and the White House since 2020. They did not follow through on plans to pass a massive infrastructure bill they had campaigned on. Moreover, they had been overly focused on identity politics issues that affect few people, even while inflation has skyrocketed.

I feel Democrats might do better in the House race than the media predicts. The press has a record of being overly cautious and slow to acknowledge positive stories about Democrats. The fact that Democrats haven’t been able to take the lead in the House race yet, despite outrage over the abortion ban, however, reveals Americans think they have no good choices in an untrusted political system.