Associated Press
Just two years ago, leading anti-abortion activists were euphoric as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, thus ending the nationwide right to abortion.
Now, with a presidential election fast approaching, their movement is disunited and worried. Within their own ranks, there is second-guessing and finger-pointing, plus trepidation that Election Day might provide new proof that their cause is broadly unpopular.
Michael New, an abortion opponent who teaches social research at The Catholic University of America, offered an overview of how the movement had fared since the Roe ruling in June 2022.
“Things have not necessarily unfolded as we would hope,” he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “There is certainly a sense among pro-life leaders that we should have had a stronger post-Roe game plan in place.”
A key reason for the wariness is the anti-abortion movement’s recent losing streak on abortion-related ballot measures in seven states, including conservative Kansas and Kentucky. Nine more states will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights in the Nov. 5 election — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota. In several of them, abortion opponents tried various unsuccessful strategies for blocking the measures.
“Pro-life people don’t wear rose-colored glasses; we know we have a huge task ahead of us,” Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, told the AP. “Because of the massive amounts of money being dumped into the ballot measures from those allied with the abortion industry and the Democratic Party, it’s an uphill battle.”
Troy Newman, who heads the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, recently published an online opinion piece assailing the movement he’s been a part of for 25 years.
“The tide has turned, and the pro-life message is now considered a political liability that could prevent President Trump’s victorious return to the White House,” Newman wrote.
Trump nominated the Supreme Court members who were crucial to overturning Roe and called it “a beautiful thing to watch” as various states took different directions. He has been evasive on whether he would veto a federal abortion ban if Congress approved one; his “leave it to the states” approach conveys acceptance of the current patchwork map in which abortion is widely available in at least half the states.
Eligible to vote in Florida, Trump has criticized as too restrictive a new state law banning abortion after the first six weeks of pregnancy. But he said he would vote against the ballot measure that would make abortion legal until fetal viability.
Trump’s support for a state-by-state solution was a factor in the decision of Charles Camosy, an anti-abortion Catholic academic, to declare he now feels politically estranged.
“The Republican Party has rejected our point of view. Democrats are running a candidate ( Kamala Harris ) who has made abortion rights a centerpiece of her campaign,” Camosy, a medical humanities professor at Creighton University School of Medicine, wrote recently in The Atlantic.
“Pro-lifers — those who believe that protecting vulnerable and unborn life should be a primary policy priority — now do not fit in either major political party.”
Among those embracing Trump is Frank Pavone, who continues to lead Priests for Life despite being defrocked in 2022 after feuding with his bishop over his anti-abortion and partisan political activities.
“Trump has brought in far more people than he has alienated,” Pavone said via email. “His statements have blunted the effectiveness of the dire, scare-mongering Democrat warnings that the Republicans will ban all abortions.”
9 comments
PeterH
September 21, 2024 at 12:44 pm
In early 2025 after their monumental defeat at the ballot box Republicans and their billionaire fake Christian’s will huddle in some exclusive far away resort in West Virginia. As they consume Kentucky bourbon they will reminisce on opportunities lost in their messaging delivery ….. while completely ignoring the message Americans despise.
THE SAGE "E" [FKA ELVIS FKA EARL]
September 22, 2024 at 4:05 pm
Sorry Peter H,
But it will be The Dook 4 Brains Leftys who will be crying. All the way thru Trumps next term followed by Ron ” THE RONALD’s” next 2 terms in the White House with his Lovely Wife Casey.
You “Dooks” will likely meet at Oprah’s house to watch each other “Getting Nut” on Diddy’s Freak Off Movies.
Enjoy, Peter H, and let me know when you finally had enough of your Lefty Freak Off life so I can take you to Church to meet Mr. JESUS before its too late.
“E”
rick whitaker
September 22, 2024 at 5:22 pm
EARL, there is no god or jesus. take that fairy tale and ram it up your sphincter, sphincterman.
JD
September 23, 2024 at 3:39 pm
No disrespect, but the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure in Christianity, is widely accepted by historians, though the details of his life and the events depicted in the Gospels are debated. I’m saying he was the “son of G-d”, but historically most believe he existed as a man.
JD
September 23, 2024 at 3:40 pm
Correction: “I’m *NOT* saying he was the “son of G-d”, but historically most believe he existed as a man.”
rick whitaker
September 23, 2024 at 4:18 pm
JD, some historians believe that people in the jesus era spoke primarily in metaphor. they believe that the word jesus was a type of jewish rebel, and not just one person. the bulk of the new testament was written by a person that lived years ,i believe 60, after jesus was supposed to have died. the historical theories i’m referring to have been mentioned by several authors. i studied it in the 70’s. myself, i don’t care about the origin of christianity, as i do the results of the people that adhere to christianity. like the ones who burnt the library at alexandria to the ground. they can’t stand any competition in their materialistic,, power based world. i just despise the results of christianity in the present world. kind of like the things talked about by voltaire. in your post you used the words widely, most, and debated, i like that. BTW, i personally believe there was one primary jesus in history, i think it is so obscured of an issue that it is pointless to waste time on. i say to people there is no god or jesus just to raise their ire, in some cases. i don’t talk that way at all to the non-religious people i know. my family is huge, none of us is religious in the least. anyway jd, you seem to know what’s going on i think. i said seem and think, because i don’t know or grok you.
JD
September 24, 2024 at 8:49 am
Rick, I’m probably in agreement on most of that. I’m not a fan of religious dogma.
As a moral code, it has merit, but many of the rules are dated (don’t eat pork was probably because of the parasites that can be controlled today, don’t be gay because we need more kids in the tribe, etc.). The murder and not stealing other’s stuff still applies in the moral code.
And it’s never the full on cases people argue, it’s the edge cases, but their black and white thinking doesn’t allow them to see it. Where does life begin for humans where it is not murder? Conciousness or Conception? What is Conciousness? Is it heartbeat or cell mytosis? Are we going to make laws on potential or reality? Again, it;’s like ranking something, 1 and 10 on a list are easy, but 5 and 6 are hard.
The politics here have become both dogma and fandom – people act like fans of their sports team, but it’s for a political party. Regardles of their team’s merit or lack of, they rabidly promote. They mix in the religious dogma (or their ideology and fealty to party has become their dogma).
But Freedom and Democracy or even the RIGHT of the pursuit of happiness? That’s not even the ballpark of what’s bantered here.
These comments are a waste of time. People aren’t going to change their minds. Most posting are the vocal outliers, the inverted bell curve. Those that aren’t paid shills to try to garner traffic or paid to make the appeareance of negative sentiment (and if the later, it means that Peter’s site has influence).
I’m tired of playing tic-tac-toe with the WOPR. If you grok the reference, you know it’s my exit.
Be well.
rick whitaker
September 24, 2024 at 10:41 am
JD, love your post. i appreciate the subtleties you spoke of. i boil things down a bit too much for most people. to me there is one rule, commandment , moray, or whatever, and that is the golden rule. some people can even manipulate that. i see one team being viable, the other party is not good enough to be a choice, so it isn’t. to me religion is the most negative force in the world, so that’s what i want to destroy. yeah, i’m a black and white sort of guy. i know darkness when i see it.
MarvinM
September 23, 2024 at 9:09 pm
YES on 4
Because even those who oppose abortion can still work within that framework to reduce the number of abortions.
You can still work to help women decide not have abortions. You can still work to raise funds to disperse to women who are concerned they won’t be able to pay for the care of their children.
Amendment 4 can pass and you can still work for your cause, and make a difference, and spread your message, and make lives better for people. Nothing in Amendment 4 will prevent you from doing that (unless all you want to do is write a law about it).
YES on 4