Roe v. Wade Is No Longer The Law of the Land

[WWFS]

Carlson will probably say that those were Scalia's last words...

They may not have been his last words, but the last time he publicly mused such things, was about 6 weeks before his death.

[mpare]

And to no one's surpise, the judge ruled against the medication that has had FDA approval for at least 20 years. At the same time, a Washington state judge turfed the same argument.

If Republicans thought that they'd skate through the SCC's abortion ruling and the Red States attacks on women's rights unscathed, they were wrong.

Republicans suddenly silent on abortion — they know the chickens are home and roosting (msn.com)

Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas to rule on a nationwide ban of medication-based abortion.

It's interesting to note that this method represents more than 50% of abortions in America.

If he rules against the use of 'abortion pills', then it may precipitate legislation in various jurisdictions legalizing the medications involved.

[WWFS]

And to no one's surpise, the judge ruled against the medication that has had FDA approval for at least 20 years. At the same time, a Washington state judge turfed the same argument.

If Republicans thought that they'd skate through the SCC's abortion ruling and the Red States attacks on women's rights unscathed, they were wrong.

Republicans suddenly silent on abortion — they know the chickens are home and roosting (msn.com)

If the SCOTUS upholds the decision out of Texas (I'm thinking that it's a given that the 5th circuit court of appeals won't overturn it), doesn't that make the decision out of Washington State moot?

[WWFS]

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals put a partial stay on the lower courts ruling, that would invalidate the FDA's approval of Mifepristone, pending a further decision by the court of appeals.

The stay would temporarily leave in place the FDA approval, but would roll back changes to how the drug may be administered that were made in 2016, and 2021.

[mpare]

It has been my position that issue of reproductive rights would come back to haunt the GOP. Recent statistical result bear that out.

"A substantial majority of Americans support a right to abortion in all or most cases. An even larger majority oppose legislation that does not grant exceptions to victims of rape and incest or criminalizes interstate travel by pregnant women seeking abortions."

Worse for the Republicans is the fact that the majority of the populations in the battleground states are pro-choice:

"Battleground states are pro-choice: Arizona 62 percent; Georgia 57 percent; Michigan 66 percent; Nevada 80 percent; North Carolina 62 percent; Pennsylvania 61 percent; Wisconsin 64 percent. In fact, only seven states in the United States have anti-abortion majorities. In those states, between 42 percent and 49 percent of citizens are pro-choice. For the first time since the 1990s, fewer than 40 percent of Americans self-identify as “pro-life.” Even more surprisingly, the percentage of Republicans in the U.S. who believe all abortions should be illegal has dropped from 21 percent to 14 percent."

Doubling down with an aggressive strategy, whether it comes from GOP politicians or their apologists like Justice Alito, who recently unjustifiably claimed that the Biden wouldn't likely obey an anti-reproductive rights ruling in connection with the Texas case, won't save them. Trying to shift the blame to conservative court rulings won't work either. No one will forget that they were the ones who proudly stacked the courts with anti-reproductive rights justices.

Abortion is now political Kryptonite for Republicans (msn.com)

[Fredk]

It has been my position that issue of reproductive rights would come back to haunt the GOP. Recent statistical result bear that out.
...

Abortion is now political Kryptonite for Republicans (msn.com)

I don't doubt that there is broad support for abortion, but I have to wonder about the voting habits of people. There seems to be a strong tendency to vote along party lines even when that party pushes policies voters disagree with.

[mpare]

You might be right, but I think that the inflexible religious conservatism with which Republican politicians have grounded their legislative agenda will put off many supporters, even those who might have otherwise ignored their excessive zeal.

I don't doubt that there is broad support for abortion, but I have to wonder about the voting habits of people. There seems to be a strong tendency to vote along party lines even when that party pushes policies voters disagree with.

[Fredk]

You might be right, but I think that the inflexible religious conservatism with which Republican politicians have grounded their legislative agenda will put off many supporters, even those who might have otherwise ignored their excessive zeal.

True. In the current political divide, it does not take a lot of swing voters to change the outcome of an election.

[WWFS]

In November, there will be an initiative on the ballot to protect the legal right to obtain an abortion in Ohio

Currently, any initiative only needs to pass by a simple majority.

What does the GOP do in the face of losing that vote in Ohio? They set up a special initiative in August that would make it harder to allow the November initiative to pass. The August special initiative will change the rules to ensure that the November initiative will require a super-majority to pass. It also makes it harder for any initiative to make onto a ballot by requiring at least 5% of all voters in all 88 counties to sign the petition in support of any initiative. That is up from the current 50% of counties as is currently in the state Constitution.

On top of that, the wording of the August special initiative has come under fire for not clearly spelling out what the initiative actually means, as is prescribed by the current Ohio State Constitution.