ICYMI: Anti-Abortion Politicians in Disarray

WASHINGTON D.C. — Anti-abortion candidates have found themselves in a bind: They want to ban abortion nationwide and their records make that clear. But 85% of Americans support abortion rights. They realize that their anti-abortion agenda puts them out-of-touch with voters and will cost them elections. 

Cue the in-fighting, second-guessing, and panic: 

Politico: Lost on abortion politics, Republicans struggle for a solution

Complicating Republicans’ decision-making, polls and election results over the past year show an electorate mostly moving away from the GOP on abortion, even in red states like Kansas. Yet the party’s base and anti-abortion rights lobby is not backing away from the debate.

Washington Post: Abortion divides 2024 candidates and confounds many within the GOP

Presidential hopefuls have struggled to settle on a position amid warning signs that the party is on the wrong side of public opinion on the issue. 

Among Republican strategists and candidates looking to the 2024 presidential primary, abortion has become the trickiest political issue and a divisive one internally for the party, according to GOP officials, campaign strategists, donors and others involved.

The Hill: Abortion politics roils Senate GOP 

Abortion politics is emerging as a major headache for Republicans heading into the 2024 election and threatens to derail their chances of winning control of the Senate, as some Republicans think happened in last year’s midterm election.

AP: Abortion bans raise fears inside GOP about backlash in 2024

Leading Republicans are struggling to navigate the politics of abortion as they concede — publicly and privately — that the GOP’s anti-abortion policies are unpopular with the very voters they need to win the presidency. 

In a clear example of politicians struggling to hide their anti-abortion agenda because of public opinion, last week Ron DeSantis signed an abortion ban in the middle of the night… then shied away from talking about it in his public appearances the rest of the week. Yet his silence spoke volumes.   

NY Magazine: Is ‘God’s Fighter’ Ron DeSantis Afraid of His Own Abortion Ban?

In the days since that lost opportunity, DeSantis has been presented with a lot of evidence that his six-week abortion ban is going to be a problem for him in the 2024 presidential race and the GOP if it nominates him. This functionally total abortion ban is not at all popular in his own state: A May 2022 poll by Florida Atlantic University found support for legal abortion in all or most cases at 67 percent, and support for making all abortions illegal at 12 percent 

New Republic: Ron DeSantis Knows Just How Unpopular His Abortion Ban Is

But regardless of how it plays out in the courts, DeSantis has publicly endorsed a very unpopular position. Every time an abortion-related issue has been on the ballot, the people vote in favor of protecting reproductive rights, not taking them away. Signing the six-week ban into law will haunt DeSantis for the rest of his political career.

The Guardian: Republican donor pauses Ron DeSantis funding over abortion and book banning

A top Republican donor said he had paused plans to fund Ron DeSantis’s expected presidential run because of the Florida governor’s “stance on abortion and book banning”.

No matter how politicians try to spin their anti-abortion records and views, they will not fool the American people. Planned Parenthood political and advocacy organizations will make sure of it. 

### 

Planned Parenthood Votes is an independent expenditure political committee registered with the Federal Election Commission.

Paid for by Planned Parenthood Votes, 123 William St, NY NY 10038. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.