Abortion extremism and Republican anxiety

At Newsweek, Howard Fineman and Evan Thomas report on Republican anxiety over abortion in the wake of a recent pro-life victory in South Dakota and of similar pro-life momentum in states like Mississippi.

I can only repeat what I've written before (see here, for example): Republican over-reach on abortion, including a possible overturning of Roe by a more conservative Supreme Court, could end up backfiring. Indeed, Democrats would likely benefit from the overturning of Roe insofar as the Republicans would finally be exposed for what many of them are, which is rabidly and unapologetically anti-choice.

Republicans have long used abortion as a wedge issue to paint Democrats as pro-choice extremists and to mobilize their own base. A majority of Americans are in some way "moderate" on abortion, if moderation is defined as opposition to abortion on demand. This is why Republicans were able to use abortion so effectively as an issue. It's also why the pro-life movement has been able to chip away at abortion laws around the country.

But Americans are not pro-life. Indeed, whatever their moderation, they lean more pro-choice than pro-life. They may accept limitations on abortion on demand, but they do not want abortion rights to be repealed. And this is why the success of the pro-life movement in South Dakota -- the success of extremism, not moderation -- could blow the Republican strategy on abortion to smithereens, a strategy built around extreme speech and moderate deed, a strategy that appealed both to the base and, at least in its perceived form, to moderate and independent voters.

But let us delude ourselves no longer. This has been the end-game all along. This is what the pro-life movement is all about. And this is what Republicans, like it or not, have been working towards. Be careful what you wish for? Well, here you go. If you keep pandering to the anti-abortion right, if you keep electing conservative legislators in all those red states, and if you keep up your efforts to stack the Supreme Court and the federal benches with conservative justices, this is the result. It's no longer just speech, it's deed. States will continue to roll back abortion rights and abortion cases will head on up to the new Roberts Court.

Republicans should be anxious. It serves them right. For the first time in a long time, Democrats may have the upper hand on abortion as an issue. With the extremism of Republicans now fully exposed, it's up to Democrats to speak both to their own pro-choice base and to all those moderate Americans who are uncomfortable with abortion on demand. And, indeed, whatever strategy they pursue, it's up to Democrats to prevent America from plunging back into darkness.