The topic of abortion exploded in our news media this week. It had a short fuse. Historian Heather Cox Richardson summarized two national news events in her April 9 Letter from an American:
Yesterday, former president Trump released a video celebrating state control over abortion; today, a judicial decision in Arizona illuminated just what such state control means. With the federal recognition of the constitutional right to abortion gone since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, old laws left on state books once again are becoming the law of the land.
Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson, April 9, 2024.
On Thursday, the Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding Senate File 359, which specified after cardiac activity can be detected in a fetus, at about six weeks, abortion is banned. The law was blocked by the high court. Now that Roe vs. Wade has been overturned, Governor Reynolds seeks to reinstate the law.
Midst the shrapnel of takes about these events, folks are missing something. Simply put, abortion is one of three primary issues Republicans intend to leverage against President Joe Biden to strengthen their weak case for support in the electorate. The other two are the southern border and the economy. None of these will gain traction without accompanying Republican lies, distortion, and disinformation.
While a majority of Americans support a woman’s reproductive rights, including access to abortion, in the street fight that will be the 2024 political campaigns in Iowa, and across the country, a peculiar take on abortion will be a campaign issue. Trump did a poor job of articulating it during his video this week, but managed to squeeze it in, saying some favor abortion “up to and even beyond nine months.” Good grief! The Democratic position since Dobbs has been to codify the protections of Roe vs. Wade. There is no such thing as abortion beyond birth in Roe, or anywhere else. It is a lie for 45 to suggest there is.
I don’t agree with Iowa Republican Party Chair Jeff Kaufmann’s view, but he did a better job of articulating their tactics to use abortion as a campaign issue. Kaufmann was asked by Kay Henderson, moderator of Iowa Press:
Let’s shift to the general election and one of the major issues that will be presented. And your party’s nominee, Donald Trump, has said some states have gone too far in the post-Dobbs era. Is that going to be something that depresses turnout and votes for Republicans in Iowa in November?
Iowa Press, Iowa Public Television, April 5, 2024.
At the end of a somewhat rambling answer, Kaufmann got to abortion and said,
My guess is if you’ve got an independent voter that is somewhere in the middle of this particular issue and they’re going to have to move one way or the other and if abortion is that main issue, my guess they’re going to see abortion all the way to the point of birth, which you can’t get a major Democrat even in Iowa to say that they are against, versus a heartbeat bill, I will put my money on the fact that they’re going to go with a heartbeat bill and they’re going to go with the Republican position any time over abortion on demand up to the point of birth.
Iowa Press, Iowa Public Television, April 5, 2024.
There is no such thing as “abortion on demand up to the point of birth.” What Democrats seek to do is codify the protections for women that were found in Roe vs. Wade. Kaufmann is spreading disinformation.
“Democrats believe everyone deserves the right to make their own healthcare decisions,” according to the Iowa House Democrats April 8 newsletter. “Especially when it comes to reproductive care and abortion.” Government should have no role in a discussion between a pregnant woman and her doctor. None.
The difference is in tactics. Republicans can’t win the election if they tell the truth and they know it. Democrats who focus on polling which shows a majority of Iowans favor the right to an abortion, or who advance positive issues related to reproductive health care, aren’t wrong. What would be wrong is a failure to confront the lies, disinformation, and misinformation presented by Republicans to win over the electorate in the run up to the November election. I would like to see Iowa Democrats be more aggressive in fighting Republican lies regarding abortion or any issue. With the right encouragement from voters, I am confident they will.
Here is a link to the Iowa Democratic Party to get involved today.
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