Article author:
Associated Press
Steve Peoples And Mike Catalini
Yardley, PA (AP) — The shock quickly turned into Victoria Row's sorrow.
A 37-year-old lawyer who worked outside a cafe on the outskirts of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, said the Supreme Court couldn't believe that a woman had been stripped of her lifelong constitutional right to abortion. rice field. She started crying.
"I don't know how they reach this conclusion," she said.
It was premature to know how deeply the political situation had changed immediately after the Supreme Court's most important ruling. But in this politically competitive corner, one of the most important swing states in the United States, embarrassed Democrats take advantage of emotions from women like Rowe to otherwise cruel election years. I want to reset my environment.
For most of the year, the threat to abortion rights appears somewhat theoretical, overshadowed by more specific economic challenges, especially inflation and rising gas prices. I have come. However, the Supreme Court's ruling guarantees that abortion will be a central issue in US politics for the foreseeable future.
This is especially true when the restrictions begin to take effect. Pregnant women considering abortion were already working on an almost complete ban in Oklahoma and a ban in Texas after about six weeks. Clinics in at least eight states, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and West Virginia, have stopped conducting abortions after the decision on Friday.
In Pennsylvania, the future of the procedure may depend on the November elections. For now, women here can have an abortion for up to 24 weeks. Republicans are ready to change state law, but they need to maintain legislative control and take control of the governor in November. Republican governor candidate Doug Mastriano opposes abortion, except for rape, incest, and the lives of his mother.
Pennsylvania and later Democrats initially appeared to be united behind collective anger, fear, and sadness.
They planned a widespread protest. From the White House on Friday, President Joe Biden urged protesters to maintain peace, even if the court's ruling was described as "wrong, extreme, and contactless."
The Democratic president also called on voters to hear their voice this fall. "Roe is on the ballot."
At the same time, members of the Democratic National Committee raised the prospect of a silver lining within the historic bowel punch of the High Court.
"Democrats now have a real opportunity to take advantage of this anger and sorrow," Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee said at a meeting of a subcommittee of doctrine and covenants. rice field. "We are laying the groundwork for Democrats to stay in the White House, so next time, the Democratic President will open an opening on every Congressman's bench to make that appointment.
Democratic groups have moved to deploy resources to warn of what is at stake in this year's midterm elections. The NARAL Freedom Fund and Priorities USA Action quickly spent $ 300,000 on digital advertising.
The Republicans have recognized that the ruling could invigorate the foundations of democracy, especially women in the suburbs, and have been fighting the right to abortion for decades. I tried to downplay the excitement about winning. Prior to Friday's ruling, Democrats near the White House were increasingly pessimistic about the party's potential to host either the House of Representatives or the Senate in November.
Carol Tobias, president of the People's Rights to Life, said he expects a large number of abortion opponents this fall, even if Democrats are motivated by Friday's ruling. rice field.
She called it "a wonderful day for the fetus and mother." "Just because it was a so-called right for fifty years doesn't mean it's right," Tobias said.
Polls show that a relatively small number of Americans wanted to see Roe capsize.
In 2020, AP VoteCast discovered that 69% of voters in the presidential election said the Supreme Court should leave the Law vs. Wade ruling. Still, recent research tends to point to other issues beyond abortion as the most important issues facing the country.
Associated Press-According to a December poll by the National Poll Center, 13% of Democrats mention abortion or reproductive rights as one of the issues the federal government wants to address in 2022. Did. This is an increase from less than 1% of Democrats listed as a priority in 2021 and 3% of Democrats listed it in 2020.
Other issues such as economy, COVID-19, healthcare, gun control were ranked high. Democratic priority in polls. However, the exponential rise in proportions citing fertility as a major concern suggests that the issue resonated with the Democratic Party as the Supreme Court considered overthrowing Law.
The dispute over the right to abortion, and related political fallout, is now moving to the state. In the bright red states of
13, there is a so-called "trigger law" in which abortion is banned almost immediately, but in some other more moderate states with Republican-controlled parliaments, The future of access to abortion is less certain. Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, etc.
In many cases, Republican legislatures have already enacted restrictive abortion legislation, including the so-called "heartbeat" bill, which bans abortions before most women know they are pregnant. I approve it. Some legislation is bound in court, while others have not yet passed the Republican legislature. Now that Roe has fallen, such legislation, or more restrictive bans, could only be thwarted by a veto from a Democratic Governor or a Democratic-backed court objection.
In some states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Texas, dozens of pre-Roe that would be valid without another objection in state court. There is a ban on abortion years ago.
The Democratic Party's initial hope was that turmoil would motivate their bases, but some are at the forefront of the party's difficult medium-term battles so confident. Some things I can't have.
Jamie Perapato, Executive Director of Turn PA Blue, a Democratic support group, said the Democratic Party achieved record turnout across Pennsylvania in last year's elections. But so was the Republican who eventually dominated the downballot races throughout the state.
"I feel sick. I hope this awakens people. I hope they understand that I can't put my head in the sand, even if it's terrible." Said. "But I don't know. It's a really tough time."
Returning to Backcounty, Rowe voted for democracy and even before Friday's decision 11 He said he planned to vote for the month. Despite her surge in inflation, the right to abortion is her biggest problem.
"I think it's more important to me than the gas problem," she said. "This is a very personal and basic human right, bigger than the economy."
The 56-year-old Margaret Pesara-Grandland, sitting next to Rowe at the cafe, is also the best. She suffocated when asked about the court's ruling. They were strangers, but Rowe provided her with tissue and the women dried her eyes together.
Pezalla-Granlund was particularly worried about her 15-year-old daughter. "She will grow up in a completely different situation than I had, and I thought she had," she said.
Such concerns were not limited to Democrats.
Not far away, 75-year-old Karen Sloan was smoking outside a cafe in the town of Bristol, on the Delaware River. A self-proclaimed Republican who supports her right to abortion, she said her Friday ruling upset her.
She was "unbelievable," Sloan said. "I'm not saying it's right to take human life, but there are situations where we need to do that."
She voted in November, even before the ruling. However, we are currently planning to support candidates who support the right to abortion. For her, this problem outweighs high gas prices and inflation.
"You are depriving someone of their rights, and that's more important to me," Sloan said. "It's a big deal for women in the United States."
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Meg Kinard, AP writer in Columbia, South Carolina. Marc Levy of Harrisburg; Hannah Fingerhat of Washington contributed.