Article Author:
The Associated Press
Hannah Fingerhut And Scott Bauer
Madison, Wisconsin (AP) — Wisconsin The state's 1849 law banning the procedure except when the mother's life is in danger is now relevant.
Republicans in Congress blocked an attempt by Democratic Governor Tony Evers to overturn the law. But within the Republican Party, there is disagreement about how to move forward when he returns to the Capitol in January.
Robin Voss, the state's leading Republican congressional speaker, supports strengthening exceptions to maternal lives and adding protections for cases involving rape and incest. Others, including Rep. Barbara Dittrich, say the law should remain as it is, with no exceptions for rape and incest.
For decades, Republicans like Voss and Dittrich have appealed to conservative voters and donors to widely condemn abortion. 's ruling forces Republicans to be more specific about what opposition stands for, from state legislature to legislature and over the course of the campaign, sometimes creating divisions about where the party should stand.
Dittrich says reaching consensus among Republican colleagues on a replacement for the 1849 Act would be a "tremendous challenge."
"I've heard that the Democrats are the party of the big guys," she said in an interview. I think.”
Of course, abortion rights supporters are clearly a minority in Republican politics. Only her two Republicans — Sen. Lisa Markowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — protected women's options when the Supreme Court overturned her Roe v. Wade ruling. publicly supports the passage of legislation to revive the In Colorado, Senator candidate Joe O'Dea is one of the few Republicans to run this year and supports Law's codification.
But debate over the limited set of circumstances under which abortion may be legal has spurred divisions within his GOP in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Called.
In Indiana, an empowered Republican passed a near-total abortion ban for the first time since the Supreme Court ruling, after abortion legislation stalled for his decade. But even that measure was challenged within the Republican Party. Rape and incest immunity for up to 10 weeks prevailed after 50 Republicans joined all Democrats to include rape and incest.
Still, 18 Republicans voted against final passage of the bill, with about half saying it went too far and the rest saying it was too weak.
Meanwhile, in South Carolina, where Republicans have restricted access to abortion for decades, debate continues on a near-outright ban. urged a slowdown, especially after voters in Kansas introduced a bill that would allow Congress to ban abortion.
45}"You're playing with live ammunition right now," Republican Rep. Tom Davis told the Associated Press.
Supreme Court rulings paved the way for severe restrictions or bans on abortion in nearly half the states. Nine states now have laws banning abortion, and three more (Tennessee, Idaho, and Texas) will go into effect on her August 25th. in about 6 weeks. Florida law bans abortion at 15 weeks' gestation, and Arizona's will as of her Sept. 24.
Some experts say the disagreement among Republicans on how to move forward reflects how new the debate is and how the party is reacting to it. It is said that it highlights whether it was not ready.
"Historically, Republican candidates and policymakers have been in a politically favorable position when it comes to 'pro-life,'" University of Denver Joshua Wilson, a political science professor, told his AP. email.
Until Roe was overthrown, Republican-controlled states restricted access to abortion because they knew that federal courts, bound by the laws of the time, would block the most aggressive regulations. The issue's low importance among Democrats and moderate voters "was associated with a guardrail against political backlash," Wilson said.
The failed ballot measure in Kansas surprised supporters on both sides, not only because it lost by 20%, but also because voter turnout soared among voters not in the Republican primary. Abortion and women's rights are a growing priority among abortion rights advocates, and Democrats are trying to capitalize on change by campaigning on the issue and pushing ballot measures in other states. is.
Polls show the most extreme anti-abortion laws are at odds with the American public, and even most Republicans.
A July AP-NORC poll showed that Republicans were largely against 15-week abortion for "some reason." But only 16% of Republicans think abortion should generally be "illegal in all cases."
Most Republicans believe that if a child is born with a life-threatening illness (61 or if a person's health is in serious danger (85%), the pregnant person
A majority of Republicans — 56% — also said their states should generally allow 6-week gestation.
Republican politicians may begin to face pressure to satisfy the most conservative anti-abortion in their base. want a complete ban on abortion, and moderate or independent voters are more accepting of abortion in early pregnancy and in extenuating circumstances. Up until the more popular rhetoric ahead of the election.
When Herschel Walker was nominated for the U.S. Senate by the Republican Party of Georgia, he vowed to ban all abortions without exception. He's more cautious now that he's a candidate in a hotly contested general election.When asked bluntly whether he'd vote for an absolute ban in the Republican-controlled Senate, Walker said:
"It's a 'what if,'" Walker told reporters, saying he wouldn't enjoy such a hypothetical scenario "for now."
Back in Wisconsin, Evers, who will be reelected this year, has consistently vetoed anti-abortion legislation introduced in recent years by the Republican Congress. Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, who won on the
A July AP-NORC poll found that 55% of moderate and liberal Republicans believe abortion should generally be legal all or most of the time. 39% said abortion should be illegal in most cases. only 5%.
But even among conservative Republicans, only 24% said abortion should be illegal in all cases. His 60% of conservative Republicans say abortion should be illegal in most cases.
An analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project found that the theme was increasingly featured in ads for Democratic candidates for the U.S. House and Senate this summer, but faded for ads for Republican candidates. is coming. Democrats have portrayed Republicans as extreme on abortion, hoping the issue will win voters in the midterm elections.
"If you want the debate to be relevant, Negotiations are needed, and if we draw a hard line, we may be looking out in legislatures and Congress," said Republican strategist Jason Lowe.
Marjorie Danenfelser, President of Susan B. Anthony ProLife America, said the overthrow of Law would democratize the process of regulating abortion and it would be up to the states to reach consensus. said. True believers on both sides will not get what they want,' she said. It's a benefit to the pro-life movement because there was no one," she said. "It's more than we had. That's how I see it."
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Finger Hat reported from Washington. Bill Barrow, his Associated Press writer in Athens, Georgia. Jeffrey Collins of Columbia, South Carolina. Jonathan J. Cooper of Phoenix. and Tom Davies of Indianapolis contributed to this report.