Supreme Court Ruling Catapults Abortion Back Into ’08 Race.
From The New York Times:
Both sides in the abortion struggle predicted that the Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday would escalate the drive for new abortion restrictions in state legislatures and push the issue of abortion rights — and the Supreme Court — squarely into the 2008 presidential election.
The decision was a major victory for social conservatives, a validation of their decade-long strategy of pushing for step-by-step restrictions on abortion while working to change the composition of the Supreme Court.
The reaction among independent and moderate voters will be closely watched.
Until now, even some elected officials who supported abortion rights were uncomfortable dealing with the procedure singled out in the 2003 law. Abortion opponents considered the legislation a valuable teaching tool to highlight what they asserted was the extraordinary reach of the Roe decision. On final passage in the Senate in 2003, 17 Democrats joined with 47 Republicans to support the ban.
But some Democrats said this new court decision could change the political landscape, just as the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case did, by striking moderates as an unwarranted government intrusion into medical decisions.
Both sides in the abortion struggle predicted that the Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday would escalate the drive for new abortion restrictions in state legislatures and push the issue of abortion rights — and the Supreme Court — squarely into the 2008 presidential election.
The decision was a major victory for social conservatives, a validation of their decade-long strategy of pushing for step-by-step restrictions on abortion while working to change the composition of the Supreme Court.
The reaction among independent and moderate voters will be closely watched.
Until now, even some elected officials who supported abortion rights were uncomfortable dealing with the procedure singled out in the 2003 law. Abortion opponents considered the legislation a valuable teaching tool to highlight what they asserted was the extraordinary reach of the Roe decision. On final passage in the Senate in 2003, 17 Democrats joined with 47 Republicans to support the ban.
But some Democrats said this new court decision could change the political landscape, just as the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case did, by striking moderates as an unwarranted government intrusion into medical decisions.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 7:09 AM
1 Comments:
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, abortion policy would simply be returned to the states where it belongs in my opinion. I think that reasonable people can differ on the legality of first trimester abortions. Partial birth abortions are offensive even to a number of pro-choice Americans. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) once called the partial birth procedure "close to infanticide."
What Democrats cannot afford is to be perceived in the South and Middle America as supporting absolute abortion rights. We need to make it clear that you can be pro-life and still regarded as a Democrat in good standing. Furthermore, pro-choice and pro-life Democrats should support measures that will voluntarily reduce the demand for abortion.
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