https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-highlight-choice-facing-voters-abortion-midterms-near-2022-10-18/
4 minute readOctober 18, 20227:03 PM EDTLast Updated 10 hours ago
Biden pledges law on abortion rights if Democrats keep Congress
By Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden, under pressure over high inflation, sought to mobilize his left-leaning base on Tuesday by promising to sign a law to codify abortion rights in January if Democrats control the legislature next year.
Biden's Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate too, in the November elections. The president is trying to rally the party and its supporters around abortion rights, which were sharply curtailed by the Supreme Court's decision nearly four months ago to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
If Democrats elect more senators and keep control of the House, Biden said he would sign a law in January to ensure women's right to abortion across the country.
"Here is the promise I make to you and the American people: the first bill that I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe v Wade," Biden said during remarks at the historic Howard Theatre in Washington.
Look, I'm all for codifying abortion into law, but holy shit this seems like it could backfire so very very bad.
It's one of those things that I think needed to remain unspoken - the cat's out of the bag now and this all but guarantees that when Republicans have control of both houses of Congress again, they will absolutely work to ensure that abortion is banned at the federal level.
I actually see it the opposite. Now the Democrats have figured out how to protect abortion with legislation? After 50 years of not doing it? Fuck you. I should refuse to vote for you out of pure spite.
Seems odd to place your anger there
For half a century it’s been the GOP who have steadfastly maintained that Roe v Wade was “settled law” and that Dems were trying to use it as a wedge issue. Over and over we were told that abortion up to viability was the law of the land so measures to legislate that were unnecessary. All of this was done while the GOP systematically worked to dismantle.
I disagree with your reading of history. Here is how I see it but you are welcome to correct any facts that I have wrong.
Pre-1973: The GOP appoints Harry Blackmun, Warren E. Burger, William J. Brennan Jr, Potter Stewart, and Lewis F. Powell Jr to the supreme court. Abortion is not an important issue in the GOP at the time.
1973: The five aforementioned GOP appointed justices had enough votes to push Roe v Wade through without the two Democratic appointees that joined them. Of note: one Democratic appointee and one GOP appointee dissented. Remember, this was a different GOP that cared about keeping the government out of your affairs which is why the decision was based on a right to privacy. Side note: both Nixon and Ford supported the Equal Rights Amendment.
1976: a small but very vocal minority of the GOP go ape-shit at the 1976 RNC, but they don't win. Here is a snippet from the
1976 platform:
In our 1972 Platform, the Republican Party recognized the great contributions women have made to society as homemakers and mothers, as contributors to the community through volunteer work, and as members of the labor force in careers. The Platform stated then, and repeats now, that the Republican Party "fully endorses the principle of equal rights, equal opportunities and equal responsibilities for women." The Equal Rights Amendment is the embodiment of this principle and therefore we support its swift ratification.
The question of abortion is one of the most difficult and controversial of our time. It is undoubtedly a moral and personal issue but it also involves complex questions relating to medical science and criminal justice. There are those in our Party who favor complete support for the Supreme Court decision which permits abortion on demand. There are others who share sincere convictions that the Supreme Court's decision must be changed by a constitutional amendment prohibiting all abortions. Others have yet to take a position, or they have assumed a stance somewhere in between polar positions.Further reading:
NYT: Republican Feminists Prepare to Fight for Convention Delegates, Rights Amendment and Abortion1977: The Democrats have
the trifecta and a filibuster proof majority and a GOP that isn't yet rabidly anit-abortion. They do nothing.
1980: The evangelical wing succeeds in changing the GOP party
platform:
There can be no doubt that the question of abortion, despite the complex nature of its various issues, is ultimately concerned with equality of rights under the law. While we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general—and in our own Party—we affirm our support of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children. We also support the Congressional efforts to restrict the use of taxpayers' dollars for abortion.1981-2008: Do the Democrats do anything at the national level to protect abortion through legislation?
2009: At various times in 2009 the Democrats again have the trifecta and 60 votes in the Senate (if you count the two independents). Again, they do nothing.
2010-2019: Do the Democrats do anything at the national level to protect abortion through legislation?
2020-21: We have a global pandemic and a whole thing where suddenly the right cares about bodily autonomy and medical privacy. No one in the Democratic party puts forward a bodily autonomy amendment to the constitution.
2022: Roe v Wade overturned with Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
As to why the Democrats never did anything, I have a theory. Abortion was worth a lot of political dollars to both sides. Both sides got to rile up their base for donor money to fuel the huge armies of election campaigners. Like the condottieri armies in ancient Italy the point wasn't to win, the point was to get paid. Actually winning the abortion fight would have meant one less thing to rile up your base with. For decades this worked great, until it didn't. Thanks Carter! Note: I don't think that the GOP as a whole actually wanted to win either, but eventually they accidentally did.
Also, women in Canada, Ireland, and the UK have free government abortions. But they don't have a constitutional right to an abortion, it's just normal statutory law. This thing where the Democrats wanted the supreme court to do their jobs for them looks very odd to many outsiders. Furthermore, women in the USA never had a right to an abortion, doctors had a right to sell them an abortion.
