Even Republicans don’t think Democrats are doing enough to protect women’s rights in the wake of the Roe v. Wade reversal.
In a Puck article from (excellent) reporter Julia Ioffe, GOP folk in D.C. were “shocked at how little the Democrats were doing to fight them” following the Supreme Court’s decision, especially considering they have majority control in both the House and the Senate. According to Ioffe, one Republican aide said, “If I were the libs, I would be putting forward a flurry of legislation like making birth control free and widely available. If you say it’s not widely enough available, go after that, cover the gaps. Don’t go for the really big stuff, just split the G.O.P. conference as much as you can, force people to vote. If the goal is really protecting women or advancing legislation that could actually pass, then take every potential approach you can.”
While the Republicans Ioffe spoke to are trying not to “gloat” over their pro-forced-birth win in the courts, they are scratching their heads over the Dems inaction on an issue a majority of the country supports them on. In a PEW poll, 61% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in some form. Currently, dozens of lawsuits in trigger-ban states are pushing to keep abortion access a fundamental health right for women with judges blocking statewide bans in places like Louisianna, Utah, and Texas. All over the country, people and organizations are fighting the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade but in Washington, Dems seem to be disorganized and performatively helpless, using the reversal to harass voters for more campaign donations instead of presenting any meaningful strategy that would actually help their base.
“If you’re so worried about infant life, in other words, let’s have a vote on free diapers and free childcare,” Ioffe suggested in her report. “If you say it’s not a gun issue but a mental health issue, let’s vote on funding the shit out of mental health.”
It seems everyone, including the GOP, has a plan for moving forward except the current party in power who would apparently rather recite poems and sing “God Bless America” on the Capitol steps than actually doing something in their capacity as elected officials with control of both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government.
(Via Puck News)