Why the Republican offensive on abortion is escalating

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

Ronald Brownstein
@RonBrownstein
The red state Republican offensive against #abortion rights is escalating, as severe restrictions approved on consecutive days last week in OK, KY & FL show. Here’s why.

cnn.com
Analysis: Why the Republican offensive on abortion is escalating
When three red states finalized severe restrictions on abortion over consecutive days last week, they highlighted the GOP's rising militancy on the issue -- and the political and legal calculations...
7:24 AM · Apr 19, 2022

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/19/politics/abortion-laws-red-states-republicans/index.html

(CNN)When three red states finalized severe restrictions on abortion over consecutive days last week, they highlighted the GOP's rising militancy on the issue -- and the political and legal calculations underpinning it.

Separate actions last week in Oklahoma, Florida and Kentucky made clear the red state drive to retrench, or eliminate, access to abortion is escalating as the Republican-appointed Supreme Court majority nears a decision, expected in late June, in which it is widely anticipated to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a nationwide right to abortion.

The abortion restrictions these states approved last week all denied exceptions for victims of rape or incest -- a provision that was once a common feature of conservative anti-abortion proposals but has been jettisoned almost completely in the wave of new restrictions approved since 2021. The Oklahoma legislation banned nearly all abortions from the moment of conception and imposed severe penalties on doctors who perform them, including up to 10 years in jail. The Kentucky bill, continuing an offensive already underway in several other red states, prohibited state residents from obtaining medication abortion through the mail, as the federal Food and Drug Administration authorized late last year.

Taken together, the sweeping bills finalized last week show how the sympathetic signals from the Republican-appointed Supreme Court majority are changing the strategy of red states. In earlier legislative sessions, Republican-controlled states generally had either passed abortion restrictions designed to provide a test case the Supreme Court could use to overturn Roe or had approved bills crafted narrowly enough that they hoped they could survive legal challenges while Roe remained the law, says Mary Ziegler, a Florida State University law professor who studies the history of abortion law.

*snip*

[niyad]

1. and the WAR ON WOMEN continues apace. Would you consider cross-posting this in

Women's Rights And Issues? Thanks in advance.

[NCDem47]

2. This no big revelation here to us on DU.

They have the judges lined up on the Supreme Court. They're going to grab the opportunity. I shudder to think of all the other "settled law" they plan to overturn.

[Jm7603]

3. Are the Republicans aware that they are going

to lose one of their surefire fake culture war issues when Roe v Wade is struck down? Contraceptives will be a much more difficult case for them to fake outrage over. Is that why all this weird "woke" bs is being tested? Looking for their next red herring? No target will garner as many easy votes as abortion did.

[SoonerPride]

5. Welcome to DU!

Yes, I have often felt like the Republicans would rue the day they won and got Roe struck down.

Like the proverbial dog that catches the car, now what will they do?

Abortion was a single issue vote for many in their base.

When that driving force is removed I think much of the air will go out of their balloon.

[Jm7603]

8. Thank you for the welcome! Looking forward to

the exchange of ideas and ideals with this group. Looks like a great community. And yes, tilting at windmills eventually loses it's attraction (I hope) and this latest round of lunacy from the Republicans seems so bizarre that maybe some of the brain-deads will lose interest? One can hope....

[NCDem47]

10. Marriage Equality next.

There's a whoooooole long laundry list of rollbacks they are salivating for.

[mopinko]

7. i think they're at a point of do or die.

since w, they've riled them up, but only passed bills they knew would be struck down. it was all performative.
i think you are right that they know this is the end of playing that card. prolly why they are grippin so hard on crt, and the rest of their dog whistles.

we rly need to start translating those dog whistles into plain english, then we need to ask the question- why does the gqp think you are a dog?

[Jm7603]

9. Hopefully some of the dogs are smart enough

to go find another stick to chase. Like maybe improve the world around them in a real and tangible way? Or read a book? Or at least start a hobby that does no harm to others...

[Mad_Machine76]

11. Attacking Trans rights seems to be the next big thing

[Jm7603]

12. Yes, it seems that the Repub base is terrified

of trans and any other sexual/biological issues that may be going on in their neighbor's pants, but I think the overall response will not be as unified among the voting blocs as it was regarding abortion. Those anti-abortion voters would disregard EVERYTHING else in their votes for an anti-abortion candidate. I may be wrong but I hope the anti-trans voters are not as prone to zealotry.

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

[empedocles]

6. 'sympathetic signals', from scotus?

The thomases may have promised assurances, etc.

[MarcA]

13. All part of Owning and Controlling the Masses. n/t

[Marius25]

14. Because it works for them.

You're not seeing women take to the streets and demand these people be thrown out of office. It's not hurting their approval ratings. DeSantis is still very popular.

It seems like not enough women care.