The results of the November 7 voting in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia confirm in stark terms the trend that has been in motion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade: Opposition to abortion restrictions will be a key element, perhaps the key element, in the efforts of Democrats to keep control of the White House and Senate while regaining their majority in the House of Representatives.
Credit: Danielle De Luna/Campus Times
The historic irony arising from the most conservative Supreme Court in modern history is this: By its Roe v. Wade decision, the Court has handed the Democratic Party the most important tool it needs to be successful in the 2024 elections. Thank you, Justices Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Barrett and Kavanaugh!
The thinking, as you know, had been that in the wake of the Dobbs decision invalidating Roe v. Wade, abortion, for all practical purposes would cease to be available in America as state after state would move quickly to either outlaw the procedure entirely or make it so onerous, e.g., no abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, that it would disappear as an option for women.
But the pro-lifers, who for so long argued that abortion regulations should be left to the states, failed to account for the reaction of “we the people,” the masses who still respect the power of the ballot box.
They also failed to understand that for many voters, women and men, the issue is greater than the right to abortion; it is the right to make one’s personal health and medical decisions period, in consultation with their healthcare providers and without interference by “the state.”
Election results since Dobbs have left abortion opponents disheartened and confused, so much so that many of those who lobbied hard for abortion regulation to be left to the states are now singing a different tune, advocating for Congress to pass a national ban of one sort or another. Right now, of course, that’s not in the cards.
BUT - The Heritage Foundation, among other conservative groups, is quarter-backing an initiative called Project 2025, which I may go into detail about in a future edition of Blue Notes. Project 2025 looks into work-arounds at the national level that would bypass the will of the voters in the states, and it also proposes scenarios based on a Donald Trump return to the presidency.
Meanwhile, buoyed by the electoral successes since Dobbs, abortion-rights proponents are eyeing their prospects in a number of other states in 2024, all of which could help Democrat candidates.
In Arizona, advocates are gathering signatures for a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to protect access to abortion until the fetus is viable, which usually is around 24 weeks or later. Abortion is currently banned in Arizona after 15 weeks of pregnancy, though county prosecutors are currently banned from bringing abortion-related cases under an executive order by the state’s Democratic governor.
In Colorado, abortion-rights advocates and opponents are pursuing dueling amendments that would, generally speaking, either permit or ban abortion. The state currently has no laws banning abortion at all.
In Florida, advocates are gathering signatures for a proposed amendment that would require abortions to be available until fetal viability, but the Republican attorney general has asked the state supreme court to keep the measure off the ballot because the term “viability” is too vague.
In Iowa, there is a battle over a constitutional amendment, proposed by both houses of the GOP-controlled legislature, that would declare that there is no right to abortion in the state’s constitution. This measure would eventually go before voters.
In Maryland, where abortion is legal until viability, legislators have put an amendment on the ballot that would include the “fundamental right to reproductive freedom.”
In Missouri, where abortion is currently banned at all stages of pregnancy, advocates are pushing for a constitutional amendment that would bar the government from infringing on a person’s right to reproductive freedom or banning abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.
This is just a sampling of states, red, blue and purple, where freedom-of-choice initiatives are in various stages of development.
In recent days, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about a short video clip I watched -it has received about 20 million viewings to date- that shook me to my core and brought tears to my eyes.
The video shows the final moments, and the moment of death, of a lovely little girl I estimate to be about five years old. We are not told her name or her medical condition as she lies in her hospital bed, hooked up to all sorts of tubes.
This beautiful, innocent little human is embraced by her parents, kissed by them, is told how much they love her and tells them the same in return. She says “I’m getting better.”
And then she passes.
While I can only hope that she was free of pain, what also brings me moments of reflection is the enduring power of video.
I apologize for the analogy, dear readers, but I want to make a point here.
Every election season, we are inundated, as you know, by political ads. One after another, a relentless drumbeat of messages until we want to tear our hair out.
During the 2024 election season, I want to see individual Biden supporters talking to ME, the voter, in as intimate and personal a way as possible. I want REAL PEOPLE to tell me how the Biden administration programs and policies have benefited THEM.
I take as inspiration for this entreaty my own experience of introducing President Biden earlier this year when he came to Las Vegas to give a speech about his plan to control drug prices, and then seeing a couple of seconds of this in a recent Biden national TV ad.
More immediately, in case you missed it, is this ad which pundits say directly contributed to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s solid reelection win:
During his comments following his election victory, Gov. Beshear specifically thanked Hadley Duvall, the woman in the video, for her courage, and that’s what I’m talking about.
During the coming months, I want to see political ads like that one, in addition to those that will call out Donald Trump -the presumptive GOP nominee- on so many levels.
President Biden walked the picket line with the UAW strikers, who subsequently have negotiated record contracts for their members. A recent poll shows that Americans’ support for labor unions is at a very high level, and I want to see ads in which union auto workers talk to ME through the camera to explain what this means to them, and to contrast their outcomes with the critical comments made by Trump.
The Chips Act is bringing high-end semiconductor fabrication back to this country, and I want to see ads in which men and women building the manufacturing plants -they are called fabs- and those hired to work in them talk to ME through the camera to explain what this means to them.
I want to see ads in which the men and women repairing our highways and bridges talk to ME, through the camera, to express their pride in having good-paying jobs and “bringing back America.”
I’m sure you get the drift. It is a conundrum that current polling gives Biden low marks in a number of areas where the results suggest that he should be receiving high marks. A good place to start is to bring it down to the personal level by letting individual Americans tell their personal stories. As a people, we are good at extrapolating and seeing ourselves in the shoes of our friends and neighbors. We need a little less of the “big picture” messaging and a little more of the street-level politics that we can relate to and that tug at our hearts.
Don’t throw numbers at me, at least not ad nauseam. Tell me about people.
We need to bring respect back to the office of the President. It's reassuring to see someone in office who isn't calling people names like a schoolkid. We have plenty of entertainment on TV. We also need to confront ageism. Everyday we see it more, even in our own community. Other cultures revere wisdom. Bottom line: The United States needs an adult running the government and adults in the Congress and Senate. We don't want a king, oligarch or autocrat with a finger on the nuclear button. Common sense and 40 + years of experience has to count for something. I think the Democrats are too humble. They need to start beating their own chests and more positive media!