[ad_1]
Between the Supreme Court’s inaction in the Texas case – allowing a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy to come into effect earlier Wednesday – and a looming High Court case challenging the previous Roe v . Wade, abortion rights come to the fore in 2022 midway through. The next major Supreme Court abortion case will be heard in the court’s new term that begins this fall and is expected to be decided by next summer, months before the election.
“We are at this historic moment when the court has chosen to take up an important abortion case. There has been a crescendo, ”said Mallory Quigley, vice president of the Susan B. Anthony List anti-abortion group, of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. “Much will depend on what the outcome of the Dobbs case is. All of us on the pro-life side, we hope the result will be that the governors’ handcuffs are removed. “
Even before this week’s developments, McAuliffe has sought to elevate his support for abortion rights. Virginia is one of three gubernatorial contests this year, along with New Jersey and the California recall, and has long been seen as a political indicator.
Earlier this week, McAuliffe launched a new television commercial attacking Glenn Youngkin, his Republican opponent, featuring a doctor who said Youngkin had an “extreme right-wing agenda” on abortion. AdImpact, a political ad tracking service, has reported more than $ 92,000 in ad spend since its launch on Tuesday, aired over 200 times across the state in two days. The ad, along with a second older ad also attacking Youngkin on abortion, accounted for 50% of the campaign’s total airings during that time period, including prime-time spots such as ” Bachelor in Paradise “from ABC.
When asked for comment or an interview on the Texas ban, Youngkin’s campaign highlighted the audio of a press release at an event hosted on Tuesday by Virginia FREE, a business group, where Youngkin did not directly respond if he supported the Texas ban when asked. “My main focus is on keeping Terry McAuliffe off his extreme agenda” on abortion, he said in the clip shared by the campaign. “I am pro-life. I believe in exceptions in cases of rape, in cases of incest and in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
Texas law does not provide exemptions for rape or incest.
McAuliffe hammered Youngkin as duplicity on the issue, pointing to a video secretly recorded by The Undercurrent, a liberal “popular political webcast” and shared with the American Independent website. (The Independent is funded, in part, by the opposition Democratic American Bridge research group.)
In the video, which was first published in early July and later featured in a McAuliffe ad, Youngkin says “when I’m governor and have a majority in the [state] House, we can start attacking. But as a campaign subject, unfortunately, that won’t actually win my independent votes that I need to get. In a statement at the time, Youngkin spokesman Matt Wolking said in an email to the Washington Post that “This deceptively recorded audio demonstrates that Glenn Youngkin is saying the same thing no matter to whom he’s talking, “and attacked McAuliffe.
Jeanne Mancini, the president of March for Life, which holds a large anti-abortion rally in Washington each year, wrote in an email that she expected her home state of Virginia “to be important when it comes to an abortion debate, ”attacking McAuliffe and his successor, Gov. Ralph Northam, for comments the sitting governor made during a fight against abortion in 2019.
March for Life plans to hold a Virgina rally in Richmond, the state capital, later this month it’s the third annual walk in the state. “We anticipate that the event will inspire voter turnout in the November election,” she wrote. Speakers have not yet been announced.
And in California, Democrats have sought to lift the ban ahead of this month’s recall election, in less than two weeks. Struggling Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that the Supreme Court had “gutted the protection of a woman’s right to choose”, and allies quickly linked him to the recall.
The head of Planned Parenthood in California took the opportunity to urge voters to reject the recall. Abortion rights activists have activated their supporters in recent weeks, using the threat to galvanize opposition to the recall. “There is no question that abortion access is on the ballot in two weeks,” Jodi Hicks, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said in a statement.
Many Republican recall candidates oppose abortion or have remained silent on the issue, with the exception of former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who supports abortion as a legal option. It is also unclear how much a Republican governor could reduce abortion rights in California, given that the state has some of the strongest abortion protections in the country and both houses of the The state legislature have qualified Democratic majorities – something radio host Larry Elder, the top Republican candidate for the recall election, noted at a press conference Wednesday.
“It’s not something on my priority list,” Elder said of abortion. “And in the unlikely event that Roe vs. Wade is canceled … we have 2/3 of the qualified majorities in the [legislature] … And there’s no possibility that all of a sudden, those two-thirds suddenly become pro-life like Larry Elder.
Candidates and agents on both sides said they believe Texas’ decision, combined with the looming threat Dobbs case said the abortion policy could motivate voters to participate. “It will be the cornerstone of the races in ’21. And I expect him to play an important role in many races in 22, ”said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, president of the Democratic Governors Association, who is herself running for office. re-election in 2022.
Lujan Grisham said the issue would be particularly prominent among female university graduates, a key part of the Democratic coalition, as well as among women in suburban and urban areas. She noted that this was a particularly prominent issue within the grassroots Democrats, saying she “came forward only” on reproductive rights when she won the Congressional primaries in 2012.
Between 2021 and 2022, 36 states will hold gubernatorial elections, and all but two will vote for the state legislature. Nationally, 54% of Americans think abortion should be legal in most cases, while 42% think it should be illegal, according to a recent NBC News poll.
But while the 2022 landscape will not only be fought in blue-leaning territories like California and Virginia, Lujan Grisham said she believes the issue “has become relevant now for women and their families everywhere, in every. pocket “of the country. She said she expects the DGA to highlight the issue in advertising and other outreach activities.
Quigley, of SBA List, said his organization will focus on training two different types of voters: “Strongly pro-life people who may be fatigued in recent election cycles” and those who support the restrictions on abortions but may consider voting for Democratic candidates on other matters.
“Whether it’s climate change, healthcare or immigration or 2020, just personality,” Quigley said. “When we explain to them the difference that exists between the two candidates on this issue, and those sharp and sharp contrasts that exist, they can be persuaded to vote pro-life.”
The anti-abortion group has already started knocking on doors in Georgia and Arizona, two states that host competitive races for the Senate and governor in 2022. The group has also been involved in efforts to create new voting restrictions in several states.
McAuliffe, for his part, predicted a backlash from the last time he ran for governor. “I saw this from 2013,” he said. “It only motivates the Democratic base in the first place.”
Victoria Colliver and Alice Miranda Ollstein contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link