Biden tested by abortion pill access fight with uncertain GOP
Naomi Lim
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President Joe Biden is under pressure to secure access to an abortion pill that is part of a two-drug regimen relied on by more than half the women nationwide terminating pregnancies every year.
But while the White House remains mum on its contingency plan should it exhaust its legal options, Biden and Democrats are raising the ante on the political fight before next year’s elections.
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Hours after a federal judge in Texas suspended the Food and Drug Administration‘s approval of mifepristone, Biden warned “virtually no prescription” will “be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks” if his decision is allowed to stand.
“The lawsuit, and this ruling, is another unprecedented step in taking away basic freedoms from women and putting their health at risk,” Biden said in a statement. “It is the next big step toward the national ban on abortion that Republican elected officials have vowed to make law in America.”
Biden, who has advocated Congress to codify Roe v. Wade, then underscored his opposition to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s decision before boarding Air Force One for his trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland.
“My thoughts are it’s completely out of bounds what the judge did,” Biden told reporters this week at Joint Base Andrews.
But similarly to how Biden and Democrats appear uncertain about how to respond to Kacsmaryk’s highly anticipated decision, as they did after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Republicans also differ on how to proceed following their underperformance in last November’s midterm cycle due, in part, to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Conservatives additionally lost control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court last week after Justice-elect Janet Claire Protasiewicz defeated Daniel Kelly by more than 10 percentage points following a campaign that focused on abortion.
One Republican strategist emphasized Democrats’ “extreme and unpopular positions,” including encouraging people to “ignore” judicial decisions with which they disagree.
“However, Republican candidates in difficult races must remain conscious that blanket abortion bans are no longer a 50/50 issue in polling, and they must express a brand of compassionate conservatism that doesn’t alienate voters in the middle,” the operative said.
Republican pollster Whit Ayers advised GOP lawmakers and candidates to avoid “the extremes” concerning abortion, contending “the vast majority” of the public believes abortion should be permitted in “some circumstances” but not others. He asserted that not acknowledging that is to be “in denial.”
“More than half of Americans know someone who has had an abortion or has had one themselves,” he said. “So when you use very harsh language, calling people who have abortions ‘murderers,’ you’re talking about people known to half of America, and that is politically toxic.”
When asked whether abortion will motivate people to vote next November, Ayers replied he is “convinced” that “our grandchildren” will still be arguing about the topic because it is an emotional subject and there is no one answer that will satisfy everybody.
“The best we can do is try to reach some sort of consensus around an alternative position,” he added.
As long as the debate is about abortion limits and not its legality, anti-abortion Republicans can “hold their own,” according to Claremont McKenna College politics professor John Pitney.
“But after Dobbs, people worry that Republicans will go too far,” he said. “Republican lawmakers need to be cautious in what they propose and how they talk about the issue. Unfortunately for them, the most extreme voices will get the most attention.”
But for Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson, Republican lawmakers and candidates should point out Democratic “extremism,” such as “abortion on demand” to “the final moment before birth” and “not providing lifesaving care” after a botched procedure.
“In situations where you had Republican candidates that were much more clear about supporting life and having reasonable exceptions, which is where the majority of Americans are, by the way — poll after poll shows that — then you saw electoral success,” Anderson said. “It’s really where you had Republicans that just refused to talk about the issue, they didn’t engage, or they weren’t clear and they were wishy-washy, that they lost — or they couldn’t make a compelling argument to show the extremism [of Democrats].”
“The question now becomes ‘Well, what’s next?'” she went on. “Does this go to the Supreme Court and then become another iterative of this fight over how to protect life? Does the Biden administration weigh in a different route other than the FDA through an executive order?”
Another Republican strategist agreed the GOP should “be on offense” related to abortion.
“Be clear in your position, then call out the Left for being out of step with the American people,” the operative said.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has repeated the White House is trying to avoid getting “ahead of the courts” amid Kacsmaryk’s decision to issue a nationwide injunction despite mifepristone being available for the last two decades after what has been described as a quick approval process, the Justice Department‘s application for a stay and appeal, as well as a separate federal judge ruling that prevents the FDA from pulling mifepristone from the market.
“We are ready to prevail in the courts,” Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One en route to the United Kingdom and Ireland. “There’s a process that we’re going through that we’re going to make sure that we win this, we win this on behalf of women across the country.”
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A day earlier, Jean-Pierre deflected questions about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who last weekend put forward that Kacsmaryk’s decision be ignored. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) amplified Ocasio-Cortez’s position, telling CNN this week, “This thing should just be thrown out, quite frankly.”
“Look, we are going to always follow the law. Always,” Jean-Pierre said. “But doesn’t mean that we’re not going to fight.”