Roe Is Extremely Popular. Why Aren’t the Democrats Talking About This More?

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Activists dance in a flash mob put on by the group “Act for Abortion” in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

On September 1, Texas governor Greg Abbott functionally overturned Roe v. Wade by enacting S.B. 8 and effectively banning abortions after six weeks. Since then, a few pundits and some legal scholars had hoped that the Supreme Court would intervene. After all, the law was flawed not only because it went against legal precedent but also because it involved bounties that made every Texas citizen an enforcer of it, a bizarre and dangerous mechanism that a normal, more balanced Supreme Court would surely have considered unconstitutional. Eventually the Supreme Court did hear arguments related to the law, but they decided to do nothing, thus making it very clear that if they liked an unconstitutional law, then that was that. Don’t take my word for it: “No constitutional right is safe,” Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general, told the Supreme Court on November 1, 2021.

It’s February now, and we can see where this is going. S.B. 8 still stands, and other states like Florida have taken note. We see the writing on the wall. In June, right before the Supreme Court goes on vacation, they’re going to announce their decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Mississippi case that directly challenges Roe by banning abortions after 15 weeks. Very likely this decision will take reproductive rights away from millions of women in the blink of an eye. 

Here’s the thing: What the Court is doing is out of step with what the people want. Most people, even many Republicans, want abortion to stay legal. In 2020, 69% of voters surveyed by AP VoteCast said they would like to leave Roe as is, and AP-NORC polling in general shows a majority favors abortion being legal in most or all cases.

So why aren’t the Democrats turning this into a rallying cry? For many of us Gen X’ers and early millennials who grew up amid the culture wars of the ’90s (and our mother and grandmother’s stories of the horrors of the pre-Roe era), the idea that abortion rights could effectively fade away with little more than a whimper seems inconceivable. Where is the outrage? Where is the despair? My mother used to say to me, “Well, we didn’t accomplish everything, but at least we got Roe passed.”

I mean, Democrats need at the very least to let voters know that Republicans are doing this, right? If this conservative Supreme Court is going against the will of the people, why aren’t Democrats talking about it more? Most Americans can’t agree on anything, but here is a 69% consensus. Why aren’t Democrats running on this injustice? Why aren’t they screaming about this from the rooftops?

I asked Democratic strategist Jess McIntosh why Democrats weren’t pushing harder on what seems like an easy win. “I think a lot of Democrats are and more will—younger Democrats, Black candidates, many women and LGBTQ candidates get how fundamental a right this is and aren’t afraid to talk about it,” McIntosh says. “My question is more about leadership—why aren’t we forcing Republicans to answer for their positions every day?” She points to the recent comments by a gubernatorial candidate in Michigan in which he lauded women who were raped but did not get abortions for their bravery. “There is zero outcry. Pregnant people in Texas are making impossible choices every day, and we are not talking about their lives,” McIntosh says

Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, echoes the idea that this conversation is happening, and it will continue to increase in volume as we approach the midterms. “Reproductive rights will be at the center of midterm elections across the country because there isn’t a single state where banning abortion would be popular, and voters do not want politicians controlling their personal health decisions,” McGill said. “Reproductive health care champions are already on the offense on this issue. They know that voters will be eager to know what their candidates will do to safeguard and restore access to essential health care in their communities and to fight back against the incessant attacks on their rights.”

Some activists fault the White House for the lack of energy surrounding the issue. “We need [President Biden] to come out and show that he and the Democratic Party are taking this crisis seriously,” says executive director of We Testify Renee Bracey Sherman. “He should be ashamed that he’s a pro-choice president, and this is happening under his watch. Last September three women of color members of Congress shared their abortion stories. That was unfathomable a few years ago. I know those members have been doing all they can to ensure everyone is able to access abortion care, and I would love to see others step up to have their backs and the backs of everyone trying to get an abortion right now.”

The due process clause in the 14th Amendment promises us the right to privacy, the right to end a pregnancy. Now we are waiting for the Supreme Court to rubber-stamp the idea that we don’t actually have that right or that there is some ever-shifting line having nothing to do with legal precedent that will make it all but impossible for millions of women to get abortions.

This is yet another case of the Republican Party being out of step with the majority and another case of the Supreme Court illustrating just how profoundly undemocratic an institution it is. Democrats should be campaigning on this. They should be talking about changing up the Supreme Court by enacting term limits or theoretically stacking the Court—even though it’s hard to imagine such a measure passing. The job of elected officials is to reflect the will of the people, and the people want to keep Roe. American political life is filled with very hard choices, with unpopular decisions, but Roe is popular. It’s not a hard choice, and Democrats need to remind people what Republicans are taking away from them before it’s too late.