WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s the most bitterly contested election ever. Control of the U.S. House of RepresentativesMany Republican candidates have spoken out about women’s rights. Access to abortion and reproductive health care In new and surprising ways, Republicans have made deliberate changes, blinded by the political consequences. Post-Roe v. Wade Era.
They have tried to distance themselves from some of their more aggressive Republicans by looking directly into the camera for ads or writing personal op-eds in local newspapers. Anti-abortion views Rather than simply accepting what their own party and its allies have to say, Republican candidates are rushing to articulate their own positions that set them apart from Republicans who have sought to impose restrictions on reproductive health for decades.
In New York, embattled Republican Rep. Mike Lawler sits at his kitchen table with his wife in one ad and says, “There is no place for extremism in women’s health care.”
Republican Congresswoman Michelle Steele of California describes her own parenting journey: In Vitro Fertilization “I have always supported women’s access to IVF and will fight to protect it,” she said.
And in Arizona, Republican Rep. Juan Siscomani told the cameras, “I want you to hear my words directly: I believe in women. I value new life. And I reject extreme ideas on abortion.”
It’s a new approach that’s attracting attention as Republicans try to avoid defeat in November’s election. control a majority in the House of RepresentativesAs the election season unfolds, Highly known And inspiring stories about women’s lives Upended and in danger Through abortion restrictions.
This new strategy, endorsed and promoted by the House Republican campaign organization, is an admission of Republican failure to understand the political power of women’s reproductive health care as an issue that mobilizes voters.
“Republicans have known for a long time that they’ve actually been on the wrong side of this issue,” said Elisse Hogue, former president of the group formerly known as NARAL Pro-Choice America and now a senior fellow at the Washington think tank New America. She said the party’s shift “isn’t a surprise to me.”
With less than 50 days until the election, Republican House candidates are testing the waters in real time over how to talk about women’s access to reproductive health care. Young women are more liberal than they were a few decades ago..
At the national level, Donald TrumpRepublican presidential candidate Joe Biden has praised the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson case, but has argued that the decision on whether to allow abortion is best left to individual states, and has distanced himself from a long-standing far-right push for a nationwide abortion ban.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris Democrats who replaced President Joe Biden at the helm of their party have leveraged the vice president’s ability to mobilize women and others, vowing to restore reproductive health care in a campaign that saw rally-goers chant, “We’re not going backwards.”
The campaign for control of the U.S. House of Representatives Still as tight as everA few seats apart will likely determine which party will control a majority in Congress and whether Congress will align with the White House or act as a check on the opposition to the new administration.
Republicans acknowledge they did not expect abortion access to become such a defining issue in 2022 when the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade in Dobbs, ending abortion rights that had been the law of the land for nearly 50 years.
What you need to know about the 2024 election
Republicans said voters didn’t necessarily rank abortion access as a top concern in the 2022 election, but it was a disqualification for candidates deemed too extreme. The anti-abortion movement’s push for a nationwide abortion ban and proposals to roll back sterilization procedures created a new focus. A promised “red wave” of Republican electoral victories in November failed to materialize, and the party narrowly won a majority in the House of Representatives.
By the summer of 2024, a majority of Americans will Federal Abortion Ban And more and more people are accepting abortion for any reason. Increased from 2021, 1 year ago Supreme Court ruling.
In a San Diego-area congressional race, Republican candidate Matt Gunderson spoke directly into the camera and declared, “I’m pro-abortion.”
Jack Pandle, communications director for the Republican National Congressional Committee, said Democrats have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in 2022 “lying about the Republican candidate’s positions on this sensitive and delicate issue.”
“Republicans can no longer tolerate Democrats’ lies. Republicans must fight back against these false attacks clearly, directly and forcefully.”
Still, House Democrats are redoubling their efforts to gain control of the chamber by focusing on House Republican candidates and their past and current views on abortion.
“Republicans are trying to gaslight voters,” said CJ Warnke, communications director for House Majority PAC, an outside group that supports House Democrats.
House Majority PAC is attacking Republicans with millions of dollars’ worth of campaign ads warning against the party’s extreme views on abortion and reproductive health care. The PAC is digging up the voting records, bill sponsors and past comments of both current and new lawmakers, and has pledged to spend at least $100 million on this issue in House races this upcoming election cycle.
Democrats, in many ways, have also followed Harris’ example by becoming more open and forceful in their support for reproductive health care.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-N.Y., chair of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, vowed to “make sure the American people know exactly how Republicans voted to restrict reproductive rights.”
Congress has been a major battleground in the anti-abortion movement’s efforts for decades, with Republicans repeatedly proposing bills to restrict various types of abortion services, including late-term abortions.
Trump and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell achieved the historic feat of confirming three justices to the nine-member Supreme Court during the former president’s term, fulfilling his party’s long-held goal of shifting the court to a conservative majority.
When the Supreme Court upheld Roe v. Wade it was initially celebrated as a victory for conservatives, but the aftermath of the Dobbs decision quickly became a political liability for Republicans as states began enacting anti-abortion laws.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the nation’s leading anti-abortion advocacy groups, urged candidates in a strategy memo to reaffirm their commitment to ending abortion and portrayed Democrats as taking an extreme position seeking to open up abortion access across the country.
But Lawler, a Republican, said it’s important for him to address the issue head-on because Democrats have attacked him as an extremist on the issue. “My constituents have a right to know where I stand,” Lawler said.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
