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Partway through the third Republican presidential primary debate, Sen. Tim Scott was asked about his vision for a path forward on abortion policy. “Well, I’m 100% pro-life; I have a 100% pro-life voting record,” the South Carolinian said. “I would certainly, as president of the United States, have a 15-week national limit.”
What about states that wanted to go in a more progressive direction? Scott endorsed a federal policy that would prevent these states from implementing reproductive rights proposals he deemed “unethical and immoral.”
At the same event, Vivek Ramaswamy condemned the abortion rights measure Ohio voters added to the state constitution a day earlier. “It was my home state of Ohio, I’m upset about this, yesterday, that passed a constitutional amendment that now effectively codifies a right to abortion all the way up to the time of birth without parental consent,” the GOP entrepreneur claimed.
His description wasn’t accurate, but it was emblematic of a larger truth: Republicans heard what voters had to say in the 2023 election cycle, but many in the party still aren’t listening. HuffPost reported:
Congressional Republicans aren’t giving up on efforts to pass legislation sharply limiting abortion nationwide despite their party’s losses in Tuesday’s elections, which saw Democrats notching huge victories for abortion rights. Staunchly anti-abortion lawmakers argued that the GOP needs to work even harder to persuade voters of their cause and redouble their efforts to pass a ban on abortion after 15 weeks at a minimum.
Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio told reporters, “We can’t give in to the idea that the federal Congress has no role in this matter because if it doesn’t, then the pro-life movement is basically not going to exist, I think, for the next couple of years.
Around the same time, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina confirmed to NBC News that he plans to “eventually” reintroduce the 15-week federal abortion ban he first unveiled in September 2022. Vance said he agrees with Graham’s proposal.
In fairness, it’s worth emphasizing that several prominent GOP voices said they weren’t on board with a federal ban that would negate progressive state-based policies, but the fact remains that a variety of Republicans — on Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trail — came away from Tuesday’s election results with ideas about a new national policy that would ban abortions.
To briefly recap, in the aftermath of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Republicans struggled in 2022 special elections. And then again in the 2022 midterms. And then again in 2023 special elections. And then again in this week’s 2023 off-year elections. One of the common threads tying together the results: Most Americans believe the GOP is wrong about reproductive rights.
If Democrats are fortunate, Republicans like Vance, Graham, and Scott won’t change a thing.