Navigating the Politics of Abortion

Reproductive rights remain frequently discussed within American elections. Opponents often seek to frame Democratic candidates as callous and uncaring around the issue of abortion, but like so many aspects of our politics, this is a gross mischaracterization that cannot be let to stand. We suggest a message that firmly stands up for women’s health and highlights the ways we can reduce the need for abortion, without restricting the right to have one.

Threats to Reproductive Rights

Republicans have consistently launched attacks against reproductive rights over the past decades. At both the federal and state level, they have introduced increasingly restrictive bills to prohibit abortion and limit access to contraception. Senate Republicans, for example, consistently reintroduce a 20-week abortion ban every Congress, even though it clearly violates the standard established by Roe v. Wade. Roe prohibits state or federal governments from restricting abortion before a fetus can survive outside the womb, a standard commonly called “viability.”

Republican abortion restriction bills have now passed at the state level that are directly intended to violate Roe in order to trigger court cases in the hope that the Supreme Court will reverse or roll back its previous rulings on the subject. In fact, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban in the next term. The case will likely be argued next fall, and given the Court’s current 6-3 conservative lean, there is a very real danger the law around Roe will be overruled by next summer—just ahead of the midterms.

At the federal level, Republicans have also targeted the health care funding that flows to organizations like Planned Parenthood, even though federal tax dollars are prohibited from covering abortion. And both domestically and internationally, the previous administration sought to prevent health care providers from even discussing abortion services with their patients. While both these restrictions have been undone by the Biden-Harris administration, they are likely to resurface in the 2022 campaign cycle.

Where Democrats Should Stand

Democrats should definitively support Roe and the ability for health care decisions to be made among a woman, her family, and her doctor. With clear threats on the horizon to the future of Roe, Democrats should also support legislation that would codify its protections and ensure access to comprehensive health care for decades to come. And the public broadly supports this move as well. 6 in 10 Americans consistently say that the framework of Roe should remain the law. Moreover, most Americans (58%) oppose the types of time-based abortion bans Republican continue to put forth. There are also key policies that candidates can support to reduce the need for abortion, without restricting the right to have one. These include:

• Ensuring full access to health care: Anti-abortion policymakers frequently target federal funding, like Title X, for organizations like Planned Parenthood. Title X specifically funds family planning and preventative health care for low-income Americans. Because of federal funding, organizations provide a range of health care services—including primary care, cancer screenings, pregnancy testing and prenatal care, birth control and sex education, HIV and STI testing, and comprehensive health care for LGBT people. They are critical health care providers for Americans in many parts of the country and 75% of voters believe Planned Parenthood should receive federal funding.
• Supporting pregnancy prevention and sexual education programs: The Obama administration helped cut the teen pregnancy rate in half (in fact, to a historic low) by 2016 by promoting evidenced-based sex education and full access to the most effective methods of contraception. Through the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration also ensured that contraceptives were fully covered by insurance, without copays. These programs reduced the need for abortion across the country by minimizing unplanned teen pregnancies, all without invasive restrictions. By the end of the Obama presidency, the abortion rate had fallen to historic lows.
• Supporting pregnant women and new families: The high costs of raising a child have real implications on abortion rates. 73% of women cite not being able to afford a child as one of the reasons they sought an abortion, the second most common reason given. Pro-choice policymakers can also reduce the need for abortion by supporting pregnant women both during and after pregnancy. Democrats have consistently supported policies that support children and mothers, like guaranteeing insurance coverage for maternity, which only 12% of plans covered before the Affordable Care Act. Democrats also expanded health insurance for low-income children and families through Medicaid expansion and the Casey Amendment in the Affordable Care Act, which guaranteed coverage under the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for children living below 250% of the federal poverty line.

Caution Areas

While most Americans believe in retaining the framework of Roe, there are still areas of caution. Voters’ beliefs are often more nuanced than simply being pro-choice or pro-life. Below are two areas where we urge a careful approach. These are places where Republicans in the past have mischaracterized Democratic positions and misled voters. They are important policies, but politically challenging to navigate.

• The Hyde Amendment: In the last presidential election cycle, every major Democratic candidate supported repealing the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits government funding for abortions. There are strong health and equity policy reasons for repealing the Hyde Amendment, and the party has largely coalesced around its repeal. At the same time, it remains a politically sensitive issue, with most Americans still opposing allowing government funding to flow to cover abortion services. When discussing Hyde, reinforce the fact that our current laws disproportionately hurt women of color and low-income women. Instead of broad restrictions on women’s healthcare decisions, we should be working to reduce longstanding inequities. We have shown time and time again that the best way to reduce the need for abortion is to empower women.
• Late Term Abortions: Republicans will seek to make the debate about late term abortion. Like so many other issues, the reality also does not match their rhetoric. Late term abortions are exceedingly rare. 91% of abortions occur before 13 weeks of pregnancy, and just 1.3% occur at or after 21 weeks. While they are rare, late term abortions are often performed in a heart wrenching situation for hopeful parents. In many cases, third trimester abortions occur because a birth defect has been found which would make the child unable to survive outside the womb. Some of these conditions can only be detected in the final trimester. In these instances, women may have to make the hardest decision of their lives. Emphasize that those moments should be navigated by the woman, her family, and her doctor—not Republicans in the Senate.