That has left Democrats and abortion-rights groups looking ahead to the midterms, hoping that the abortion fight will turn their fortunes around in a hugely challenging year for the party.
“It is Republicans across the country who are vowing to criminalize abortion, and Republicans who have fought to take away our freedom to make our own health care decisions,” said Ronja Abel, a spokeswoman for Emily’s List. “Democrats are united in understanding abortion is on the ballot this election, and the only way to prevent states from enacting cruel and punishing laws taking away our freedoms is to elect a pro-choice Democratic majority.”
Understand the State of Roe v. Wade
Card 1 of 4What is Roe v. Wade? Roe v. Wade is a landmark Supreme court decision that legalized abortion across the United States. The 7-2 ruling was announced on Jan. 22, 1973. Justice Harry A. Blackmun, a modest Midwestern Republican and a defender of the right to abortion, wrote the majority opinion.
What was the case about? The ruling struck down laws in many states that had barred abortion, declaring that they could not ban the procedure before the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb. That point, known as fetal viability, was around 28 weeks when Roe was decided. Today, most experts estimate it to be about 23 or 24 weeks.
What else did the case do? Roe v. Wade created a framework to govern abortion regulation based on the trimesters of pregnancy. In the first trimester, it allowed almost no regulations. In the second, it allowed regulations to protect women’s health. In the third, it allowed states to ban abortions so long as exceptions were made to protect the life and health of the mother. In 1992, the court tossed that framework, while affirming Roe’s essential holding.
What would happen if Roe were overturned? Individual states would be able to decide whether and when abortions would be legal. The practice would likely be banned or restricted heavily in about half of them, but many would continue to allow it. Thirteen states have so-called trigger laws, which would immediately make abortion illegal if Roe were overturned.
Democrats wondering what went wrong
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, speaking at Planned Parenthood’s headquarters in Los Angeles on Wednesday, asked why Democrats who control Washington weren’t doing more.
“I’ve felt this enormous sense of frustration,” he said. “Like, where the hell is my party? Where’s the Democratic Party?
“Why aren’t we standing up more firmly, more resolutely?” he added.
Newsom pressed Democrats to develop a counteroffensive to combat misinformation from Republicans, not just on abortion but also on issues like critical race theory.
He praised Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Californian, saying she had delivered, but he lamented that the Senate wasn’t picking up her momentum. He said he understood that President Biden was “doing all he can to deal with a hundred different crises,” but argued that Democrats needed to do more.
“Yes, they’re winning,” Newsom said of Republicans, who have enacted legislation across the country on a spectrum of conservative priorities. “They are. They have been. Let’s acknowledge that. We need to stand up. Where’s the counteroffensive?”