Moving the Needle on the Abortion Issue

8/2/23

I’d like to think that people of goodwill could listen to each other and find ways to accommodate to the points of view and perspectives of the other side. If only. That optimism seems quaintly naïve on some hot button issues. The abortion issue is one. It’s hard to ask someone who thinks of abortion as murder to compromise — to allow what they view as murder to be committed sometimes. Finding any kind of middle ground with people of this perspective simply isn’t possible.

The absolutist position of pro-choice advocates, on the other hand, is that the decision to have an abortion is an entirely personal one, where the government should have no role whatsoever. The idea that, somehow, government officials could override private decisions made by women and their health care providers is an anathema. Putting time limits on abortions might seem like a compromise, but it still ends up rescinding the right to choose for people who learn or process critical information about their own health or that of their fetus beyond some arbitrary date — not one that recognizes their own circumstances but rather one imposed by a political dictate.

Currently the right to an abortion is regulated, state-by-state, with full abortion bans (i.e., outlawed in all cases) in these 14 states: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The common denominator is that these states have Republican controlled state houses.

It’s unsettling to me that some Americans enjoy rights that others don’t — at least regarding something as fundamental as healthcare and family planning. That just doesn’t seem right. Regardless, we’re stuck with this hodgepodge of regulations unless or until Congress passes legislation that overrides the respective state rules — not likely without unified control of both houses and the White House by one or the other of our two major parties.

A recent Pew poll found 61 percent of their sample favoring the right to abortion in most cases, with few exceptions. I suppose it’s possible that this breakdown might not be representative of every state, but it’s hard to imagine that it doesn’t generally reflect the majority sentiment of Americans. If so, it would seem that elected representatives in many state legislatures have allowed the predominant views of their constituents to be disregarded. If ever there were an issue that cried out for referenda for resolution, this one more than qualifies. Let the people vote on it and let the will of the majority prevail. Isn’t that what democracy is all about?

Given the high level of both interest and passion regarding this issue, I’d expect to see ballot initiatives seeking clarifications or revisions on abortion laws in virtually every state; but, according to the Catholic News Agency, referenda are expected or likely to be held in only seven states at or before the 2024 election. Two of those states are New York and Maryland, which are already in the prochoice column, but where the referenda are intended to strengthen pro-choice protections. In the other states — Florida, Michigan, Vermont, Ohio, and South Dakota — referenda, if passed, would significantly expand abortion rights where those rights have been sharply abridged following the Dobbs decision.

(As an aside, Ohio is an especially odious case. Their abortion referendum is schedule to take place this November; but abortion foes who see the handwriting on the wall have managed to put through a different referendum next week that would require all future ballot initiatives in Ohio to pass by a 60 percent majority in order to become law. I guess anything goes in Ohio — even democracy.)

Why aren’t we seeing ballot initiatives on abortion in every state? Perhaps some efforts may be underway in this regard that neither I nor the Catholic News Agency has uncovered, but still. . . This issue seems to me to be a winning one for the Democratic party, and the party’s inaction and low profile represent a lost opportunity. Individual democratic candidates are promoting their prochoice credentials; but the party, itself, should more affirmatively embrace the prochoice posture as as a critical element of its platform and use the issue to boost voter turnout and enhance the chances of a Democratic sweep. It’s time for the Democrats to step up and turn the controversy about abortion to its advantage. We should see prochoice ballot initiatives on abortion in every state in the union come November 2024, and the Democratic Party should be public about sponsoring every one of them.

Have feedback? Send me an email at igkawaller@gmail.com.