NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Prominent Republicans and conservatives are reminding anti-abortion voters that the fight for life does not end when the Supreme Court hands down its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
But with the Supreme Court poised to overturn half a century of pro-abortion Roe v. Wade precedent through Dobbs, the anti-abortion movement is planning next steps that account for a possible drop in enthusiasm after notching a historic achievement.
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Anti-abortion advocates, such as Faith and Freedom Coalition Executive Director Timothy Head, are wary of “a waning activity level” such as that seen after the 2015 Supreme Court gay marriage case Obergefell v. Hodges.
“The interest was the same, but the energy was not the same immediately after analogously getting a huge kind of generational win for an issue that they care about,” Head told the Washington Examiner.
Simultaneously, camps for and against abortion rights are grappling with Dobbs “misunderstanding” and “misinformation,” according to Head.
“A lot of pro-choice activists are distraught thinking that this Dobbs opinion is going to end abortion. That’s not accurate,” Head said. “There’s a lot of premature celebration among pro-life activists that this is similarly going to end abortion.”
“It will just change the battlefield, so to speak, of the debate and shift to state legislatures and to state supreme courts,” he added.
Head moderated a breakout workshop called “Life Is On the Line: What Does the Future of the Pro-Life Movement Look Like from Here?” during last weekend’s Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual Road to Majority conference in Nashville. Head was joined by Human Coalition Action’s national legislative adviser, Chelsey Youman, the pair huddling with a passionate, emotional crowd in a Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center mezzanine conference room.
Youman’s overarching post-Dobbs objective is still the creation of a right to life, followed by the passage of a national heartbeat law or federal abortion-alternative program funding. Heartbeat legislation, including Texas‘s iteration, bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy when proponents contend a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
When it comes to states, Youman is pushing protection at conception measures first before their heartbeat counterparts, in addition to long-arm jurisdiction bills and abortion-alternative funding. And more broadly, she is recommending Texas-like civil enforcement mechanisms to deny abortion providers the option to sue states proactively.
“In lots of states, if a company markets to your state and you get injured by that company, or if you’re in another state and in a car accident, you can sue someone for wrongful death,” she said of her long-arm jurisdiction projects. “So it creates a wrongful death cause of action against an out-of-state abortion provider for illegally killing a Texan child or child in the womb.”
After the workshop, the Rev. Frank Pavone shared how his Priests for Life group was preparing to engage the public concerning Dobbs and meet an anticipated uptick in pregnancy and family support demand.
“It will become clear soon enough that there’s a lot more work to do — not only in the states but also in the Congress because the members of Congress now, as we speak, are speaking among themselves and figuring out what kind of national law do they want to pass,” he said.
Downstairs outside the convention hall, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel underscored the political violence that has erupted since Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito‘s draft Dobbs opinion was leaked in May. Alito’s colleague, Brett Kavanaugh, was the target of an assassination attempt this month, while churches and pregnancy resource centers have been threatened, vandalized, and even firebombed.
But McDaniel dismissed speculation the violence could motivate anti-abortion voters to take part in the 2022 midterm elections and downplayed how Dobbs could suppress turnout.
“I think it’s too early to tell. I also think it’s a long way away,” she said in an interview about the fall cycle.
McDaniel aides supplied RNC polling conducted last month that found a statistical tie between Democrats and Republicans when respondents were questioned in relation to the repercussions Dobbs would have on their vote.
“Even with increased media attention, abortion is not the winning issue Democrats think it is, and the economy, crime, and the border remain the top issues for voters,” an RNC memo stated. “When asked if you would be more likely, less likely or remain as likely to vote in November because of the recent news, 49% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans answered more likely.”
In comparison, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rick Scott (R-FL) were confident anti-abortion voters would be more energized because, at least according to Blackburn, “they will see the fruit of their labor.”
“People are more pro-life now than ever, and that’s because of the great organizations, the great churches, the great volunteers that have been out here talking about the value of life,” she said backstage.
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“People are excited,” Scott, chairman of the Senate Republican campaign committee, added. “They know that liberty and freedom and the things we believe in, they’re fleeting. We have to continue to elect people that are going to do what we believe in.”
