By Dave Racer, MLitt
The other day I saw a headline. “Michigan about to vote on abortion rights.” Imagine the outrage at a headline in, say, Mississippi. “Mississippi about to vote on the right to own slaves.” God created mankind in His own image – unborn babies and slaves. They deserve protection from those who would own them and those who advocate to terminate their lives.
Try to sell that argument in the midst of an election.
“Why aren’t prolife candidates speaking up about abortion?” a close relative and friend asked. He sees that in Minnesota, the incumbent Gov. Tim Walz, is using abortion rights against GOP challenger, Dr. Scott Jensen – and winning on it. This is happening in come other states as well.
Our electoral politics are poll-driven, I told him. Candidates care about what voters tell them are their main concerns. This time around the issues are safety and security, and our economy. Education remains a factor, but no longer number one. The incumbent governor, and many Democrats are vulnerable on these issues. Republicans have a consistent, long-standing message on safety, security, and economics that resonates with voters. Advantage GOP.
Abortion? Look closely. Few Republican candidates support abolition of abortion. Some support abolition of abortion except when necessary to save the life of the mother. A great number, perhaps political pragmatists, agree that abortion should be banned after 15 weeks (the number is a bit fluid), which aligns with the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, and it is likely that a 15-week test in many states would be a winning position.
Democrats, who are struggling to maintain power in all but the most liberal of states, have only two issues, both of which are powerful, to energize voters. Fear – of Republicans. Abortion “rights.” And Democrats use abortion rights to create fear among voters.
Republicans are not shy about sharing their individual and politically-tested messages on abortion, though candidates’ positions are tested to attract and not repel voters. Clearly, the Democratic Party is the party of extreme abortion rights. The Republican Party is clearly the anti-abortion party – prolife, but not in lockstep agreement.
Which message does the “mainstream” media deliver? “Republicans are absolutists and want to ban all abortion all the time.” Well, no, that is not true, but voters might be buying it.
Which leaves Republicans with the tough task of buying their messages, bypassing the mainstream media, pouring into social media to deliver a nuanced answer. “We want to protect the life of preborn children still in the womb. Therefore, we will support abortion up to the 15th week of gestation, and in the case of rape, incest or saving the life of the mother.” How’s that for convincing? (Not.)
Dr. Alan Keyes, who happens to be a descendent of slaves and a very dark, brown-skinned man, suggests that we cannot leave the decision about abortion to courts and the political process. He argues that human life, whether it relates to liberty for slaves or life for all unborn children, needs protection. Therefore, the efforts to regulate abortion whether by states or the federal government, to Keyes is without merit. Protecting human life is a core value of our form of government. See the Declaration of Independence.
Try to deliver the Keyes’ argument in the throes of an election. Impossible. Try to nuance your position on abortion, and most likely you will violate your own convictions.
Try to answer the incumbent governor, spending a fortune on ads and with the support of mainstream media, with a nuanced response that really does not align with your own values. Impossible, really.
But the public seems to agree that some limits must be placed on abortion. The 15 weeks in Dobbs v Jackson is a publicly comfortable landing point. Rape. Incestual conceptions. These are still babies, and have rights. Demagogues have done a good job of overwhelming these factual arguments with their fear-driven arguments about Republicans “taking away your right to choose.”
Campaigns are not, unfortunately, the place to explain much of anything about values.
