A new Washington Post report highlights that Republicans are planning to push a hardline national abortion-ban bill that would outlaw abortion after 6 weeks, if they take back Congress in November.
According to the Post, sitting GOP U.S. Senators like James Lankford and Joni Ernst are directly involved in plotting to gather support for and introduce a national abortion ban bill.
Republicans’ commitment to outlawing abortion raises the stakes for the 2022 midterms, and it only further emphasizes the danger of electing any of the many 2022 GOP U.S. Senate candidates who are openly campaigning on their opposition to abortion rights.
Washington Post: The next frontier for the antiabortion movement: A nationwide ban
By Caroline Kitchener, 5/2/22
- “Leading antiabortion groups and their allies in Congress have been meeting behind the scenes to plan a national strategy that would kick in if the Supreme Court rolls back abortion rights this summer, including a push for a strict nationwide ban on the procedure if Republicans retake power in Washington.”
- “While a number of states have recently approved laws to ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy — the limit established in the Mississippi legislation at the heart of the case pending before the high court — some activists and Republican lawmakers now say those laws are not ambitious enough for the next phase of the antiabortion movement.”
- “Instead, they now see the six-week limit — which they call ‘heartbeat’ legislation — as the preferred strategy because it would prevent far more abortions.”
- “Washington Post-ABC News polls show that about 6 in 10 Americans oppose overturning Roe, a number that has hardly changed in the past two decades.”
Here’s where the 2022 Republican Senate candidates stand on overturning Roe v. Wade and backing hardline bans to outlaw abortion:
Arizona
- Every GOP Senate candidate running in Arizona supports overturning Roe v. Wade and outlawing abortion. Read Tucson Weekly’s report from October.
Colorado
- Ron Hanks is currently pushing a bill to criminalize abortion in Colorado and “enforce homicide and assault provisions without regard to the opinion of the United States [S]upreme [C]ourt in Roe v. Wade and other supreme court decisions, past and future.”
- Joe O’Dea has slammed Colorado’s legislative effort to codify abortion rights in a way that’s aligned with Roe v. Wade.
Florida
Georgia
- Herschel Walker supports fully outlawing abortion, including in cases of rape and incest.
Missouri
- Eric Schmitt signed Missouri onto a brief supporting Mississippi’s highly-restrictive abortion ban that has no exceptions for rape or incest. And he’s asked the Supreme Court to use Missouri’s abortion restriction as a test case t ooverturn Roe v. Wade.
- Eric Greitens pushed abortion restrictions as governor and he has said Roe v. Wade should be “sent to the ash heap of history.”
- Vicky Hartzler has said the Supreme Court should overturn Roe v. Wade.
- Billy Long has said it’s time to “abort Roe v. Wade.”
- Mark McCloskey endorsed a total ban outlawing all abortions, including for teen rape and incest victims.
North Carolina
- Ted Budd in April 2022 confirmed he supports outlawing abortion without any exceptions. Prevously, Budd praised the “creativity” of Alabama and Texas’ hardline abortion bans, and pledged to outlaw abortion “all the way back.” Budd in July 2021 asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, and he’s voted against codifying Roe’s protections.
- Pat McCrory as governor reneged on a promise to not restrict abortion rights.
- Mark Walker as a U.S. House member sponsored legislation that anti-abortion groups praised because it would “end abortion” rights. He’s urged the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and praised Texas and Mississippi’s hardline abortion bans.
Nevada
- Adam Laxalt has, despite widespread support for abortion rights in Nevada, “taken strongly anti-abortion positions” including by describing “himself as an opponent of abortion and, as attorney general, signed briefs supporting restrictive abortion laws in other states.” Abortion advocates in Nevada have vocally opposed his candidacy.
New Hampshire
- Don Bolduc has been clear he is “not for abortion.”
- Chuck Morse is a longtime opponent of abortion rights and says he opposes the Women’s Health Protection Act. Morse has supported defunding Planned Parenthood. And as state Senate President, Morse was part of the legislative leadership team that added a highly-restrictive abortion ban to New Hampshire’s most recent budget, requiring mandatory ultrasounds for all people seeking abortion health care and punishment for doctors who provide abortions.
- Kevin Smith ran a failed campaign for governor in 2012, and has previously backed efforts to ban abortion and supported defunding Planned Parenthood as well as imprisoning physicians who perform abortions. He also opposes the Women’s Health Protection Act.
Ohio
- Josh Mandel has called for banning all abortion and fully overturning Roe v. Wade.
- Mike Gibbons reaffirmed his anti-Roe agenda after the Texas’ hardline abortion ban went into effect.
- JD Vance suggested other states pass copy-and-paste versions of the Texas law. And he has argued against abortion ban exceptions for rape and incest, downplaying pregnancy stemming from sexual assault as “inconvenient.”
- Matt Dolan opposes abortion rights.
Pennsylvania
- Every GOP candidate running supports outlawing abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.
Wisconsin
Published: May 2, 2022 | Last Modified: May 3, 2022