How would it benefit Republicans if abortion were banned?

[elperromagico]

Abortion is an issue that works for them. They can win pro-life voters by talking about how much they disagree with abortion, while hanging on to their share of the pro-choice vote by doing next to nothing to stop abortion.

If you believe last year's exit polls, roughly 55% of the nation's voters felt that abortion should be either always or mostly legal. Bush picked up the votes of approximately 33% of this group. That's about 18% of the total vote.

I think it's safe to assume that a sizable percentage of that 18% would have voted against Bush if they'd thought he would take action to ban abortion. Probably enough to swing the election in Kerry's favor.

This brings me back to my original point. Republicans in general and Republican presidential nominees in particular are having their cake and eating it too on the issue of abortion. They can satisfy the pro-life base by giving speeches about the sanctity of life or by phoning in a speech to a pro-life rally, while at the same time making moderate pro-choicers comfortable with voting for them through their lack of real action.

What, then, is the benefit of throwing away an issue that resonates so well for them?

[BlueEyedSon]

1. It wouldn't, that's why they will never really do it.

They will however continue to use the issue to whip their base into a holy frenzy.

And the "base" will never catch on....!

[dorktv]

2. One dead woman is too many.

[phantom power]

3. Some prefer to exploit it, but others are "true believers."

The true believers want to end abortion, simple as that. And they have a growing power over federal politics.

[Carla in Ca]

10. I heard or read somewhere recently of a question to ask

all those who want to make abortion illegal.
'When it is illegal, what punishment do you propose for the doctors and the women? Do you want perhaps thousands of women put in jail?'

I'd love to hear the answer.

[elperromagico]

14. Oddly enough, Chris Matthews asked that question of Pat Toomey,

the man who ran against Arlen Specter for the GOP nomination in PA last year.

Toomey was at a total loss to answer the question.

[Carla in Ca]

15. Well, there you go.

I think we have finally come up with a retort, wouldn't you say?
Let's start using it!
Thanks for posting that:-)

[elperromagico]

18. Most pro-lifers will argue that abortion doctors should be punished.

That was Toomey's position.

But that doesn't make sense if you carry to its logical conclusion. If abortion is murder and a woman hires someone to perform an abortion for her, how will she be any different from the person who hires a contract killer to commit a murder? There are plenty of people in prison who hired someone else to commit a murder for them.

The "abortion is murder and should be illegal" argument putters along just fine until you ask what they'd do to the people seeking abortions. Then the engine falters.

[phantom power]

23. It used to be doctors were punished. Lost their license?

[MarvinBarns]

4. Fight Right Wingers

After they take over your bodies and minds. They take over everything. They want power, absolute power.

[physioex]

5. This is a Non-Issue, Issue.....

All of us are "pro-life" and no one wants a women to go through an abortion, but in the end it is a personal choice. The conservatives are the ones that want "government of peoples backs".

Anyways I digress, this is an old issue. Let's look at the economics of abortion politics. How much money do people like Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, and Randall Terry raise by rallying their base? And if all of a sudden there was this ban on abortion, what issue could they use to rake in the millions from the sheeple?

[Caution]

6. It's an issue that won't go away for them

If they make it illegal (which they will), then they will claim that you can't vote for a Democrat because the Dems will bring abortion back. For them it's the issue that just keeps giving.

[elperromagico]

7. You make a good point.

I'm sure the Republicans could make hay out of it regardless of its legality or illegality.

At the same time, there is a large and as yet untapped group of voters who are liberal or moderate on social issues but vote Republican for economic reasons. They like tax cuts or they like this or they like that.

How many of those voters would defect from the Republicans if abortion were suddenly a criminal act?

[AndyTiedye]

8. They Would Ban Abortion And Then Go After Birth Control

They would push through a ban on abortion, and then expand the definition of abortion to include more and more methods of birth control, until reproductive freedom is no more.
They have made no attempt to conceal their agenda.

Successfully banning abortion would greatly energize their fundie base, but it would only be the beginning for them.



They don't need a majority, they have

Guess who owns Diebold?

They need their fundie base energized enough to shout down (and shoot down) the screams of "FRAUD!!!!" when the Bushbots "win" with approval ratings in the 20s and 30s.
It has been all about energizing their base of religious fanatics for over a year now, at least. That's why he was eating cake while New Orleans drowned.

[Rockholm]

9. There'd be more repugs in trailer parks raising kids.

[Wordie]

11. It would hurt them. They would lose their MAJOR wedge issue.

Would many find the Republicans so appealing if it weren't for this issue? Once it was decided, many would wake up and find out that they had lost their jobs, personal liberties, and just about everything, while focused on this issue alone.

[blondeatlast]

12. The sooner the Fundies are made aware of how they are being used by the

neocons, the better off we will all be.

[Ignacio Upton]

13. Kiss the GOP goodbye

They will lose the support of moderate suburbanites, particularly soccer/security moms. The majority of people nation-wide are PRO-CHOICE and contrary to what one poster suggested, any party promising to bring back Roe v. Wade would do well. People won't realize that they have no privacy until they lose it with the end of Roe v. Wade.

[roseBudd]

16. Ask them if they want to pay more taxes for all the children people were

aborting because they could not afford to have them.

[snippy]

17. Good question, but since most Coat Hanger Republicans are also

Tax Cut Monkeys they would just say that the government should not pay anything to provide any services to such children. And since neither Coat Hanger Republicans nor Tax Cut Monkeys are pro-life they would not care if such children died.

[elperromagico]

19. The basic pro-life/conservative argument

is this:

A. Birth control is a no-no. If a poor woman doesn't want to get pregnant, she just shouldn't have sex,

B. If she gets pregnant, she must carry the baby to term because life is precious,

C. If she gives birth, her baby's a worthless welfare baby.

[zanne]

20. They'll do it slowly....

I really don't think they want abortion gone--it's much too big an issue for me and I'm sure they don't want to lose it. The more probablle scenario is that they'll slowly chip away at abortion rights, trying case after case, getting the fundie Christians praying every time and praising Jesus with each small victory. It's a sure way to keep their base enthused, interested and generous with their campaign contributions.

[Iris]

21. I guess some SUV-moms might flip their vehicles when they hear

they have to present a marriage certificate in order to get a diaphram after Griswold v. CT gets overturned. Of course, this would be AFTER the bill is banned as an abortificant.

[Mountainman]

22. Possibly if abortion were banned then it would prove to the fundies that

supporting repukes is the thing to do. There would be another issues to divide the country and that would take abortion's place as a wedge issue.

[Cosmocat]

24. It is mindboggling ...

Abortion and gun control ...

Like, the Ds are actually going to take peoples guns away ... But, every freakin election, they rake in the fear of losing guns and anti-abortion votes ...