In one election after another—most recently in Ohio—voters keep showing that they will turn out to defend abortion rights. So here’s a real shocker for you from Axios: “Scoop: Democrats double down on abortion message after Ohio vote.” It’s a scoop, do you hear? A scoop!
Just to be clear, per Wikipedia, “In journalism, a scoop or exclusive is an item of news reported by one journalist or news organization before others, and of exceptional originality, importance, surprise, excitement, or secrecy.”
Scoop: Democrats do the single most obvious thing they could do in response to the voting patterns of the past year.
As “well, duh,” as this headline is, it represents a significant change in media coverage from the runup to last year’s midterm elections, when we were offered headline after headline questioning why Democrats would bother campaigning on abortion rights. Think I’m exaggerating?
Moussa offered up a whole thread of examples like that.
So the big news is that Democrats have correctly assessed voters do not like abortion bans and reminding voters that Republicans want to ban abortion could benefit Democrats. The flip side of this, of course, is that Republicans can't quit abortion. They’re standing in that hole, digging furiously.
Witness: “If [Ohio Democratic Sen.] Sherrod Brown wants to run on his support for child gender reassignment surgery and painful abortions up to the moment of birth, we'll welcome that," a National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman told Axios. First, no one is giving trans children surgery. In some cases teenagers get surgery, but it’s simply not happening with the young children Republicans want you to think of here
Second, he wants to talk about “painful abortions up to the moment of birth”? If he really wants to talk about physical pain, giving birth is painful, and this sounds kind of like a man lecturing women about something they know far more about than he does. But the deeper truth is that many abortions later in pregnancy are painful in the emotional sense. It’s because of the reasons they’re happening—because a wanted pregnancy has turned out not to be viable or the health of the mother is at risk. But “spare yourself the sorrow of abortion and wait for a stillbirth or to deliver a child that will suffer for the few minutes or hours it lives” is also not a powerful argument.
Republicans keep thinking if they just find the right wording for their claims that Democrats are the real extremists, they will win over voters on abortion. It’s not happening. Women know that it’s about taking away their rights.
The good news here is that in 2022, Democrats didn’t let the media convince them abortion was a losing issue. They see the data from a series of special elections in which Democrats have outperformed expectations as well as this week’s Ohio vote. This is an encouraging bullet point in the Axios write-up:
Republicans wouldn’t be defending most of those seats if New York Democrats had been halfway competent in 2022, but it’s good there’s a plan to unshit that particular bed.
Abortion rights aren’t important just to help Democrats win: If Ohio voters go to the polls this November and protect reproductive freedom, that’s a huge win no matter which candidates the state goes for in 2024. But if it’s an issue that can help propel more Democrats into office where they can take further action to protect those rights and others, then they should absolutely use it. And the media should stop being surprised.
Sign the petition: Protect and expand abortion rights at the state level.
Just to be clear, per Wikipedia, “In journalism, a scoop or exclusive is an item of news reported by one journalist or news organization before others, and of exceptional originality, importance, surprise, excitement, or secrecy.”
Scoop: Democrats do the single most obvious thing they could do in response to the voting patterns of the past year.
As “well, duh,” as this headline is, it represents a significant change in media coverage from the runup to last year’s midterm elections, when we were offered headline after headline questioning why Democrats would bother campaigning on abortion rights. Think I’m exaggerating?
Moussa offered up a whole thread of examples like that.
So the big news is that Democrats have correctly assessed voters do not like abortion bans and reminding voters that Republicans want to ban abortion could benefit Democrats. The flip side of this, of course, is that Republicans can't quit abortion. They’re standing in that hole, digging furiously.
Witness: “If [Ohio Democratic Sen.] Sherrod Brown wants to run on his support for child gender reassignment surgery and painful abortions up to the moment of birth, we'll welcome that," a National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman told Axios. First, no one is giving trans children surgery. In some cases teenagers get surgery, but it’s simply not happening with the young children Republicans want you to think of here
Second, he wants to talk about “painful abortions up to the moment of birth”? If he really wants to talk about physical pain, giving birth is painful, and this sounds kind of like a man lecturing women about something they know far more about than he does. But the deeper truth is that many abortions later in pregnancy are painful in the emotional sense. It’s because of the reasons they’re happening—because a wanted pregnancy has turned out not to be viable or the health of the mother is at risk. But “spare yourself the sorrow of abortion and wait for a stillbirth or to deliver a child that will suffer for the few minutes or hours it lives” is also not a powerful argument.
Republicans keep thinking if they just find the right wording for their claims that Democrats are the real extremists, they will win over voters on abortion. It’s not happening. Women know that it’s about taking away their rights.
The good news here is that in 2022, Democrats didn’t let the media convince them abortion was a losing issue. They see the data from a series of special elections in which Democrats have outperformed expectations as well as this week’s Ohio vote. This is an encouraging bullet point in the Axios write-up:
Republicans wouldn’t be defending most of those seats if New York Democrats had been halfway competent in 2022, but it’s good there’s a plan to unshit that particular bed.
Abortion rights aren’t important just to help Democrats win: If Ohio voters go to the polls this November and protect reproductive freedom, that’s a huge win no matter which candidates the state goes for in 2024. But if it’s an issue that can help propel more Democrats into office where they can take further action to protect those rights and others, then they should absolutely use it. And the media should stop being surprised.
Sign the petition: Protect and expand abortion rights at the state level.