These idiots just don’t know when to quit
“If Roe v. Wade can fall, anything can fall,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said on Wednesday after Senate Republicans voted to block the Right to Contraception Act from passing. If you were curious, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were the only GOP senators who voted to advance the bill, which should have been non-controversial.
Republicans took nearly 50 years to dismantle Roe v. Wade and they’ve hit a point of no return – the classic no-win scenario in politics where you lose on the issue regardless of what your stance is. Contrary to what casual observers say, supporting Roe v. Wade for a Republican is at least as much of a loser as being against it – as a) the average voter doesn’t believe them and b) a sizable bloc of the GOP is really against it and won’t vote for someone who won’t fight to overturn it.
Once Roe v. Wade was overturned by SCOTUS, Republicans were always going to go after the legality of contraception next (as was the whole self-proclaimed pro-life movement). Now, in a year when Republicans have a fairly favorable map to retaking the Senate, Democrats have each of them on record voting against the right to contraception – an issue that GOP candidates running in Ohio, Montana, and Nevada will absolutely have to take a stand on. We’ve got a difficult map to keeping the Senate tied 50-50, but if we put in the work, we absolutely can win.
Coincidentally, Tim Scott accused Chuck Schumer of demonizing Republicans by holding this vote, which is giving up the game. He’s essentially let them speak and reveal to the public that they’re on the wrong side of the issue. Our job between now and Nov 5 is to make sure the American people know that Republicans are and that they vote accordingly so Democrats keep the Senate.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making