Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, are continuing to remind voters of what is at stake in this year’s elections — including reproductive rights.
If in control of the House and Senate after the midterm elections, Democrats are set to pursue further options for protecting abortion at the federal level after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The House, with Democrats currently in control, has already passed such protections, although the Senate’s currently slim Democratic majority — without guaranteed consensus on measures protecting access to reproductive healthcare or changes to the chamber’s procedural rules to allow passing such protections — has faced greater difficulty. Adding to the Senate’s Democratic majority with wins in Pennsylvania and Ohio or North Carolina could change the relevant factors to the point of success.
And if Republicans win? Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) already introduced a 15-week abortion ban at the federal level, with support from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who’s up for re-election this year. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), who is running for re-election, and Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz, aka Dr. Oz, have both expressed support for locally making decisions about abortion policy rather than doing so at the federal level. But what if their positions change if they win in November? It’s not that difficult to imagine the possibility. Johnson and Oz wouldn’t have to return before voters for six years, a time period in which a lot can change — and in which concerns about acting in actual accordance with constituents’ wishes can fade. And that doesn’t even cover something like a GOP-led Congress passing something like new election restrictions or rollbacks of LGBTQ+ rights and healthcare opportunities.
“Hi everybody,” Obama said. “With so much at stake in the midterm elections coming up, it’s critical to get out the vote for Democrats up and down the ballot. The power to protect reproductive rights and codify Roe is in our hands. We just have to use it. So don’t wait. Head to IWillVote.com to make a plan to vote today.” The website to which Obama pointed listeners is a project of the Democratic National Committee. Early voting is already underway in many locales, with millions of ballots already cast.
The right to choose is on the ballot this November, and President @BarackObama is firing up voters to elect Democrats up and down the ticket.
Head to https://t.co/ZKn8fJEh9z to make your plan to vote before Election Day. pic.twitter.com/Oxc3b3XT4W
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) October 26, 2022
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
