Posts tagged with "Roe. v. Wade"

Above, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Photo source: Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore)

Ted Cruz proposes constitutional amendment to stop Supreme Court-packing

March 24, 2023

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a constitutional amendment on Wednesday, March 22, which would cap the Supreme Court at nine justices, in a bid to quash the desire among some Democrats to expand the bench and dilute the current conservative majority, reports The Hill.

Expanding the Supreme Court became a popular policy idea for some liberals after former President Donald Trump was able to appoint three justices during his term and give the court a 6-3 conservative majority. Talk of expanding the court intensified after it overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

“The Democrats’ answer to a Supreme Court that is dedicated to upholding the rule of law and the Constitution is to pack it with liberals who will rule the way they want,” Cruz said in a statement announcing the move. “The Supreme Court should be independent, not inflated by every new administration. That’s why I’ve introduced a constitutional amendment to permanently keep the number of justices at nine.”

But even as Democrats reel from the court’s stripping of federal abortion protections, President Joe Biden and others in Democratic leadership have not joined in calls for expanding the high court. Biden came out firmly against the idea of court expansion last year.

Proponents of expansion argue that the status quo allows for effective minority rule, with an activist conservative court overruling policies and laws passed by elected Democratic lawmakers—and potentially even changing the electoral landscape to benefit Republicans for years to come.

Other critics of the conservative court have suggested limited terms for justices, who are currently appointed for life, as a way to make the court’s power less entrenched.

The Cruz bill picked up support from ten other Senate Republicans, including Senators Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

“For years the left has been desperate to pack the court to promote their radical agenda,” Hawley said in a statement. “We must ensure that we stay true to the court’s founding principles, maintain the precedent of nine justices, and keep the Democrats from their brazen attempts to rig our democracy.”

Research contact: @thehill

Above, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gaveled the vote as Democrats cheered. (Photo source: Marvin Joseph for The Washington Post)

Same-sex marriage finally will be written into law

December 12, 2022

After decades of inaction and months of back-and-forths between the House and Senate, lawmakers finally sent a bill to the President Joe Biden’s desk on Thursday, December 8, that would, for the first time ever, codify national same-sex marriage rights into law, reports The Daily Beast.

The House passed a final version of the Marriage Equality Bill (Bill 258-169) by a vote of 258-169, with all Democrats and 39 House Republicans voting in favor of the legislation.

Before this summer, same-sex marriage wasn’t really on Congress’ radar. But after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a decision that sent shockwaves across the nation, things changed.

Many pointed out how Justice Clarence Thomas seemed to be targeting other rights, like gay marriage, in his abortion opinion. With Democrats unable to cobble together the numbers to codify abortion rights, they moved on to protecting same-sex marriage. And they were met with some surprising levels of support—at least at first.

In the House, the original bill passed with the support of 47 Republicans. Democrats rejoiced at the moment of bipartisan agreement. But as the bill went to the Senate, prospects changed.

Led by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), who is gay, Senate Democrats struggled to assure that ten Senate Republicans would join them in supporting the proposal and averting a filibuster. Some early supporters emerged, like Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), whose son is gay. But others hemmed and hawed, voicing concerns about religious liberties and protections they felt weren’t concrete in the bill text. Some senators swore they wouldn’t unveil their position until Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) put it to a vote.

Ultimately, Schumer kicked back the vote on the bill until after the midterms in an apparent bid to give Republicans some breathing room.

The bill would ensure that the federal government recognizes same-sex marriages, even if a couple is in a state that does not. Some changes to the bill were made in the Senate to ensure religious liberties were intact, like ensuring religious non-profit groups would not have to perform same-sex marriages.

Last week, the Senate passed the proposal, 61-36. It got tossed back to the House for this final vote before heading to President Joe Biden, who’s sure to sign it into law.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) gaveled the vote as Democratic members on the floor cheered.

“Americans have grown accustomed knowing that they have a constitutional right to equal marriage. Those living in same sex and interracial marriages should not have to live with the fear that their government could rescind legal recognition of their families at any moment,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) said on the floor, adding, “That’s not America. That’s not content of character.”

Research contact: @thedailybeast

Above, findings of an NBC News survey conducted November 3-5. (Visual source: NBC News)

Democrats catch up to GOP on enthusiasm in final NBC News poll before midterms

November 9, 2022

The final national NBC News poll of the 2022 midterms finds a highly competitive campaign landscape ahead of Election Day. While Democrats have pulled even with Republicans in enthusiasm, President Joe Biden remains unpopular and voters express deep dissatisfaction about the state of the country.

NBC News reports that 48% of likely voters say they prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress as the outcome of Tuesday’s elections, while 47% prefer a Republican-controlled Congress.

That’s a reversal from October, when 48% preferred a GOP-controlled Congress versus 47% who wanted Democrats in charge—although the shift is well within the poll’s margin of error.

Among all registered voters, congressional preference is tied at 47%-47%—essentially unchanged from last month, when Democrats held a narrow 1-point edge, 47%-46%.

Yet what has changed in the poll is that Democrats have caught up to Republicans in election interest. An identical 73% of Democrats and Republicans express high interest, registering either a “9” or “10” on a 10-point scale.

In October’s NBC News poll, Republicans held a 9-point advantage in high voter interest, 78% to 69%, after Democrats had previously closed the enthusiasm gap following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June.

Still, the overall political environment remains grim for Democrats. Only 44% of voters approve of President Biden’s job performance, while 53% disapprove; more than 70% think the country is headed in the wrong direction; and a combined 81% say they are “very” or “somewhat” dissatisfied with the U.S. economy.

What’s more, 47% of all voters say they want a “great deal” of change in direction from the way in which Biden has been leading the country — higher than what the poll showed for the first midterms for Donald Trump (44%), Barack Obama (41%) and Bill Clinton (36%), all of which resulted in midterm election drubbings for those past presidents.

“President Biden and the Democrats are in for a miserable election,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted this survey with Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt and his team at Hart Research.

“The Democrats have to run way ahead of the president to win a statewide race,” said McInturff. “I would expect to see to see a large number of losses in the House and possibly a switch in control of the Senate.”

But Horwitt counters that, despite those traditional midterm fundamentals, Democrats have made this election competitive, which could save Democrats in some contests.

“In January, if you told me that the national political dynamics would not improve but Democrats had a fighting chance to avert a typical first midterm shellacking, I’d take it,” he said.

“And here we are,” Horwitt added.

Other findings

38% of all voters say they’ve already voted, either by mail (19%) or early in person (19%); another 13% say they plan to vote early, and 45% say they will be voting at the polls on Election Day.
Former President Barack Obama is the most popular figure measured in the poll (at 51% positive, 37% negative)—followed by President Biden (42% positive, 50% negative), the Democratic Party (38% positive, 47% negative), the Republican Party (35% positive, 48% negative) and former President Donald Trump (35% positive, 55% negative).
Voters are divided on their choice of the bigger concern about the upcoming election: 47% are more concerned that Republicans will take control of Congress and make the wrong kinds of changes, versus 45% who are more concerned that Democrats will continue to control Congress and not make enough change.

Research contact: @NBCNews

Above, the Mitch McConnell dildo will benefit abortion rights. (Photo source: Scouted/The Daily Beast/Dame)

Mitch McConnell dildo supports abortion rights

October 7, 2022

Sexual wellness brand Dame has released a dildo partially-molded with the face of anti-choice politician, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, reports The Daily Beast.

The brand launched the unusual sex toy as a part of a new campaign—‘Get F*cked by the Government on Your Own Terms.’ The campaign comes in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade; a decision, The Daily Beast said, “that was undoubtedly the result of the Kentucky senator’s long-term agenda to ensure his legacy of attacking women’s rights by strategically establishing a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.”

Dame’s decision to create this limited-edition love toy bearing Mitchell McConnell’s portrait was a natural choice, the company notes, as he’s become the face of extreme anti-abortion discourse—but the campaign is aimed to call out every anti-choice advocate blocking access to critical healthcare.

“Mitch McConnell has been one of the most outspoken voices around abortion bans in the country. His rhetoric is dangerous to people’s autonomy over their bodies. We’ve seen this play out through his role in engineering the fall of Roe v. Wade from the very beginning,” Dame founder and CEO Alexandra Fine recently told The Daily Beast exclusively. “Using his likeness in this product represents every anti-choice politician that has worked so hard to silence our voices and put us in danger. We hope this helps them hear us now.”

The company will donate 100% of sales of the dildo to abortion rights funds. Even before this campaign, Dame has remained an outspoken supporter of reproductive freedom and has donated to organizations like the National Network of Abortion Funds, and RAINN. Fine previously worked for Planned Parenthood; and is also an advisor to Hey Jane, a trusted telemedicine clinic specializing in virtual abortion care.

“Unfortunately, the lack of access to safe reproductive healthcare is a part of our reality (for now). This is something that drives us to continue to find ways to always support and enable abortion choice. Moving forward, you can expect more educational campaigns and content from [Dame], and more opportunities to donate,” Fine said.

For now, you can pre-order your own Mitch McConnell dildo for $80, which represents the 80% of Americans who believe abortion should remain safe and legal, according to independent research conducted by Gallup.

Research contact: @thedailybeast

Above, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina). (Photo source: Kevin Dietsch/The Daily Beast)

Democrats waste no time using Graham’s 15-week abortion ban to slam GOP

September 15, 2022

Entering a neatly prepared room in the Russell Senate Office Building on Tuesday, September 13, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) seemed jubilant to be introducing a national 15-week abortion ban in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 6, reports The Daily Beast.

But while Graham figuratively thumped his chest, Democrats throughout Washington were locking eyes with the bill—almost instantly behaving as if Graham was throwing them a thick, juicy bone.

For months Democrats have been warning of the very possibility Graham is now making a reality: Republicans pushing for a national abortion ban taking away states’ rights. With Graham’s latest version of the bill introduced, just weeks before an election no less, Democrats no longer have to speak in hypotheticals.

“If we take back the House and Senate, I can assure we’ll have a vote,” Graham said at a press conference. Democrats wasted no time in seizing on Graham’s message.

“Senate Republicans are showing voters exactly what they would do if they are in charge: pass a nationwide abortion ban and strip away women’s right to make our own health care decisions… the stakes of protecting and expanding our Democratic Senate Majority in November have never been higher,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Nora Keefe.

“Very simple: If you want to protect the right to choose, and you want to protect a woman’s right to health care, vote for more Democratic senators. You want to have a nationwide abortion ban? Vote for MAGA Republicans,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a press conference Tuesday.

“There you have it — if Republicans take control, they will vote to pass a national abortion ban. Take them at their word,” the Democratic National Committee’s War Room wrote in a tweet.

“Lindsey Graham just said the quiet part out loud. The right to an abortion is on the ballot this November…” tweeted Representative Mondaire Jones (D-New York).

Graham said Tuesday that he wants to try and put Democrats on the record about whether they support a 15-week abortion ban. The first nine pages of the bill base the 15-week cutoff around the argument that fetuses begin to feel pain around that point—though research on the exact point that fetuses can feel pain varies.

Graham also insisted he wants a vote on the bill in the immediate future, insisting he believes a few Democrats could possibly join Republicans on the issue.

Asked whether he spoke to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) about the bill, Graham said no—but, a few hours later, he may have wished he had.

“I think most of the members of my conference prefer that this be dealt with at the state level,” McConnell told reporters.

McConnell wasn’t the only Republican annoyed at Graham’s timing on a day that should have been a slam dunk in the message wars. Tuesday morning, the latest Consumer Price Index report said inflation is still on the rise, even as gas prices fell dramatically in August.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) told Politico curtly, “I’m not sure what he’s thinking here. But I don’t think there will be a rallying around that concept.”

Democrats jumping to capitalize on Graham’s new bill also comes after a number of voting wins on abortion for the party. Kansas passed a pro-abortion-rights ballot referendum last month—and Democrats have won competitive House races in Alaska and New York in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling.

Voter registration among women and young people is also on the rise, a trend pollsters have attributed in part to the abortion rights issue.

Graham’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Democrats latching on to the issue.

But Graham brushed off concerns that abortion has been a force for Democratic voter turnout at his press conference Tuesday, and questions about whether his bill would make the situation worse for Republicans this midterm cycle.

“I don’t think this is going to hurt us,” he said. “I think it’ll more likely hurt them when they try to explain to some reasonable person why it’s OK.”

Research contact: @thedailybeast

Above, Steve Kornacki shows how deeply anti-abortion rights activists lost in Kansas. (Photo source: MSNBC)

Kansans vote to uphold abortion protections

August 4, 2022

On Tuesday, August 2, in a move widely seen as a victory for abortion rights activists, Kansas voters overwhelmingly struck down a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove language enshrining reproductive rights in their state, reports NBC News.

The proposed amendment gave voters the opportunity—for the first time anywhere in the United States since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June—to cast ballots on abortion

A ballot question, known as the “Value Them Both Amendment,” asked voters to decide whether the state’s Constitution should continue to protect abortion rights. The proposed amendment to the state Constitution would have removed language that guarantees reproductive rights and asked voters if they prefer to put the issue of abortion in the hands of the state’s Republican-controlled legislature—an outcome that abortion advocates said was all but certain to result in the elimination or curtailment of those rights.

A “yes” vote on the measure would have removed from the state Constitution the right to an abortion and handed the issue back to the state legislature. A “no” vote on the measure would make no changes—keeping abortion rights enshrined in the state Constitution.

Anti-abortion activists had argued that the Kansas ballot question created an opportunity to put the issue in the hands of the voters via elected state lawmakers. Supporters of abortion rights warned that approval of the ballot measure would almost certainly result in the elimination or curtailment of existing rights in a state that has more lenient laws on its books compared to many of its neighbors.

The ballot question had been planned for more than a year, but it took on greater significance in the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, ending the federal constitutional right to an abortion.

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said Tuesday night that the state’s polls saw “incredibly high turnout.”

Early voting in the state kicked off in mid-July, and Schwab’s office reported that, as of last Tuesday—more than twice as many people had already cast early ballots than at the same point during the last midterm primary election in 2018. Groups on both sides of the issue blanketed Kansas airwaves with millions of dollars in ads.

President Joe Biden said that the vote “makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions.”

At least 22 states already have banned or will soon prohibit abortion. The new landscape makes Kansas a regional outlier and a safe haven for women in and out of state seeking abortion car —but that could diminish or disappear if the measure passes.

Research contact: @NBCNews

Above, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. (Photo source: Samuel Corum/Pool)

‘It wouldn’t be my choice for judge’: Senate Democrats slam Biden’s planned anti-abortion pick

July 13, 2022

Several Senate Democrats said on Monday, July 11, that they planned to vote against the confirmation of a conservative, anti-abortion federal judge nominee if President Joe Biden follows through with a purported deal with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, reports USA Today.

The strong reaction from Democrats on Biden’s planned nomination of attorney Chad Meredith in Kentucky raised the prospects that the president’s own party could block the pick, should he move forward.

“All I’m going to tell you is I’m going to vote no,” said Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on Monday. “It’s his call, but if he asked me for my advice I would say I don’t know how many Democrats are planning on voting yes.”

Biden has not formally nominated Meredith, a Federal Society attorney who has fought against abortion rights. But—as first reported exclusively by The Courier Journal—a White House official informed Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear‘s office in an email on June 23 that the Biden Administration planned to nominate Meredith to a U.S. District Court judgeship in Kentucky’s Eastern District the next day.

The next morning, however, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade—ending the constitutional right to abortion and sending shock waves across the nation. Meredith’s intended nomination was not announced or submitted.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which takes up federal judicial nominations, said he spoke last week to the White House about the potential Meredith nomination.

“What’s in it for us? They didn’t give a specific answer,” Durbin told reporters, according to Politico. He said Democrats would not support Meredith’s confirmation “on his merits alone.”

Durbin told USA TODAY he needs to “know more,” including whether there was any arrangement with McConnell, adding: “It wouldn’t be my choice for judge.”

Biden could try to win support of a Meredith nomination with Republican votes in an evenly divided Senate. But a president fighting his own party for a lower-court judicial nominee would be highly unusual, and he would have to overcome a Judiciary Committee controlled by Democrats.

McConnell has refused to comment until Biden officially submits a nominee, but his camp has dismissed talk of a deal as “false information.”

Biden’s potential nomination of Meredith has fueled a backlash from progressive activists who have demanded bolder action from the Biden Administration after the Supreme Court decision.

Several pro-abortion-rights groups have called the potential nomination “unacceptable” and demanded Biden not move ahead with it.

nominated,” Brown said. “He should not send the name on.”

Research contact: @USATODAY

Above, Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis (left) and California's Democratic GovernorGavin Newsom. (Photo source: Disneyland News Today)

New Jersey governor weighs in on California’s Newsom attacking DeSantis in Florida: ‘I like it’

July 6, 2022

New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy is putting his support behind California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s new TV ad, running in Florida; which targets the Sunshine State’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and invites Floridians to move to California, reports The Hill.

In an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday, June 5, Murphy said he liked his fellow Democratic governor’s approach when asked by host Brianna Keilar about Newsom’s 30-second ad slamming DeSantis over a wave of new legislation targeting LGBTQ rights, voting rights, critical race theory, and abortion.

“I think we need to stand up and be counted and make sure we remind folks around the country, if

Above, New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy. (Photo source: Safety and Health )

you value values, come to states like New Jersey and I suspect that’s exactly what Governor Newsom has in mind in terms of California’s values,” Murphy said.

He said the United States is still “the greatest nation on Earth” but that “war has been declared by a right-wing Supreme Court bloc against American women” with the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade’s constitutional protections for abortion rights.

He also criticized the court for a decision last month that rejected a New York law preventing people from carrying concealed weapons. Murphy said the country had done too little to prevent gun violence in the wake of the latest shooting on the Fourth of July in Highland Park, Illinois.

“And look at the tragedy that happened yesterday in a Highland Park. So we are a great nation but we are in challenging troubled times right now. And women especially are paying a huge price,” he added.

Murphy also spoke about the two bills he signed into law on Friday, which ensure that out-of-state residents who come to New Jersey can access reproductive services and reproductive healthcare providers.

Research contact: @thehill

Above, New York Governor Kathy Hochul. (Photo source: Cornell University)

NY Governor to direct $35 million to support abortion providers statewide

May 12, 2022

Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that New York State will invest tens of millions of dollars toward abortion care and providers with the prospect of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wadelooming, following the leak of a draft opinion indicating that would happen, reports New York Magazine.

On Tuesday, May 10, Hochul revealed that $35 million will be allocated to the cause statewide. She is directing the state health department to create an abortion-provider fund which will receive $25 million in funding to later distribute to those who provide abortion care. The governor says the money will come from the health commissioner’s emergency fund, so the funding won’t need to be reallocated for that purpose.

The remaining $10 million will be disbursed by the Division of Criminal Justice Services as “safety and security capital grants” to help bolster the security at reproductive-health clinics and other abortion providers and to secure the safety of their patients and staff.

The distribution of the funds would begin as soon as an official decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is reached and announced by the Supreme Court.

“To truly ensure that anyone seeking an abortion in New York has access to that, we have to ensure that the providers have the resources and the capacity to accommodate all patients who walk through their doors,” Hochul said during a virtual press conference. “It’s simple. If we’re going to guarantee the right to an abortion, we have to guarantee access to an abortion.”

Hochul called the abortion-provider fund “nation-leading” and the first fund of its kind in the State of New York.

“We’re not playing defense. We’re playing offense,” Hochul said.

Hochul’s announcement comes a day after state Attorney General Letitia James declared her support for legislation that would establish a state program to expand abortion access for low-income New Yorkers and also for those traveling to New York from another state seeking care.

Research contact: @NYMag

Above, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said that if the draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade goes into effect, “it changes the foundation of America.” (Photo source: Pete Marovich for The New York Times)

Senate Democrats warn of G.O.P. effort to restrict abortion nationwide

May 10, 2022

Democrats rang alarm bells on Sunday, May 8, about the likelihood that Republicans would try to restrict abortion nationwide, two days after an interview was published in which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said a ban was “possible” if his party gained control in Washington, D.C., reports The New York Times.

On the Sunday talk shows and in other public statements, Democratic senators said Republicans would not stop at letting the states decide the issue, but would most likely push for federal restrictions. That made it paramount, they said, that the Democratic Party maintain control of the Senate as it tries to codify abortion rights into federal law.

“We need to make sure that every single voter understands that the Republican Party and Mitch McConnell does not believe that their daughters, that their mothers, that their sisters have rights to make fundamental life and death decisions,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We are half-citizens under this ruling. And if this is put into law, it changes the foundation of America.”

After a leaked draft decision indicated that the Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a constitutional right to abortion, McConnell said in an interview with USA Today that a national abortion ban was “possible” if that draft document became an official opinion of the court.

“If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies—not only at the state level but at the federal level—certainly could legislate in that area,” McConnell said when asked if a national abortion ban was “worthy of debate.”

McConnell argued that the discussion about a federal ban was premature, but that it was clear that the Republican Party has long been opposed to abortion.

Discussions already are underway among some Republican senators about pushing to ban abortion after a certain number of weeks, ranging from six to 20, depending on the proposal.

“If and when the court makes a final decision, I expect everybody will be more definitive,” McConnell said. “But I don’t think it’s much secret where Senate Republicans stand on that issue.”

Indeed, the Times reports, a document circulated by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and obtained by Axios urged candidates to be low key about abortion, casting themselves as “compassionate consensus builders” with a post-Roe America looming as early as next month.

“States should have the flexibility to implement reasonable restrictions,” the document states.

Research contact: @nytimes