BREAKING NEWS: Access to Abortion Still Wildly Popular, Even in Red States
Well, that was a surprisingly stress-free election!
Less than an hour after polls closed in Ohio on Tuesday, Question 1 went down faster than a White dude trying to attack a Montgomery riverfront attendant.
Because like said White dude, Question 1 was grossly unpopular. And like said White dude, the reaction to Question 1 also evoked an outpouring of support from an entire community that refused to be bystanders any longer.
Because like said White dude, Question 1 was grossly unpopular. And like said White dude, the reaction to Question 1 also evoked an outpouring of support from an entire community that refused to be bystanders any longer.
Ohio has certainly swung red in recent national elections. But like LL and I always say, we cannot write off huge swathes of the country simply because they just so happen to be going through their awkward teenage years on their journey to Democratic self-discovery. Because like these turbulent teens, red states can emerge confident and self-assured blue states after having struggled with a bit of an identity crisis. After all, Georgia was reliably red up until a decade ago when Stacey Abrams and a team of remarkable Black women out-hustled and out-organized the Georgia GOP through a steady stream of volunteer outreach and voter engagement, which ultimately handed both the state and the United States Senate to Joe Biden in 2020. If Georgia can do it, so too can a state like Ohio, a state ripe with potential that simply needs a catalytic moment all its own. Looking at Tuesday night's resounding victory and one can argue that the overturning of Roe v. Wade might very well be the issue Ohioans need to get the state back in the blue column for the foreseeable future.
Because there are two things Ohioans hate: losing their bodily autonomy and losing the basic tenants of their democracy. Both of those were on the ballot on Tuesday. As much as the Ohio GOP tried to deny it, Question 1 was absolutely about abortion. Because the Ohio GOP knows that having an abortion rights measure on the upcoming November ballot that can be won by a simple majority is not a winning issue for them. The Ohio GOP needed Question 1 to pass for a number of reasons, most of which was to depress Democratic turnout this fall. But now, everything is in play. The abortion rights measure is now likely to pass in November when it goes on the ballot in an off-year election. Incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown's campaign has received a blueprint in a race that Democrats absolutely have to win next year to retain control of the Senate. And Ohio itself, which still leaning red, all of a sudden is in play for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2024.
Slow clap, GOP.
You brought this on yourselves. For 49 years, you were that dog chasing the abortion car, always loudly barking at it yet knowing you'd never catch it. But then, your pals at the Federalist Society along with the Harlan Crows of the world decided to overrun the Supreme Court with a bunch of Christian dominionists. Finally, with 6 Supreme Court seats secured you were able to finally catch that car in 2022. Yet after a half-century of the chase, you now had no idea what to do or what the repercussions would be when taking away a constitutional right for 51% of the American people. Like that metaphorical dog, you had no idea what it meant when your lifelong pursuit finally came to an end.
You fucked around, and now you're about to find out.
Ohio women are not alone. There are tens of millions of women throughout this country with a rigorous rage against the party of old, White, sexist men. Women don't like being treated as second-class citizens and they don't want to return to a world where they were expected to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Overturning Roe v. Wade will prove to be this generation's watershed moment where an overzealous political party, aided by a bought-and-sold Supreme Court, overstepped its bounds and awoke a sleeping giant. Because women vote in this country and their vote is their voice. What we heard in Ohio on Tuesday night was just the latest example of women rising up and throttling a decrepit political party that no longer even pretends to acknowledge their basic rights. The GOP will downplay but there can be no denying that they are shaking in their boots about what lies ahead.
Tuesday night was more than a one-off election. This is part of a trend. Access to abortion is still massively popular. Nearly 2/3 of Americans support safe, affordable access to abortion. That number rises to 72% among Gen-Z. While blue states have rightfully gone and enshrined abortion protections since the Dobbs decision, red states have tried to restrict abortion rights even further. But when put to the ballot, those measures have all spectacularly failed. Both Kentucky and Montana shot down restrictive abortion measures in November of 2022 and South Carolina and Nebraska did the same this past April. The GOP is finding out that even in its reddest strongholds, women want no part of their repressive, regressive agenda. It's gotten so bad that the House GOP had to punt on its recent efforts to pursue a national abortion ban, even though that's the exact type of red meat that would energize its base in 2024. It's gotten to the point that Kevin McCarthy won't even touch it to appease his Cuckoo Bananas Caucus, so that's how you know just how toxic the issue has become to even the most extreme Congressional Republicans.
Kentucky. Montana. South Carolina. Nebraska. Now Ohio.
Slow clap, GOP.
You brought this on yourselves. For 49 years, you were that dog chasing the abortion car, always loudly barking at it yet knowing you'd never catch it. But then, your pals at the Federalist Society along with the Harlan Crows of the world decided to overrun the Supreme Court with a bunch of Christian dominionists. Finally, with 6 Supreme Court seats secured you were able to finally catch that car in 2022. Yet after a half-century of the chase, you now had no idea what to do or what the repercussions would be when taking away a constitutional right for 51% of the American people. Like that metaphorical dog, you had no idea what it meant when your lifelong pursuit finally came to an end.
You fucked around, and now you're about to find out.
Ohio women are not alone. There are tens of millions of women throughout this country with a rigorous rage against the party of old, White, sexist men. Women don't like being treated as second-class citizens and they don't want to return to a world where they were expected to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Overturning Roe v. Wade will prove to be this generation's watershed moment where an overzealous political party, aided by a bought-and-sold Supreme Court, overstepped its bounds and awoke a sleeping giant. Because women vote in this country and their vote is their voice. What we heard in Ohio on Tuesday night was just the latest example of women rising up and throttling a decrepit political party that no longer even pretends to acknowledge their basic rights. The GOP will downplay but there can be no denying that they are shaking in their boots about what lies ahead.
Tuesday night was more than a one-off election. This is part of a trend. Access to abortion is still massively popular. Nearly 2/3 of Americans support safe, affordable access to abortion. That number rises to 72% among Gen-Z. While blue states have rightfully gone and enshrined abortion protections since the Dobbs decision, red states have tried to restrict abortion rights even further. But when put to the ballot, those measures have all spectacularly failed. Both Kentucky and Montana shot down restrictive abortion measures in November of 2022 and South Carolina and Nebraska did the same this past April. The GOP is finding out that even in its reddest strongholds, women want no part of their repressive, regressive agenda. It's gotten so bad that the House GOP had to punt on its recent efforts to pursue a national abortion ban, even though that's the exact type of red meat that would energize its base in 2024. It's gotten to the point that Kevin McCarthy won't even touch it to appease his Cuckoo Bananas Caucus, so that's how you know just how toxic the issue has become to even the most extreme Congressional Republicans.
Kentucky. Montana. South Carolina. Nebraska. Now Ohio.
We see you. We hear you. While Republicans continue pushing the envelope on abortion bans and restrictions, women in red states are repeatedly rejecting the GOP views on this topic. Because basic health care and bodily autonomy transcend geography. Women want their daughters to be safe, no matter where they attend school or travel to or end up for work down the line. Abortion care is health care. Dangerous pregnancies can happen to anyone. Difficult decisions should be made by parents and not by politicians. Democrats trust women to make these decisions. The GOP does not. At a time when Republicans want to control women more than ever, women aren't having it, no matter where they live. Blue states. Purple states. Red states. Women throughout the country are rejecting the GOP in record numbers. Tuesday's Ohio election result is simply the latest example of this.
And it certainly won't be the last.
And it certainly won't be the last.
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