Top Democrat: Abortion now the ‘central choice’ in midterms

The chairman of the House Democrats’ campaign arm on Monday tweeted that abortion will be the main focus for the upcoming midterms given a draft opinion leaked to Politico that would strike down the Roe v. Wade ruling. 

“Republicans just gutted Roe v Wade, the Constitution’s guarantee of reproductive freedom, and will ban abortion in all 50 states, if they take over Congress,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) tweeted. 

“Only Democrats will protect our freedoms. That is now the central choice in the 2022 election,” Maloney continued.

Democrats seem set for a bruising in this fall’s midterms given that historically the president’s party loses seats in their first midterm election. President Biden and his party have also been badly bruised by rising inflation, high gas prices and fatigue and unease following the coronavirus pandemic.

But Democrats have long seen the threat to abortion rights as something that could bring their base to the polls while moving independents.

Justice Samuel Alito said in the leaked opinion there is no constitutional right to abortion and called Roe v. Wade “egregiously wrong.”

The Supreme Court refused to comment on the leaked draft, an exceedingly rare event in history. The draft is from the early stages of deliberations between the judges and could still change. The final decision from the conservative-leaning court is expected this summer. 

The court does have six conservative justices, with five seen as opposing abortion rights.

Americans have long been divided on abortion.

Polls show a majority of voters support Roe v. Wade, but support for abortion dwindles the longer a pregnancy goes on. 

Democrats have been quick to condemn the reported ruling with statements released by Democratic leadership Monday night. 

“The Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past fifty years – not just on women but on all Americans,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement.