Republicans tussle on how to navigate new landscape
Divisions within the party hamper a path to unity
waSHiNGtoN, D.C. — kellie Havlin, a Republican from Reno, was visiting washington with her young daughter on spring break on tuesday, cherry blossom tote bag in tow, as they arrived at their first stop of the day: the Supreme Court.
Havlin was excited for her daughter to see her first protest on what happens to be a “hot topic” — abortion — and they’d had a lot of conversations on the subject, knowing that a “monumental” case related to reproductive rights would be up for debate while they visited. that’s how they found themselves amid bullhorns as people on both sides of abortion rights argued at the base of the court’s marbled facade.
“i’m for [abortion], but with parameters,” Havlin said.
“more needs to be done, i think, for the Republican Party to be empathetic,” Havlin added, proposing that the Republican Party soften its tone on abortion. though she planned to vote Republican, she sees it as a losing issue for them. “they need to really look into the lives of the women that feel the need to have an abortion.”
Republicans and antiabortion activists outside the Supreme Court acknowledged that the Republican Party has had a difficult time navigating the new abortion landscape.
“they need to unify,” said lori Furstenberg, chair of the DC Chapter of the Conservative Caucus, which opposes abortion. “we have sadly a very big divide within the Republican Party when we’ve had such an opportunity to come together, but instead they’re so divided.”
but there’s disagreement over how. it’s an especially difficult issue for the Republican Party to grapple with right now, since the antiabortion faction of the party is a key constituency for Republicans, particularly in primaries. that has made it hard to find positions that appeal in front of broader electorates. “what should Republicans do? they should continue telling the truth,” said Jan lewis, an antiabortion activist who had driven to DC from North Carolina, adding that she thinks they should do more to promote crisis pregnancy centers and craft abortion language on ballots. in one recent example of how complicated this issue can be politically, the National Republican Senatorial Committee reportedly advised its candidates to be clear in their support for in-vitro fertilization, after the alabama Supreme Court issued a decision that declared embryos have the same protections as children.
but for Republicans, to stray too far from the base could also cost them support from the right. “Sometimes [Republicans talking about abortion are] a little discouraging i feel like, because i feel like a lot of the times they’re not genuine, it’s just kind of to leverage votes. they’re like, ‘oh yeah, we know the Christians will vote this way, so we’re going to say we’re prolife.’ that’s why i’m kind of independent,” said Destiny maxwell, who said she attended the protests to pray.
She wants Republicans to pursue a national abortion ban. “the heart isn’t there, which can get discouraging and disappointing in the long run,” maxwell said.
as the morning went on, the justices listened to oral arguments over the Food and Drug administration approval of mifepristone, a drug that has been used widely, safely, and effectively for decades as part of a two-step regime to end pregnancies. it’s been a closelywatched case — if the Supreme Court were to curb access to mifepristone, it would have national implications and be another major blow to abortion access advocates.
the court has yet to rule on the case, but the justice’s questioning on tuesday indicated they were skeptical of handing out a ruling against the FDa.
“i think it should be a state thing. if somebody wants an abortion, they can go to a liberal state and get one. if somebody’s in a conservative state, they should be able to say no, abortion’s wrong,” said Dena Heitzman, of lewiston, idaho, who is a Republican and opposes abortion but thinks people should be able to make up their own minds. if the Republican Party pursues a national abortion ban, she warned, “they’re going to have a lot more issues.”