{"id":1533236,"date":"2022-06-30T07:49:36","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T11:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1533236"},"modified":"2022-06-30T07:49:58","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T11:49:58","slug":"dobbs-victory-is-more-complicated-and-more-fragile-than-many-realize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dobbs-victory-is-more-complicated-and-more-fragile-than-many-realize\/","title":{"rendered":"Dobbs\u2019 Victory Is More Complicated \u2014 And More Fragile \u2014 Than Many Realize"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdobbs-victory-is-more-complicated-and-more-fragile-than-many-realize%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1533236&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Pro-abortion-protest-in-New-York-City-on-June-24-2022.-Elvert-Barnes-Flickr.-e1656555256818.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Dallas, Texas. Corpus Christie. San Antonio, Houston, and Austin.<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta, Georgia, and its suburbs. Savannah, too; and Augusta, Athens, and Macon counties.<\/p>\n<p>Arlington, Virginia; Fairfax, Falls Church, Norfolk, and Loudoun County. Richmond and Portsmouth.<\/p>\n<p>Birmingham, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; and Nashville, Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio. Indianapolis, Indiana. St. Louis, Missouri.<\/p>\n<p>Asheville and Durham County, North Carolina. Lawrence, Kansas and Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>All these cities and counties are in red states, but represent just some of the dozens led by district attorneys who <a href=\"https:\/\/fairandjustprosecution.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/FJP-Post-Dobbs-Abortion-Joint-Statement.pdf\">have declared<\/a> they will not be prosecuting abortion crimes, whether those crimes relate to individuals seeking abortions, providing abortions, or supporting abortions.<\/p>\n<p>In Wisconsin, the state\u2019s Democratic attorney general <a href=\"https:\/\/pbswisconsin.org\/news-item\/wisconsins-democratic-attorney-general-sues-to-block-states-abortion-ban\/\">sued<\/a> to stop a pre-Roe law declaring abortion illegal, which had been put on ice after the 1973 ruling and was given new life this week with Roe\u2019s repeal. The Democratic governor of Wisconsin agreed, calling a special legislative session to repeal the law \u2014 but was ignored by the legislature. In response, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/06\/27\/wisconsin-gov-vows-to-grant-clemency-to-doctors-charged-under-state-abortion-ban.html\">promised<\/a> \u201cclemency\u201d for those breaking his state\u2019s own law.<\/p>\n<p>Judges in Louisiana and Utah blocked the implementation of laws both states had previously passed that were designed to restrict or ban abortion as soon as Roe and Casey were finally reversed. Those laws, called \u201ctrigger laws,\u201d are in place <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/06\/24\/abortion-state-laws-criminalization-roe\/\">in 11 other states<\/a> as well \u2014 including six where district attorneys have already vowed to disregard them.<\/p>\n<p>In Texas, the Republican attorney general announced that district attorneys could once again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonpublicmedia.org\/articles\/news\/health-science\/2022\/06\/27\/427836\/health-care-providers-sue-texas-over-pre-roe-abortion-ban\/\">use pre-Roe laws<\/a> to prosecute abortions but was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2022\/06\/28\/texas-abortion-resume\/\">held up<\/a> by a Travis County judge, who restrained the order.<\/p>\n<p>In short: American law is a disaster of jealous competitors for power; and not in the healthy way our framers imagined, in which each branch protects its own power and restrains the others \u2014 but in a seditionist way, where ideologically distinct localities simply ignore the will of the broader citizenry around them.<\/p>\n<p>The tactic has been around since Berkeley, California became <a href=\"https:\/\/eastbayexpress.com\/berkeley-is-the-original-sanctuary-city-2-1\/\">the first American city<\/a> to designate itself a sanctuary from federal law (then, to shelter deserters from the U.S. Navy), but the tactic expanded in scope and target in the late 1970s and through the \u201980s. Today, we hear nearly daily of \u201csanctuary\u201d towns, cities, counties ad even states; more and more, it\u2019s simply another symptom of our broader crack-up.<\/p>\n<p>The fights are going to get nasty, and the way to win will go beyond simply using Republican state attorneys general to prosecute cases local district attorneys decline to prosecute. Another weapon will be money: state funds for local roads, schools, policing, and all other sorts of projects. DAs who ignore the law will forfeit those funds, although policing enthusiasm will prove difficult, at best.<\/p>\n<p>This is also a sword that will swing both ways. The Biden administration has already announced plans to cut off federal taxpayer support from elementary schools that don\u2019t bend to its transgender ideology; using taxpayer dollars to enforce its abortion demands is an easy and logical next step for them. Suddenly, states that outlaw killing their babies could be cut off from the resources they use to educate their children. <\/p>\n<p>Before even this step, the federal government has vowed to do everything it can to promote abortion, putting an emphasis on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthcaredive.com\/news\/some-state-abortion-laws-put-on-hold-as-providers-grapple-with-aftermath-of\/626196\/\">shipping abortifacients<\/a> to women in states that outlaw the practice, and even floating using federal lands for abortion clinics \u2014 actively undermining governors and lawmakers from within their own states.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s tempting to look to the midterm elections to hobble these efforts, but with a few notable exceptions, national Republicans have proven themselves inept at fighting the culture war. While the 1970s, \u201980s, \u201990s, and early 2000s still saw national Republicans whose sole focus was stopping abortion, the party currently lacks anyone so singularly focused on this issue.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to those days, just four years ago Republicans pushed a ban on abortion after five months \u2014 when research shows the child is able to feel physical pain \u2014 and GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/abortion-ban-bill-fails-to-advance-in-the-senate\/2018\/01\/29\/98ad2c0e-0518-11e8-94e8-e8b8600ade23_story.html\">voted no<\/a>. A bill far more expansive than even Western Europe\u2019s restrictions was too much for their vote.<\/p>\n<p>While national Democrats\u2019 most recent attempt to make Roe law was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/05\/11\/abortion-senate-vote\/\">too radical<\/a> for even Collins and Murkowski \u2014 when Democrats were panicking after a leaked draft opinion foreshadowed what the court was preparing to do \u2014 that doesn\u2019t mean pro-abortion legislation is off the table. In the next few months, Democrats might decide to narrow their federal efforts to legalize abortion to take advantage of the thin congressional majorities they expect to lose in November. The Washington Post, for example, reports that some leftist senators favor a strategy of doing just that, codifying \u201conly a portion of the rights secured by Roe and related cases,\u201d so they can \u201cmore sharply highlight the depth of the Republican opposition\u201d to abortion.<\/p>\n<p>While Democrats\u2019 muted legislative response on Capitol Hill indicates Democratic leadership knows their base would spit out such half measures, that doesn\u2019t put the country in the clear over the long term. Sure, Republicans are headed for major gains in November, but there\u2019s little indication they\u2019re ready for a battle they\u2019ve already proven too timid to wage. And from passing the Affordable Care Act to backing President Joe Biden\u2019s inflationary agenda, national Democrats have demonstrated a real willingness to wield political power, happily sacrificing always-temporary majorities for opportunities to change the country fundamentally.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans largely lack this daring. Worse yet, most are unprepared should they stumble into an opening to turn their rhetoric into reality.<\/p>\n<p>For decades, the GOP has practiced selling their economics \u2014 honing their talking points and growing comfortable dissecting tax, spending, regulatory, and budget issues with both hostile colleagues and a hostile press. They\u2019ve grown comfortable talking about military spending and strategy. They\u2019re at home talking about shrinking the size of the federal government. When the subject of abortion comes up, however, their discomfort shows. <\/p>\n<p>For those same decades they\u2019ve been honing their economic and military bona fides, the majority of national Republicans have hidden behind the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, lambasting abortion on the primary trail, but deploying \u201claw of the land\u201d excuses when called to the real fight.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this, not only has abortion not been a priority for the majority of national Republican lawmakers, but many don\u2019t even know how to talk about it. The fight, like all culture war fights, has real and immediate human consequences. It forces congressmen and senators who are mainly interested in capping their successful business careers with a low-demand political title to contemplate life, death, morality, suffering, and duty.<\/p>\n<p>Abortion and other culture war fights don\u2019t deal in neat and tidy numbers, and this makes these retired businessmen deeply uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<p>This doesn\u2019t mean these lawmakers can\u2019t ever speak to these issues, though. Few politicians are economists or mass transit engineers or military geniuses, yet our think tanks and communications shops have armed them with the know-how (or at least bullet points) to feel comfortable debating these issues and even crafting policy.<\/p>\n<p>The pro-life movement can do this, but they need to do it fast. When political advisers discard all the obfuscations and weasel words our society has built around abortion to disguise its repulsive reality, they can move the politicians they advise. Tell them, \u201cThis isn\u2019t about choice, it\u2019s about violence. This isn\u2019t a choice \u2014 it\u2019s a murder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If President Donald Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JCravysPsAM\">Las <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JCravysPsAM&#038;t=220s\">Vegas debate performance<\/a> is any measure at all, explaining the issue of abortion clearly to astute politicians can have an immediate impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you go with what Hillary is saying,\u201d Trump said, \u201cin the ninth month you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby. Now, you can say that that\u2019s OK, and Hillary can say that that\u2019s OK, but it\u2019s not OK with me because, based on what she\u2019s saying and based on where she\u2019s going and where she\u2019s been, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the 9th month on the final day; and that\u2019s not acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That, from a New York businessman no one believes had deeply pondered this issue before pro-life activists got his ear in 2016. We can teach our politicians to talk about life, death, and the reality of abortion \u2014 and we can hold accountable those who refuse.<\/p>\n<p>Political victories are fleeting. Even Roe, which spent half a century as the established \u201claw of the land,\u201d is now gone. Now, as before, the Democrats \u2014 local, statewide, and national \u2014 will be playing for keeps. They know power is temporary, and are unafraid to wield it. This leaves the pro-life movement exposed, and far more vulnerable than our incredible victory might lead us to believe.  <\/p>\n<p>Sure, the Democrats might lose power in November. They might lose it for two, four, even 12 years \u2014 but they\u2019ll be back. More, 2020\u2019s Democratic majorities won\u2019t be the last time their party controls every lever of national government. When they do, they won\u2019t use it to tinker around the edges. <\/p>\n<p>We need to be ready: Our great June 24 victory is more complicated \u2014 and more delicate \u2014 than we realize.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Christopher Bedford is a senior editor at The Federalist, a founding partner of RightForge, vice chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, a board member at The Daily Caller News Foundation and National Journalism Center, and the author of &#8220;The Art of the Donald.&#8221; His work has been featured in The American Mind, National Review, the New York Post and the Daily Caller, where he led the Daily Caller News Foundation and spent eight years. A frequent guest on Fox News and Fox Business, he was raised in Massachusetts and lives across the river from D.C. Follow him on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBedfordDC\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dallas, Texas. Corpus Christie. San Antonio, Houston, and Austin. Atlanta, Georgia, and its suburbs. Savannah, too; and Augusta, Athens, and Macon counties. Arlington, Virginia; Fairfax, Falls Church, Norfolk, and Loudoun<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":574,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1533236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/574"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1533236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1533236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1533236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1533236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}