On Friday, Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Elizabeth Warren issued a written statement criticizing Republicans and outlining four steps she believes Congress should take to protect legalized abortion, should Roe v. Wade be repealed. The lengthy pro-abortion platform was published on the website Medium, under the heading Election 2020.
Warren’s aggressive plan of action appeared to come in response to Alabama’s recent passage of what Warren referred to as “the most extreme abortion ban in over 40 years.”
“Roe v. Wade established a woman’s constitutional right to safe and legal abortion and has been the law of the land for over 46 years,” wrote Warren. “These extremist Republican lawmakers know what the law is?—?but they don’t care. They want to turn back the clock, outlaw abortion, and deny women access to reproductive health care. And they are hoping the Supreme Court will back their radical play.”
According to the Massachusetts senator, that might just actually happen, thanks to President Trump’s pro-life judicial appointees.
“I’ll be blunt: It just might work,” Warren warned. “President Trump has packed the courts with extreme, anti-choice judges. Senate Republicans stole a Supreme Court seat and rammed through the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh last year in order to cement an anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court.”
Warren continued to take aim at the Trump Administration, criticizing Republicans for attempting “to defund Planned Parenthood, spreading abstinence-only education, and limiting access to contraception.” The senator also accused the President and his administration of spreading false information.
In Warren’s view, it is now up to Congress to pass new federal laws that will serve to “protect access” to contraception and abortion from “right-wing ideologues in the states.”
The aggressive four-part plan suggested by Warren would include: the creation of federal rights that parallel the rights outlined in Roe v. Wade, the passage of federal laws that would preempt state laws limiting access to abortion, the inclusion of “reproductive health coverage” as part of all health coverage, and a rolling back of the recent changes made by President Trump to Title X funding.
But polls seem to indicate that Warren’s views on abortion may be too extreme--even for most pro-abortion voters.
A new Hill-HarrisX survey found that 55 percent of voters said they do not think laws like the one passed in Alabama, which bans abortions once an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable (typically at around six weeks of pregnancy), are too restrictive, according to The Hill. And in February, a Rasmussen poll found that only 21 percent of voters support New York’s aggressive new late-term abortion law, which allows abortions up until birth for nearly any reason. A full 66 percent of voters oppose the law, including 44 percent who otherwise identify as “pro-choice” on the subject of abortion.
Some have wondered if Warren’s abortion manifesto is an attempt by the senator to set herself apart, and shore up support for the upcoming Democratic primary election.
The latest Fox News poll demonstrates that among Democratic primary voters, Warren is presently trailing both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, garnering just 9% of the votes.