Several minutes after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision came down on Friday morning, ruling that Roe v. Wade was being overturned and that the abortion decision would go back to the states, the DNC finally responded.
The statement was a joint one from DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, DSCC Chair Gary Peters, DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney, DGA Chair Roy Cooper, DAGA Co-Chairs Aaron Ford and Kathy Jennings, DLCC Chair Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Democratic Mayors Association President Levar M. Stoney. It was about as full of fear-mongering talking points as you'd expect.
"Democrats believe women in America have the right to make their own health care decisions, and that politicians should never get in the way of these private decisions. Today's Supreme Court ruling is the culmination of a coordinated Republican effort to attack this fundamental freedom – but Democrats will fight back with every tool we can, and voters of every political persuasion will hold the GOP accountable in 2022," it began.
Since a leaked draft opinion of Dobbs was leaked early last month, showing that the Court was looking to overturn Roe, Democrats have been trying to use this to their advantage. Polling, however, has consistently shown that voters are more concerned with economic issues, such as inflation, which does not bode well for the Democratic Party.
The statement becomes more misleading from there. "Make no mistake: The Republican Party will not stop at overturning Roe. The 2022 election will now determine whether new, cruel, and punishing restrictions will be put in place on women and families," it claims. "With Republicans in power, states could make abortion illegal without exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, and women and doctors could be charged with a crime if they have or perform an abortion."
Key Democrats, including the vice president, have claimed that this Dobbs decision would take away other rights decided by the Court, such as same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and contraception. The official opinion, though, as the draft opinion also did, makes clear that that will not be the case.
"None of the other decisions cited by Roe and Casey involved the critical moral question posed by abortion. Accordingly, those cases do not support the right to obtain an abortion, and the Court's conclusion that the Constitution does not confer such a right does not undermine them in any way," Justice Samuel Alito writes.
Further, it does not appear that there are any states looking to make abortion illegal for the life of the mother, nor are any looking to criminalize women for having abortions. The pro-life movement has long been against prosecuting the mother and rather sees her as the second victim of abortion.
"The stakes of November's elections could not be higher – and voters will make their voices heard by standing with Democrats up and down the ballot," the DNC statement concludes.
Polling has consistently shown that voters are not on board with the Democratic Party's position on abortion throughout all nine months without legal limit.
A short time later, a subsequent press release from the DNC was released to announce the creation of DefendChoice.org. Such an announcement also includes a statement from DNC Executive Director Sam Cornale, with another Democratic talking point. "The majority of voters agree: MAGA Republicans' agenda of criminalizing abortion -- including in cases of rape and incest -- is wildly out of step with the American people. We are proud that this organizing campaign will give people across the country a way to make change by electing pro-choice Democrats up and down the ballot in November," she claims.
Curiously, the White House has yet to release a statement on the Dobbs decision at this time.
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