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Days after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion, Rep. Susan Wild went to a rally in Easton, where a woman held an 8-month-old. She lamented that the child had more rights eight months ago than she does now, Wild recalled.

Since then, she said abortion and the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade has come up even more than she expected, and from all types of voters in her Lehigh Valley congressional district, one of the most competitive in the country.

The most notable thing about it is the wide range of age from young to old as well as gender, males and females, that are talking to me about it and are outraged about it, Wild, a Democrat, said in an interview. People are seeing this as the deprivation of a right that has long been established in our country.

Members of both parties agree the driving issues in this years critical Pennsylvania elections remain unchanged after the court ruling: inflation and President Joe Bidens miserable approval ratings. Gas and grocery costs provide regular reminders of how voters daily lives are affected.

But in some specific areas, Democrats think abortion might be a difference-maker.

In moderate, suburban regions, where congressional incumbents like Wild are among the most vulnerable, Democrats running in critical races for governor and Congress are trying to use the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision as an illustration of the stakes in Novembers elections, and an example of what they say is Republican extremism. They hope the end of Roe reminds wavering swing voters, especially women, why they have shifted away from the GOP in recent years.

It may be enough to save some incumbent Democrats from defeat, said Charlie Dent, a Republican who once represented the same district as Wild, and who was one of the few GOP House members who supported abortion rights. If Im a Republican candidate, I would be concerned if I were in a competitive district. I would be very concerned about it.

Many of Pennsylvanias key races could come down to a few percentage points, and Democrats are pressing the issue in battleground congressional districts outside Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown.

Wild and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, of Chester County, have sent out repeated statements and fund-raising appeals centered on abortion rights. So have the Democratic nominees for governor, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. Their races could have drastic impacts on abortion law in Pennsylvania and in Congress.

READ MORE: Where Pa.s 2022 candidates for governor and Senate stand on abortion

This is a huge blow. But we cant give in now is the time to dig deep and fight, read a Houlahan fund-raising email a day after the court ruling.

Ashley Ehasz, the Democrat hoping to unseat Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in a Bucks County-based district, has pressed the topic in another of the regions most politically balanced districts.

Republicans in the suburbs and competitive races have treaded carefully, signaling concern around the issue in a year when the GOP has much in its favor.

When the ruling came down, swing-district Republicans generally said little, if anything, publicly about a generational victory for conservatives. When asked by reporters for their responses, their comments have usually been muted.

In our community, and across America, the vast and overwhelming majority do not support rigid, single-party, all-or-nothing solutions, Fitzpatrick said in a statement when asked for a reaction.

He said he supports a bill that would ban abortion nationwide after 20 weeks, with exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother.

In response to a question, Houlahans Republican opponent, Guy Ciarrocchi, said in a statement, We need to ignore the noise and focus on what comes next, arguing that each state should come up with its own solution. He called for banning late-term abortion, though he didnt say exactly when that would begin, and his campaign said he supports the ban on taxpayer funding for most abortions.

Even though GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano called abortion restrictions his No. 1 issue during an April primary debate, and has pushed for severe new limits in Pennsylvania including a no-exceptions ban after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many know they are pregnant he tried to turn attention elsewhere once Roe was overturned.

Pennsylvanians will not be distracted by the hysterics of the left as they exploit this ruling to try to fulfill their far-left agenda, he said in a statement, calling for a focus on inflation and high gas and grocery prices.

Republicans argue that such economic issues are the ones that still overwhelmingly matter to voters, and that Democrats are desperate to change the subject. They say voters motivated by the ruling were almost certainly already voting for Democrats anyway.

Abortion isnt the winning issue Democrats think it is, said Samantha Bullock, a spokesperson for Republicans national campaign arm.

Voters ranked inflation, gas prices, the economy, and everyday bills as their top four concerns in a late June poll by Monmouth University. Abortion ranked fifth, with 5% naming it their top issue.

Even Democrats who have emphasized the importance of the abortion debate say economic concerns remain the overriding electoral topic. They argue, though, that a segment of key voters could be motivated by the Dobbs decision.

Democrats won districts like Houlahans and Wilds in 2018, and the presidency in 2020, thanks in large part to swings from white, college-educated women, said Anna Greenberg, a Democratic pollster who has worked on Pennsylvania races. And this is one of their most important issues, she said.

Some 61% of American adults believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to an early June poll from the Pew Research Center, before the high court ruling, and a similar number disagreed with the decision, more recent polls from Pew and Monmouth University found.

Republicans dont want to talk about something that theyve been working for for 50 years, said James Singer, a spokesperson for Democrats national congressional campaign arm. Theyre defensive about it, and that says something.

More broadly, Democrats argue the court decision fits into a bigger picture of Republicans run amok including the revelations coming from the hearings into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, former President Donald Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and Mastrianos far-right position atop Pennsylvanias ticket.

Greenberg said support for strict abortion bans are a proof point for somebody being out of step.

Democrats have aggressively sought out past statements from Republicans to try to portray them as hardliners. Theyve noted, for example, that Ciarriocchi worked as a lobbyist for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in the late 1990s and early 2000s. And theyve pointed to comments from Wilds opponent, Lisa Scheller, who during an April primary debate said shes open to a federal so-called heartbeat bill. Those bans typically take effect in the first six weeks of pregnancy, when cardiac activity (though not an actual heartbeat) can be detected, but before most know they are pregnant.

Scheller also said that shed oppose a constitutional amendment that would ban abortion and that she would allow exceptions to abortion restrictions in cases of rape or incest or to save the mothers life.

Shapiro and Fetterman are also pressing the issue as they try to stoke left-leaning voters who may be disheartened. Its one of the most stark and consequential contrasts in the governors race, which could decide whether the next state leader signs or vetoes new restrictions.

Abortion is also a clear dividing line in the Senate race between Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz in a contest that could decide control of that chamber, and therefore the course of the abortion debate there. Planned Parenthoods political arm last week launched a $3 million television ad campaign blasting Oz for opposing abortion rights.

Republicans have tried to flip the issue by painting Democrats as the extremists, daring them to say what limits, if any, they would place on abortion.

READ MORE: Supreme Courts abortion ruling puts spotlight on Pa. governor and state legislative races

When asked about that issue, Wild said: The government doesnt belong in your doctors office.

With Roe overturned, though, Democrats say the real questions are now facing Republicans as voters see not theoretical arguments, but a new reality near-total bans on abortion for millions living in conservative states.

The restrictions could soon reach additional states, including Pennsylvania, if Mastriano wins. Democrats are trying to hammer that home as they fight the political tide.

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Democrats hope abortion can help them keep hold of suburban voters; Republicans say its still all about inflation - The Philadelphia Inquirer

WASHINGTON President Joe Biden on Friday condemned the extreme Supreme Court majority that ended a constitutional right to abortion and delivered an impassioned plea for Americans upset by the decision to vote, vote, vote vote in November. Under mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to be more forceful in response to the ruling, he signed an executive order to try to protect access to the procedure.

The actions Biden outlined are intended to head off some potential penalties that women seeking abortion may face after the ruling, but his order cannot restore access to abortion in the more than a dozen states where strict limits or total bans have gone into effect. About a dozen more states are set to impose additional restrictions.

Biden acknowledged the limitations facing his office, saying it would require an act of Congress to restore nationwide access to the way it was before the June 24 decision.

The fastest way to restore Roe is to pass a national law, Biden said. The challenge is go out and vote. For Gods sake there is an election in November!

Bidens action formalized instructions to the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to push back on efforts to limit the ability of women to access federally approved abortion medication or to travel across state lines to access clinical abortion services. He was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, HHS secretary Xavier Becerra and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in the Roosevelt Room as he signed the order.

His executive order also directs agencies to work to educate medical providers and insurers about how and when they are required to share privileged patient information with authorities an effort to protect women who seek or obtain abortion services. He is also asking the Federal Trade Commission to take steps to protect the privacy of those seeking information about reproductive care online and establish a task force to coordinate federal efforts to safeguard access to abortion.

Biden is also directing his staff to line up volunteer lawyers to provide women and providers with pro bono legal assistance to help them navigate new state restrictions.

The order comes as Biden has faced criticism from some in his own party for not acting with more urgency to protect womens access to abortion. The courts decision in the case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

Since the decision, Biden has stressed that his ability to protect abortion rights by executive action is limited without congressional action, and stressed that Democrats do not have the votes in the current Congress to do so.

We need two additional pro-choice senators and a pro-choice house to codify Roe, he said. Your vote can make that a reality.

Biden for the first time last week announced his support for changing Senate rules to allow a measure to restore nationwide access to abortion to pass by simple majority, rather than the usual 60-vote threshold required to end a filibuster. However, at least two Democratic lawmakers have made clear they wont support changing Senate rules.

He predicted that women would turn out in record numbers in frustration over the courts decision, and said he expected millions and millions of men will be taking up the fight beside them.

On Friday, he repeated his sharp criticism of the Supreme Courts reasoning in striking down what had been a half-century constitutional right to abortion.

Lets be clear about something from the very start, this was not a decision driven by the Constitution, Biden said. He accused the courts majority of playing fast and loose with the facts.

He spoke emotionally of a 10-year-old Ohio girl reported to have been forced to travel out of state to terminate a pregnancy after being raped, noting that some states have instituted abortion bans that dont have exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

A 10-year- old should be forced to give birth to a rapists child! an incredulous Biden nearly shouted. I cant think of anything more extreme.

Biden added that in the November congressional lections, The choice we face as a nation is between the mainstream or the extreme.

His directions to the Justice Department and HHS push the agencies to fight in court to protect women, but the order conveys no guarantees that the judicial system will take their side against potential prosecution by states that have moved to outlaw abortion.

NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju called Bidens order an important first step in restoring the rights taken from millions of Americans by the Supreme Court.

But Lawrence Gostin, who runs the ONeill Institute for National and Global Health at Georgetown Law, described Bidens plans as underwhelming.

Theres nothing that I saw that would affect the lives of ordinary poor women living in red states, he said.

Gostin encouraged Biden to take a more forceful approach toward ensuring access to medication abortion across the country and said Medicaid should consider covering transportation to other states for the purposes of getting abortions.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told the AP that the agency was looking at how Medicaid could cover travel for abortions, along with a range of other proposals, but acknowledged that Medicaids coverage of abortion is extremely limited.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser condemned Bidens order, saying, President Biden has once again caved to the extreme abortion lobby, determined to put the full weight of the federal government behind promoting abortion.

Bidens move was the latest scramble to protect the data privacy of those contemplating or seeking abortion, as regulators and lawmakers reckon with the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling.

Privacy experts say women could be vulnerable if their personal data is used to surveil pregnancies and shared with police or sold to vigilantes. Online searches, location data, text messages and emails, and even apps that track periods could be used to prosecute people who seek an abortion or medical care for a miscarriage as well as those who assist them, experts say.

Privacy advocates are watching for possible new moves by law enforcement agencies in affected states serving subpoenas, for example, on tech companies such as Google, Apple, Bing, Facebooks Messenger and WhatsApp, services like Uber and Lyft, and internet service providers including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Comcast. Local prosecutors may go before sympathetic judges to obtain search warrants for users data.

Last month four Democratic lawmakers asked the FTC to investigate Apple and Google for allegedly deceiving millions of mobile phone users by enabling the collection and sale of their personal data to third parties.

___

AP writers Aamer Madhani, Marcy Gordon and Hillary Powell contributed to this report.

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Impassioned Biden signs order on abortion access - Woodland Daily Democrat

On Thursday, Kunce released a very effective ad that centers reproductive rights and womens rightswhile also pointing out the hypocrisy of thearchaic toxic masculinity promoted as a virtue by conservatives. This is the kind of messaging the Democratic Party needs to get on board for.

He opens with: Im Lucas Kunce and I have a message for Americas men: Step the hell up! Throughout the advertisement, a hard rock guitar riff plays, reminiscent of penis-pill advertisements one sees and hears during sporting event broadcasts. Its sort of superb. From there he talks about how reproductive rights and childrens rights are being taken away and conservative men are flexing their muscles by standing on the sidelines, acting powerless.

He also connects the fact that he was a Marine in Afghanistan and Iraq, being told how he was fighting for the human rights of women in other countries, only to come home to a far more tyrannous Republican-led movement at home.

The video even gives a nice visual shoutout to weak leaders like Sen. Joe Manchin, who has pretended he has no power as a sitting U.S. senator. Kunce also pounds home the middle-American masculinity fallacy implicit in the pro-life movement.Real men fight for choice, the screen readsas Kunce gives his very simple message to voters: Thats why Im running for Senate. In Washington I will kill the filibuster and codify Roe v.Wade.

Ive heard enough!

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I've got a message for America's men about abortion. pic.twitter.com/bJItUvSx2x

Privacy as a foundational value in a post-Roe landscape on Daily Kos' The Brief podcast

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The fall of Roe affects everyone, and this Missouri Democrat wants men to 'Step the hell up!' - Daily Kos

A new abortion poll from the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) out Wednesday illuminates how media and abortion activists are able to skew public opinion by keeping people in the dark about the practice. Once Americans understand the grisly details and what Roe v. Wade really entailed, their opinions change dramatically.

For instance, while the pro-abortion media routinely tout Roe as majority-supported, more than half of the poll respondents opposed Roe v. Wade once they learned it allowed for late-term abortions.

Fifty-three percent said they support, versus 31 percent who opposed, Roe v. Wade when it was presented to them as the keystone to recognizing abortion as a so-called constitutional right, which is the lefts framing of the issue. But when participants learned Roe allowed for late-term abortions, when unborn babies can feel pain, those numbers reversed and then some: 56 percent said they opposed Roe v. Wade, and only 28 percent supported it.

The trend of participants switching positions once they knew more facts continued throughout the poll. When asked if they supported or opposed late-term abortions, seventy-four percent of Republicans opposed compared to only 36 percent of Democrats. Almost half the Democrats surveyed said they support late-term abortions.

However, once participants were asked if a fetus counts as a human life when it has a heartbeat at six weeks, begins to move its eyes at 12 weeks, or can feel pain at 14 weeks, the Democrat position on late-term abortion shifted. Fifty-nine percent of respondents, including 49 percent of Democrats, now said they support abortion bans if there is an indication of life.

Sixty-eight percent of participants thought a fetus is a human life once it has a heartbeat at six weeks. And once they were reminded a fetus has a unique DNA blueprint as soon as sperm meets egg, a whopping 66 percent said a fetus is a human life at conception. After answering questions about the humanity of unborn children, 55 percent of respondents said abortions should be prohibited between 0 and 6 weeks gestation.

Its clear to see how public opinion changes where knowledge about human life and development increases, but left-wing activists and media have a vested interest in hiding the cruel realities of abortion from Americans. After all, the abortion lobby, led by the likes of Planned Parenthood, capitalizes on this ignorance. They have fought ultrasound requirements for years to keep women from seeing the undeniable baby boys or girls growing in their wombs and are now promoting the chemical abortion pill as a safe, easy way to simply undo a pregnancy, despite the grave danger it poses to women, another fact the poll highlighted.

These polls are really important as they show what people think once theyve been educated, AAPLOG CEO-elect Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB/GYN, said in a press meeting on Wednesday.

When it comes to abortion, Americans ignorance is the lefts bliss.

Beth Whitehead is an intern at The Federalist and a journalism major at Patrick Henry College where she fondly excuses the excess amount of coffee she drinks as an occupational hazard.

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Look How Opinion Shifts On Abortion When Polls Reject Leftist Framing - The Federalist

Earlier this year, I co-authored apiecefor TheWall Street Journalthat argued that a perfect storm in the Democratic Party is making a once unfathomable scenario a comeback for Hillary Clinton in 2024 highly plausible.

Our reasoning was that President Bidenslow approval rating, doubt about his capacity to run again, Vice President Harrissunpopularity, and the absence of another strong Democrat to lead the ticket have created a leadership vacuum within the party that only Clinton as an experienced and politically savvy change candidate can fill.

In light of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade upending decades of precedent and revoking a constitutional right that American women have enjoyed for half a century the case for Clintons candidacy is even clearer.

Regardless of ones own political affiliation or opinion of Clinton, the country knows her as an experienced politician and a champion of womens rights. From her declaration at the United Nations in 1995 that womens rights are human rights to being the first woman nominated as a major partys candidate for president in 2016, she offers the exact type of leadership that the Democratic Party desperately needs.

Whether or not party leaders will admit it, Democrats know that they need to move on from Biden if they want to stay in the White House in 2024 and even more importantly have a fighting chance at building a sufficient enough majority in Congress to advance any element of their agenda going forward, including, and especially, codifying abortion rights.

Put another way, the stakes are simply too high for Democrats to remain on this slowly sinking ship.

Democrats are headed for a blowout loss in November, even worse than in1994 and 2010 the two worst midterm election years for the party in recent history when they lost53 and 63 seats, respectively, per Gallups analysis of four key national mood indicators.

Indeed, Bidens approval rating is lower than both Obamas and Clintons at the same points in their presidencies, and Americans in 2022 are less satisfied with the direction of the country, more negative about the economy and more disapproving of Congress.

Polls generally show Republicans with a lead of at least 2 or 3 points in the 2022 generic vote for Congress. This advantage would likely give the GOP a solid majority in the House considering the favorable Republican rulings in redistricting litigation in key states as well as the likelihood that Republican turnout will be even higher than most pollsters are currently accounting for.

While Biden was the right person to defeat former President Trump in 2020, he is clearly not the right person to lead the Democratic Party going forward as only 36 percent of Democrats believe that Biden gives them the best chance to win the presidency in 2024, perrecent polling.

To be sure, Democrats confidence in Biden will only decline further after the party experiences a shellacking in the midterm elections. These voters will be looking for a change candidate who is experienced, effective, savvy and committed to the issues they care most about namely, womens rights and civil rights.

At that point, Clinton will have a unique opportunity to position herself as an experienced candidate capable of leading Democrats on a more successful path who will also fight as she has done her entire career for womens rights.

As John Elliswrotethis week, The Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade creates the opening for Hillary Clinton to get out of stealth mode and start down the path toward declaring her candidacy for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.

Based on her latest public statements, its clear that Clinton not only recognizes her position as a potential front-runner but also is setting up a process to gauge whether or not she should pursue the presidency once more.

Repositioning herself in the national spotlight, Clinton spoke this week at the Aspen Ideas Festival andbashedthe overturning of Roe v. Wade as the most arrogant misreading of history in law that you could ever find and a decision that is rolling the clock back on our civil rights, our human rights.

Moreover, in a separate interview earlier in the week, Clintonrefusedto rule out a 2024 run.

Aside from Clinton, the Democratic Party lacks any other rising stars who could take the torch from Biden if he chooses not to run and win in a general election. The most natural successor would be Harris. However, Harris is even more unpopular than Biden and would almost guarantee a Republican victory in 2024.

Further, Harriss response to Roebeing overturned missed the mark, as she was widelycriticizedfor trying to make the case that abortion access will greatly impact Americas sons.

Ultimately, Clinton is the only prominent Democrat with the experience, the campaign infrastructure, the political know-how and the proven track record who can win a general election.

As Fox News Channels Juan Williamswrote earlier this week, Democrats need a strong voice ready to fight to restore womens rights, now that the Supreme Court has struck down Roe v. Wade. Theres only one Hillary Clinton.

If Democrats want a chance at winning the presidency in 2024, Clinton is now more than ever their best chance.

Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to former President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. He is the author of The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.

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Now more than ever, Democrats need Hillary Clinton - The Hill