Given the strength of the forces against them after Roe, Ross Douthat thinks the victory of the anti-abortion side is quite remarkable. He’s right. So how did it happen?
There are two reasons that dwarf the rest. First, Roe was vulnerable from the start, as even left-leaning legal commentators were unpersuaded by its legal analysis. It always sounded more like the deliberations of a group of legislators than a legal opinion. Second, the relatively small group of truly “pro-life” activists made a number of Faustian bargains to win over the rest of the Republican Party. They allied themselves with the PBPs and most of the Reactionaries in exchange for support for business tax cuts, reactionary judges, increased inequality, and racist, misogynist, and even insurrectionist rhetoric and actions. In the end, it was the Reactionaries that put them over the top.
Douthat hopes against hope that the GOP can be persuaded to become much more pro-family in order to deal with the social problems that will inevitably result from the end of abortion. I will explain in my next post why that cannot, and will not, happen. Other parts of his column, however, deserve a response here:
- Douthat’s views on abortion were not conditioned on appropriate expansions of the welfare state, which he undoubtedly knows are highly unlikely. To put it another way, he views the misery of women with unwanted pregnancies to be unfortunate, but acceptable, collateral damage in the fight to save fetuses. His view of the issue is thus similar to that of the mainstream of the GOP on questions such as climate change and gun control.
- The more principled position would have been to view abortion prohibitions and massive welfare state expansions as a single, indivisible package. I have yet to read a single column from a “pro-life” commentator who actually took that position.
- Will any of the people who argued so passionately that ending abortion could be good for women display the same kind of militancy with their legislators about providing medical and economic benefits for women with unwanted pregnancies? Don’t hold your breath.
- When the horror stories start flooding in–and they will–this will be another blow to the future of Christianity in this country. Aligning yourself with odious members of the right, deliberately injuring women, and engaging in smashmouth legal and political tactics in order to impose your values on others is not a good way to win hearts and minds in the long run.