Republicans Ignore Warnings on Abortion 

Republicans rejoiced last year after a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would be overturning the landmark abortion protections provided by the court's 1972 decision in Roe v. Wade, celebrating the victory as the culmination of years of grassroots activism and their own work in packing the judiciary with conservative judges.

In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the day of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, June 24, would become an annual holiday in his office. Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed her fellow Republicans on the hill were "rejoicing" at the news. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hailed the decision as a "historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society."

Republicans quickly learned that others felt differently, and found themselves on the losing end of a midterm election cycle in 2022 that was predicted by many to be a "red wave." As a number of cases around abortion rights continue to rage around the country in states like Texas, some activists, including former President Donald Trump, feared that abortion could end up costing them again in 2024.

Instead, Republicans actually appear to be doubling down on the issue.

This winter, the Republican National Committee passed a resolution directing federal and state lawmakers to enact strong abortion restrictions and push the issue at the ballot in 2024.

In March, the Wyoming legislature moved to become the first state to ban abortion pills in a state that already had some of the most restrictive access to abortion in the nation. But just 7 percent of Wyoming residents favor outlawing abortion completely, according to 2022 polling by the University of Wyoming.

This month, the Republican-controlled Senate in the once-purple state of Florida gave its stamp of approval to a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, even as similar bans have faced numerous court challenges in other states.

Few politicians on the national level seem to have changed their tunes. In Congress, House Republicans quickly passed two anti-abortion measures at the start of their new majority, even though they are unlikely to find success in the Democratically controlled Senate. Others have continued filing a number of other bills seeking to further limit access to abortion.

Senate Republicans have not given up the fight, either.

After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its decision to authorize the sale of the abortion pill mifepristone by mail this month, Texas Senator Ted Cruz—whose state was days away from victory in a controversial court case seeking to ban the drug—doubled down on concerns over the safety of the drug, describing the FDA's decision as a "reckless decision that puts the lives of women and girls in Texas and America in danger in order to push a pro-abortion agenda.

"This decision is not based on science, but on radical politics, and I am deeply disappointed by the callousness of the FDA," he said in a statement last week.

Newsweek reached out to Cruz's office by text for comment.

Republicans, however, are already suffering at the ballot box as a result of their abortion policies—particularly in battleground states.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey after the 2022 election, nearly half of all voters said the Supreme Court decision had a "major impact" on which candidates they supported, helping offset other issues like crime and inflation.

And history already appears to be repeating itself.

This month in Wisconsin, liberal justice Janet Protasiewicz earned an 11-point victory over conservative Dan Kelly in a state Supreme Court race some believed would closely match the tight margins historically seen in statewide campaigns there.

While there was little polling released publicly about that race, a 2022 midterm exit poll during the state's governor's race showed that 63 percent of Wisconsin voters believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Only about one-third believed abortion should be illegal or restricted.

The winner of the governor's race? Democrat Tony Evers, by fewer than three points.