Congressional Republicans willing to punt abortion policy questions to states

Many Capitol Hill Republicans who have supported federal abortion restrictions were eager this week to leave adopting such measures to the states. A majority of the justices are poised to overturn landmark abortion rights established in Roe vs. Wade and the follow-on Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, based on a draft opinion recently leaked to Politico. “If the Supreme Court ultimately - which we don’t know - ultimately were to overrule Roe and Casey, then the states would be the ones that would be making those determinations,” Sen. John Cornyn said this week when asked whether he would push for a national ban on the procedure. “To me that’s the best outcome.” Reversal of Roe and Casey would represent the culmination of decades of work by abortion rights opponents and open the door for tighter restrictions at all levels of government. The political stakes are clear ahead of the midterm elections, reflected in a talking points memo circulated by the Senate Republican campaign arm. That memo, obtained by Axios, counsels GOP candidates to “be the compassionate, consensus-builder on abortion policy,” to talk about Democratic positions as extreme and to refute suggestions that Republicans want to ban contraception.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., initially acknowledged a Republican push for a national abortion ban was possible, according to USA Today. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, who supports codifying abortion rights in federal law, cited those comments and bills introduced by Republican members as an indication of what a GOP-controlled Congress would do. “I don’t think it’s an abstract chance at all,” Allred said. “I think it’s very likely that if Republicans control the next Congress that they’ll move to pass a national ban.” As the week progressed, however, McConnell and many of his members downplayed the likelihood of such a measure in the near future. McConnell told reporters at his weekly press conference that there is “zero sentiment” among Senate Republicans to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster threshold and that votes on abortion proposals have fallen short of that bar in the past. “I think it’s safe to say there aren’t 60 votes there at the federal level, no matter who happens to be in the majority, no matter who happens to be in the White House,” McConnell said. “So I think the widespread sentiment of my caucus is that this issue will be dealt with at the state level.”