Roe has become an albatross for Democrats.
The only way it has become an albatross is the now the Democratic leadership wants to abandon is base and join in with the wingnuts.
I'm not immune to the argument that abortion would most likely be criminalized in states where women can least afford to travel to states where it would remain legal. This is by far the most troubling aspect for me in advocating Democrats to abandon Roe.
Nevertheless, until the impact of Roe is reduced, Democrats are always going to be behind the eight ball due to the fact that Roe occupies a significantly higher priority than it should among those who might vote otherwise in federal elections if Roe were taken off of the table.
As far as Democrats abandoning their base, Registered Democrats outnumber Repugs 3-2 in Kentucky but flock to Repugs in federal elections due in large part to their opposition to Roe; consequently, I don't necessarily agree with your argument on this one. If you took Roe off of the table in federal elections down here, a slight difference between the two corporate parties might actually take place.
Dems are being set up by anti-choicers like Reid.
you forget all those little laws that they have already implemented like it is now illegal in many states to take minors over state lines to get abortions...
While there may be more people who are pro-choice than pro-life, Pro-lifers are more politically active and put a greater priority whether or not a candidate agrees with their position on abortion.
Second of all, a large percentage of the few states with a bona-fide pro-life majority were once Democratic strongholds and are now trending Republican. LA, MO, TN, AR, WV, KY, and SD are all states where the Democratic Party has clearly been hurt by this issue.
Republicans have figured out how to neutralize the issue by running pro-choice Republicans in pro-choice areas. The Democrats should likewise run pro-life Democrats in pro-life areas. Abortion is such a personal issue that it should not be considered a "party" issue. (I believe this is the position of the three major parties in the U.K.) It should certainly NOT be a defining issue as to whether or not one is a good Democrat.
If Roe were overturned, it would go back to the states. Mississippi's ONE abortion clinic would probably close. "Blue staters" would have nothing to worry about. In most states the "mushy middle" would make policy, keeping abortion legal in the early weeks, but more restricted in the latter. Parental consent laws would be passed with judicial bypass.
The states that make abortion illegal would be in a situation similar to Ireland. Plenty of Irish women get abortions in the UK, even though Ireland has extremely restrictive abortion laws.
Basically, if Roe were overturned, not much would change. However, whatever decision that would be made would be made by the people and their elected representatives, and not by the courts, which isn't a bad thing.
