Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), a prominent pro-life organization, has called on Republican candidates to not ignore the issue of abortion in the lead-up to the 2024 elections and instead portray Democrats as unpopular on the matter. Democrats have attributed political victories to the unpopularity of pro-life positions since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned nearly 50 years of precedent effectively legalizing abortion. However, SBA stated in a memo sent to Republican leaders and committees on Monday that the Democrats’ message relies more on fearmongering than facts and urged GOP candidates to emphasize that Democrats seek to place the US “on a short list of the most pro-abortion countries in the world.”
The SBA memo highlights that Democrats do not support any protections for the unborn and consistently oppose measures to protect unborn babies capable of feeling pain or legislation to provide basic healthcare to infants born alive following a failed abortion.
Working alongside Adam Schaeffer of Evolving Strategies, a behavioral science and political data firm, and a pollster who formerly advised Trump, SBA asserts that a winning message for Republican candidates involves emphasizing support for mothers throughout pregnancy and childbirth. The research indicated that contrasting Democrat support for the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) with GOP support for providing genuine options and assistance for mothers in need and opposing the WHPA strongly influences voters.
The WHPA, which passed the House in 2022 but failed in the Senate, is characterized in the SBA memo as sweeping federal legislation that would eliminate almost all state limitations on abortion, including those restricting late-term abortions on healthy babies and ensuring parental involvement when a young girl becomes pregnant.
Another crucial aspect of the “winning” message involves supporting pregnant women and providing assistance to mothers, including expanding child tax credits. The SBA memo notes that GOP support for mothers in need was described in testing as providing women with genuine options for choosing life and adopting policies that would simplify adoption services, increase the child tax credit, make baby items tax-free, and fund pregnancy care clinics and maternity homes. Additionally, women should be informed about available financial assistance and adoption services to make an informed decision.
SBA is dedicated to conveying its message to crucial presidential and congressional battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and Montana. However, SBA warns that Democrats will continue to succeed in spreading “falsehoods and fearmongering” in favor of abortion access if individual candidates do not adopt the messaging.
The memo from SBA emphasizes that candidates must clearly contrast their positions and allocate funds for this purpose. Candidates cannot repeat the “ostrich strategy” from 2022, in which they ignored the issue. This is especially pressing for GOP Senate candidates, who continue to lag in important races despite President Trump maintaining a consistent lead atop the ticket in those same states.
Trump has ruffled feathers in the pro-life community with his post-Dobbs stance on abortion. He has criticized Florida’s prohibition on abortion in most cases after six weeks of pregnancy as cruel, but he has also stated that he would consider a national ban on abortion at 15 weeks. He has also stated that abortion limitations should be decided at the state level, resisting demands for a nationwide right-to-life law, but he has criticized Democrats in numerous rallies and speeches for supporting abortion up to and after birth.
SBA warns that “Democrats and their abortion industry allies will not stop until America becomes a global abortion factory where women are forced into abortion and find few options when choosing life.”” If this happens, it will put the pro-life movement in an even worse position than it faced under the Roe regime. We must unite and stop them before it is too late.”
Thomas Phippen is an Editor at Fox News.
