What's particularly frustrating is that, given the broad consensus on this, the issue should play to the advantage of the Democratic Party. There's simply no way the religious right will ever compromise on this, but they're in a distinct minority on the issue. Abortion rights activists, on the other hand, should be able to policies that fit this description, since only the most hardcore activists believe in what the right calls "abortion on demand."
And yet, as with so many other things, the Democratic Party continues to drop the ball. But like so many other things these days, it looks like that might be changing
| The Senate Democratic leadership says it has found a wedge issue to strengthen the party’s position on abortion rights, which top strategists think has become a liability in recent years.
The wedge is legislation expanding access to contraceptives and sex education, which polls show a majority of Americans support but which Democrats are betting will be difficult for social conservatives in the Republican base to accept. Democratic strategists say the time is right for action because women who support abortion rights but are not politically engaged are alarmed by the confirmation of Samuel Alito as Sandra Day O’Connor’s replacement on the Supreme Court and by the passage of legislation strictly curbing the availability of abortion. Democratic leaders had planned to attach their wedge legislation to the budget resolution last month, but let that opportunity pass. The Prevention First Act is sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), one of few congressional Democrats considered anti-abortion. The bill, which Reid introduced at the start of the Congress, has the support of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), presumptive front-runner in the 2008 presidential primary and 21 other Democrats. The bill would prohibit group health plans from excluding contraceptive drugs, devices and outpatient services if they cover the cost of other prescription drugs and outpatient services. It would also require the secretary of health and human services to disseminate information on emergency contraception to healthcare providers and require hospitals receiving federal money to provide emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. The bill would also mandate that federally funded programs provide information about contraceptives that is medically accurate and includes data on health benefits and failure rates. |
Not only does the substance of this bill sound solid, the framing is brilliant. "Prevention First," with a focus on contraception rather than abortion. It shifts the debate to a terrain much more favorable to the Dems, one that makes it much more difficult for the activists on the right to repaint themselves as moderates.
Should Dems retake the Senate in the fall, legislation like this that will help create a tidal wave in 2008. With a wide open race for the Republican nomination, candidates will have to play to the Republican base, making moderate solutions such as this impossible for them to support. That will put them, as they love to say, "well outside the mainstream," giving the Democratic nominee a huge advantage in the general election.
More like this, please!
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